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So this is it. What do you think?
Um... it’s nice. Where’s the garage?
Oh, no... not that house.� Up there.
It’s a church! Huh? Oh, yeah.
It was the old Woodside Church and Chapel.
Built by Henry Buden in the mid 1800s.
Written and Illustrated by Jimmy Riordan
A few years back, after both buildings had been out of use for a while, I met Burden’s great grand children. They say Burden paid for it with money he made from selling horseshoes during the Civil War.
In exchange we maintain the property. They agreed to let my daughter Claire and I move in.
I use the church as my shop.
You know, mow the lawn and such.
But you’ll be staying with us in the old chapel building.
That’s where I’ll be working on your truck.
Claire has plans to turn the chapel into some sort of retreat.
A place for artists and writers.
It’s not quite there yet, but... Help yourself to Ok... anything in here. Thanks.
... We are making some progress.
This whole kitchen was a later addition to the building.
The old chapel is through here.
Simonides has just finished reciting his poem.
Your room is up these stairs.
But before you settle in let me show you the rest of the place.
The library is upstairs.
As is Claire’s bedroom.
And the bathroom is down here.
Through this door...
... and we’re back outside.
?
I see that dad didn’t waste any time putting you to work.
Oh �yeah. No... it’s a really nice day.
I mean I really don’t mind.
Yeah. I would shake your hand...
Anyway, I really need to set this down. We’ll talk later, OK?
You’re Claire, right?
...but as you can see...
... mine are kind of full at the moment.
OK.
Whatever you cooked, it smells great.
Oh? Well there’s plenty more if you’re hungry.
No problem... What are you reading?
By the way, thanks for giving my dad a ride. It’s a book about mythology.
You know,
gods and
monsters. Anything interesting?
Yeah. I’m on the section about Japanese spirits.
They seem to have one for everything.
Like ghosts?
Not really. More like... well... For example there is this clump spirit thing -I can’t remember its name-
-which is responsible for lost socks and stuff. Lost socks from the dryer?
It kind of wanders around
Yeah... Sort of.
But not just that.
-and things stick to it.
And then every so often these things fall off.
You loose a sock.
You find a spoon in the woods, that’s also the clump spirit.
What the clump spirt chooses to hold onto... it’s completely arbitrary.
It’s the clump spirit.
C’mon! what is it?
What?
oh nothing. I was just thinking that I’m kind of like that myself.
I mean like the clump spirit. What I remember.
What I place value on.
I feel like I become interested in something or someone not because of some inherent worthiness--
--for arbitrary reasons.
--but you know
Because of a thread of events out of my control
that slowly, over time, sews them into my memory.
Stitch by stitch
sewn into my soul.
--Like I didn’t make a choice.--
Ho w ro ma nt ic.
Are you two getting along OK?
Evening kids.
I hope
Claire ’ s
making you feel at home?
Well, I wish I could stop to chat.
Yeah. We were just talking.
I still have a lot of work ahead. I found emery dust in the engine.
I don’t know where it came from.
It ends up the problem with the Winnie Mae wasn’t the oil line.
It could have been sabo tage , but. ..�
But...well, anyway... thanks again for dinner. The soup was delicious.
Hey, um...� this might sound sorta crazy, but... �
...do you want to go swimming ?
Right now?
Yeah. Why not?
MARG Wow. So this issue is the last in the first volume of Held Up (There are only 2 more to go). Which means a couple things. First, I have reached the point in the story (almost 150 pages) where I actually know where things are headed. And I did it almost completely on schedule. For this I pat myself on the back. Second, there is going to be a little break between this and the next issue. I will explain a little more about both of these points a bit later. But before that I would like to discuss this issue. It came out a bit later than originally planned. This is because I decided to combine chapters 5 and 6 into a single comic. Or, more accurately, a couple months ago I finished what I thought was chapter 5 and while editing found out that I had in fact skipped over 5 and moved ahead to 6 without realizing it. This sort of error was possible because of the way Held Up draws its structure from Le Roman du Lievre. In a way this worked out for the best, as it gave me the opportunity to expand the storyline and by doing this helped set the scene for what is to come. These chapters take place in Troy, New York at the site of the Contemporary Artist Center (CAC), an artist residency located in an old church and chapel. It was at the CAC that I organized what was left in the truck after picking it up in Okemah, OK. I also finished the Marginalia Catalog during my time there. In this comic I have turned the space into Wiley and his daughter’s home. It will remain the setting of the story for at least the next couple chapters. Thanks to Hezzie at the CAC for the opportunity to work there and her kindness in letting me return to reference the buildings for this comic.
NOTES: chapter 5 “As of that night they all walked together.” -LRDL
1-7: An introduction to the CAC at Woodside. I removed the studios in the main chapel space. Maybe Claire will repair that in the future. 3: in the first panel there is a stone that was part of the church with the date of its construction engraved into it. 9-11: While staying at the CAC working on the Marginalia catalog I mowed the lawn once or twice as part of my work-study. It was fun trying to figure out the sound of a lawn mower. 16-18: Up the hill from the CAC, past a gas station and next to an old deli (now a laundry mat) there is Burden Pond. A wonderful body of water that runs down a series of falls to the Hudson. The sound of the water overpowered the sound of the busy road next to it in a way that made it unusually private for being so exposed. chapter 6 “And they all saw their lives reflected in the lids of their closed eyes.All, that is, except for the doves, who protected their small, restless, and mobile heads within the shade of their wings. Here they sought their paradise.” -LRDL
23-25: This conversation about the clump spirit is modeled after one I had with a student before I embarked on the Return to Me tour. The clump spirit has become a mascot to this project, as the arbitrary nature of its collecting seems to be re-
flected in my process. For me this conversation is a very important moment in the story. 26: Our hero’s response to the clump spirit story is drawn from an article Mary Lochner wrote about the show I had at the IGCA in Anchorage in June of 2012. This show was the final document of the return to me tour, consisting of prints from the road, images of every abandoned gasoline station on the ALCAN and food from my travels in Europe. What follows is the original quote from her Anchorage Press article entitled The Meta-MetaMeta Mind of Jimmy Riordan: “(Le Roman du Lievre) is a love story that follows the winding path traveled by all the great loves of a person’s life, which grow to be loved not because of some inherent worthiness, but because of the thread of events that slowly, over time, sews them�stitch by stitch�into a soul.” 27: Wiley has found clues to what may have caused his crash (see note from last issue). 32, 33: in the woods across the street from the CAC there is a waterfall and swimming whole down stream from Burden Pond. Hidden from the road and enveloped in the sounds of the water this space seems far removed from its actual location. Even the trash littering the forest cannot stop the place from seeming remote and magical. 33: This quote is from the final page of Le Roman du Lievre’s 6th chapter. It is the statement that finishes the first book. 38: This is a painting of the main stained glass in the Woodside Chapel. Not to be mistaken for the chamber of a gun. *** Earlier I mentioned that I now knew where the story was heading and that there will be a break between this and the next issue. I would now like to explain this in more detail. When I started held up I decided to approach the plot in a loose fashion, Relying upon free asso-
ciation to plot its path. As the issues have moved forward this process has gelled into a coherent plot. This said, there are certain inconsistencies in the story (as well as in the illustrations) that resulted from this approach. For this reason I have decided to re-work the pages, adding a bit here and there, editing out some imagery that in unnecessary and correcting certain panels. I plan to take the next couple months to do this and will post my corrections on the blog. When I finish I will print a single volume version of the story so far that includes all of these corrections and an expanded notes section. After completing this I plan to plot out the following book and will adopt a more structured process for producing issues. I have learned a lot while working on these comics and through research into other artists’ processes and plan to adapt how I make Held Up in response. After doing this preliminary work I hope to be able to return to the story more efficiently, with more direction and confidence. I will let everyone know when I get there (probably in June or July). Lastly, I have some cool news regarding the Le Roman du Lievre project as a whole. I was selected for a residency in Cleveland, OH at a place called Zygote Press. While there I plan to produce a letterpressed version of my translation and make an edition of hand bound copies of these. This should be pretty cool. I also hope that working with the text so closely will influence Held Up in some way. Plus, drawing Held Up in the same city Harvey Pekar lived and worked in should be pretty inspiring. -Jimmy
BOOK ONE, CHAPTERS FIVE AND SIX
written and illustrated by jimmy riordan
RR
$4.50 US / MORE IN CANADA Copyright Rabbit Rabbit Press, January 2014 www.leromandulievre.com