The Junc

For my thesis project this year at The Center for Cartoon Studies, I'm working on a bunch of short comics journalism type pieces about White River Junction, VT, the town that I have lived in for the past year and a half, where CCS is located in the old Colodny Surprise Department Store. I lived in this town four years ago as well, when I interned for CCS.

There's something special about this town. I'm still working on getting at what that really is. In the end I think I'm going to have some stories of my interactions with local people at the Gift Shop/ Convenience Store where I work, selling a lot of lottery tickets, cigarettes, and coffee. I've also recorded a couple of interviews with people who live here. I'm really influenced by Studs Terkel's work. I've also been reading a lot of Duplex Planet, and listening to Radio Diaries. (You should definitely hear this one.)

I'm still in the process of figuring out how this is going to come together. Now that I've done a lot of observing and interviewing (though I'm not nearly done), I'm getting antsy to start drawing. So here's a page a drew, to get down on paper some of the things I've found out, and what my focus is going to be. It's not just about WRJ as a town, but about the people in it, and the specific stories and details that make them all unique.

Tom Hart is my advisor. He is AWESOME. Check out his comics on Act-i-vate!