Fistball Productions. In 1993, Lasky won a grant from the
Xeric Foundation
The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations. The Xeric Fou ...
to self–publish his comic ''Boom Boom''. With this nudge, ''Boom Boom'' graduated from its
minicomic
A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 (105& ...
format, added a color cover, and began to take on its mature form as part history, part graphic novel, part surreal cartography. In 1994–1995,
Aeon Publications published four issues of ''Boom Boom''. Lasky used the layout style of
Jack Kirby
Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...
for the
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
biography in ''Boom Boom'' #2.
Throughout the 90s, ''Pulse'' magazine (a now defunct publication of
Tower Records
Tower Records is an international retail franchise and online music store that was formerly based in Sacramento, California, United States. From 1960 until 2006, Tower operated retail stores in the United States, which closed when Tower Records ...
) published a series of Lasky's comic biographies and musical impressions. These full-page cartoons were collages of image, text and story that stretched the limits of comic art and became a kind of visual essay. Those featured included
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, and legendary saxophonist
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...
.
Lasky's contribution to the comic book anthology ''Two–Fisted Science'' (written by
Jim Ottaviani
Jim Ottaviani is an American writer who is the author of several comic books about the history of science. His best-known work, ''Two-Fisted Science: Stories About Scientists'', features biographical stories about Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton, N ...
) chronicles the life of physicist
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...
during his time with the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...
at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
.
Lasky continued to push the boundaries of traditional comics in his collaborations with
Greg Stump
Greg Stump is an American champion skier, ski and snowboarding filmmaker, and music video director.
Early ski career
Born in San Diego, his family then moved to Maine where Greg learned to ski at nearby Pleasant Mountain (now Shawnee Peak). He ...
, ''Urban Hipster'' (published by
Alternative Comics
Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...
), which was nominated in 1999 for the
Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that were ...
for best new series.
Lasky's latest project is ''Don't Forget This Song,'' a graphic novel biography of the
Carter Family
Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...
, written with Frank Young. (An excerpt of the book was published in ''
Kramers Ergot
''Kramers Ergot'' is a series of anthology-style books of comic art edited by Sammy Harkham.
Publication history
''Kramers Ergot'' started as a mini-comic self-published by Sammy Harkham under the imprint Avodah Books. Issues 4 and 5 were publish ...
'' volume 4.) The book was published in 2012 by
Abrams Books.
[Pinard, Melissa V]
"Not Your Average Comic Book Guy: David Lasky '90,"
''William and Mary Alumni Magazine'' (Spring/Summer 2004, Vol. 69, #3/4).
Lasky has been nominated for numerous
Ignatz Awards
The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a ...
, and has also served on the Ignatz Award jury.
References
External links
Comics blogFlickr comics galleryLasky's blogCarter Family graphic novel blogUrban Hipster website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lasky, David
College of William & Mary alumni
People from Virginia
Alternative cartoonists
Living people
1967 births