SAVING EAST AUSTIN

I've been adding gags, one liners and keeping true to the storyline as I've been diligently story-boarding my sixty four page opus.  I've also added a prologue, which I've written out below, which gives the background of this whole lark.

PROLOGUE

The early 2000's were a time of great change in Austin.  With the residue of the crash and burn dotcom age finally swept away, the city found itself in a new wave of development.  It seemed even the sky wasn't the limit, as a run of proposed skyscraper projects received quick city approval. 

Buoyed by a charismatic mayor, the people of Austin had no choice but to embrace the change.  The city laid down to developers, and the populous approved a hurried rail system proposal completely reliant on the inadequate bus system.  AMD was allowed to build on the Edwards Aquifer, a giant Walmart will be built on a mall, long established businesses were forced to move, and the city tried to make good with a political handout to Las Manitas.

No part of the city was left untouched, and East Austin was no different.  Historically it was the enclave of working class blacks and hispanics.  East Austin was a unique happenstance of residential, industrial, commercial and cultural zones historically untouched by the progress and change that edged through Austin proper. 

Cracks in the armor appeared, with a young set of audacious white folks setting down roots in the affordable neighborhoods, soon hip coffee shops sprouted and a list of cool bars and hip spots dotted the East Side.  Developers headed east and urban lofts and condo projects mushroomed amongst the old neighborhoods. 

This is the tale of one young man who decided to take up the fight and save the soul of East Austin.

"Stay the course and let history judge" - George W. Bush
 

representative of what the shirt will entail

T-SHIRTS
To help pay for the printing costs, I'm printing up a special batch of t-shirts inspired by the comic book.  While a couple more styles may appear with the printing of the book, you can order your Gentrification Bear t-shirt today!

American Apparel
ringer t-shirts $20

mark your calendars!
OCTOBER 2007
COMIC BOOK RELEASE PARTY

With a little luck and a lot of hard work, I hope to have my comic book release party in mid/late October.

It'll be held at the East Side's most laid back and coolest coffee shop/bar, Rio Rita.

THE LATEST STORIES...

+  BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS
Austin's biggest art show of 2009
+  JESUS CARRIES A BIG STICK
A look at my painting for the New Testament Show
+  REALLY SMALL, STILL REALLY WHITE
My friend sculpted a miniature Vigilante!
+  VOLUME THREE: TURNING THE CORNER
Laying out the third RWV comic book
+  2008 HERO OF THE YEAR
Who is Zina Saunders?  Find out now!
+  PINATA TIME!!!
the White Vigilante meets his match
+  A4 PAPER: HOW I LEARNED TO HATE REAGAN
I finally figured out what bothered me all these years...
+  KANSAS CITY BBQ TAKES ON AUSTIN
a gift from the BBQ capital of the universe to Texas
+  AUSTIN CRITICS' TABLE AWARDS
a surprise nomination, win, and a speech or two
 

MY COMIC BOOK SIDE PROJECT:
TALES OF THE REALLY WHITE VIGILANTE #1 the satiric tale of one young man's attempts to stop the gentrification of East Austin by becoming a superhero in a Mexican wrestling mask.
TALES OF THE REALLY WHITE VIGILANTE #2 the tale continues with the White Vigilante teaming up with Dos XX during Austin's largest music festival to fight a new, more menacing threat to Austin.

ARCHIVE

GALLERY

see the complete gallery here