Recently I was chatting with my friend Jessa, who is the founder of the Village Learning Community here on the island, and editor of its newsletter Village Voices, regarding a comic strip in the latest newsletter by a twelve-year-old friend, Alex. I heard myself say, "I used to draw comics when I was his age -- ". I paused. I had drawn comics for years as a child, and loved reading comic books well into adulthood (I've recently resumed reading the ones I've kept - a few superhero comics, the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman, and the Japanese manga in English, Mai, The Psychic Girl). Why had I stopped drawing comics? I'd stopped after junior high - probably becoming busy with high school, but also because I came to believe that I had to choose which 'hobbies' (as our passions were called back then) to focus on. I chose fiction writing and music, and certainly those passions kept me plenty consumed when I wasn't busy with schoolwork or social activities.

I began dabbling again with drawing when I musically partnered with Deb Knodel back in 1988. Deb is an amazing watercolor, colored pencil, and anything artist, and she always encouraged me and offered insights and advice when I asked. Since moving to the island seven years ago, I've played around with watercolors, and have painted posters for the island May Day festival for the past three years. This past year, I was particularly daring and my poster even featured a person on it, not just landscape and may pole. My style of drawing girls hasn't changed much in thirty years!

Still, what the heck.

I don't recall being critical of my comic drawing at age 12, or of anything I wrote, though I didn't show much of it to anyone. I just loved doing it. It seems that age 12 is a 'magic age' - where you are still a child, but you know what you love, and you have begun to hone your skills and gifts. And hopefully you haven't fallen into that morass of self-doubt and self-deprecation that hobbles so many, and is so difficult to cast off.

In honor of our 12-year-old selves, I wrote and drew this comic (even though it really isn't much 12-year-old oriented). It was such fun, I'm sketching out more. I hope you enjoy it!

A Magical America - Issue 1

Let me know what you think! Email me regarding this comic or anything else on this website, at: jkv-dronipjece at foresthalls.org
(I'm trying to dodge spam, so just substitute the @ for 'at', and delete the spaces to get the address).

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Updated July 1, 2006