Jim Keefe is the current artist of the Sally Forth comic strip. From 1996-2003 he was the writer and artist of the Flash Gordon comic strip. A graduate of the Joe Kubert School, Keefe likewise teaches Comic Art. Teaching and speaking engagements include SVA in Manhattan, Hofstra’s UCCE Youth Programs, and most recently the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
A quick tutorial from Handyman Jim™ on how to put together your very own Little Free Library!
I’m purposely skipping over cutting the post and angle braces, as at no point during that whole process did I have a clue to what I was doing.
Two quick bits of advice though… 1: Having a table saw I could borrow from a family member sure was damn helpful regarding building the base.
2: I bought the wrong lag screws. Make sure to buy the right ones (not that I have a clue which ones that would be). And use power tools to secure them if you have weak little arms that aren’t accustomed to lifting more than a pencil and/or wacom stylus.
Correct lag screws? Who knows!
STEP #1 Placing the Post in the Ground
Make sure when finding a spot for your Little Free Library that you place it on an incline or small hill, that way you’ll have to dig even farther to make sure the hole’s deep enough.
Also make sure to place it near a large tree so there’s plenty of roots to cut and dig through.
STEP #2 Making More Work for Yourself
Make the decision to personalize your Little Free Library by adding a drawing to be mounted on top that you can’t find time to get to for months.
STEP #3 Check the Weather for a Polar Vortex
Wait until the RealFeel is 25 below and THEN install the Spider-Man drawing on top. That way the wood will be as hard as concrete.
And yes, the two pics indicate a three month lag between library installation and Spider-Man drawing (once again – finding time).
And there you have it – IT’S JUST THAT SIMPLE! For more helpful hints, find someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
I know I will…
Update: Summer 2018
Spider-Man has taken some wear and tear over the last year and a half. Next time I’ll have to pick up a better piece of wood to paint on, but for now it’s time for some touch-ups.
I also needed to restock. Half Price Books just had a tent sale, so I was able to get a pretty good haul for real cheap.
“He (Al Williamson) was the inheritor of the Alex Raymond school, and he was the logical inheritor of the Flash Gordon comic strips, and he did not get them because people making decisions for those things were stupid. And remain stupid. But it doesn’t matter anymore because nobody cares about comic strips.”
Neal Adams from an interview by Comic Book Resources.
Note: Written in the fall of 2016, before the Trump Presidency.
Donald Trump has come to Minnesota twice during this election cycle and he invariably stirs up racial tensions here with his anti-Muslim rhetoric. It reminds me of the responses I got to a Sally Forth strip I drew earlier in the year.
I draw what’s familiar to me and the area I live in is home to a large number of Somali Americans. They have been here for generations and are our neighbors, so I tend to include Somali kids in the comic strip.
Most of the comments I get are favorable, such as…
Or the following excerpt… (Note: I’m leaving out names for the following emails because they were not on social media and not expected to be shared.)
Hi Jim, Wanted to comment on the Feb 22 Sally Forth strip (as an aside, I read Sally Forth every day and really love it, especially the dad), I noticed in the first panel, lower left hand, there is a girl wearing a hijab or head scarf. I am assuming the implication is this is a Muslim girl. I don’t want to presume to speak for you but from my perspective this is brilliant. By subtly doing this you are taking a big step toward making the hijab ubiquitous which in turn will make the hijab simply an everyday sight and, hopefully, in time, will diminish the amount of anti-Muslim hatred that is currently flowing around our country.
But I also get responses like the following.
Muslim student, in reference, panel one dated 2/22/16. Do you have any idea how destructive this pseudo religion is? I can answer this, you don’t. Enjoyment, respect that I had has diminished.
A link to an article from the conservative website Breitbart followed, I assume, to further educate me.
Speaking of education… Not long ago I went to see Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai speak at the Target Center here in Minneapolis. She survived a bullet to the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 (for being an advocate for a girls’ right to go to school), and her message is that the key in fighting global terrorism is education.
“The more you speak about Islam and against all Muslims, the more terrorists we create…”
“So it’s important that whatever politicians say, whatever the media say, they should be really, really careful about it. If your intention is to stop terrorism, do not try to blame the whole population of Muslims for it because it cannot stop terrorism. It will radicalize more terrorists.”
So in regards to the cartoons I draw… That a little Somali American girl in a classroom is seen as the ENEMY is the danger of Donald Trump’s rhetoric – and the danger of a Donald Trump presidency.
My wikipedia page was recently brought to my attention again…
And since it is once again on my radar, I thought I would address the inaccuracies so I can then once again ignore it.
Note: I actually tried to correct it many years ago – not knowing that editing your own wiki page is strictly prohibited – and was promptly booted off the site.
So here it is in its most recent incarnation 2/29/16).
First off under Personal information…
…he attended Joe Kubert’s School of Cartoon and Graphic Art after a very brief career at a more traditional institution.
Since when does going to school get referred to as “a very brief career”?
What actually happened was that before attending the Joe Kubert School I tried out a number of other art schools that didn’t quite fit the bill as far as the career I was looking for.
First off was a summer program at Atelier Lack in Minneapolis, which gave me a good grounding in the traditional methods of drawing. Next up was a brief stint at Atelier Hathaway (one of Richard Lack’s students), then a semester at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Now for Career…
Keefe started his career coloring comic strips such as Blondie, Beetle Bailey and Hägar the Horrible. He was the head colorist in the King Features Syndicate comic art department. Keefe’s tenure lasted from January, 1996 to March 2003. Unfortunately he was unable to continue his work for King Features because of economic issues.
Stilted sentence structure notwithstanding, I actually worked on staff at King from 1989-1998. 1996-2003 refers to when I wrote and drew Flash Gordon.
And those “economic issues” were actually King Features’ economic issues – as they laid off my entire department as a cost cutting measure.
Since he has left his coloring job, Keefe has taught, taken part in freelance assignments, promoted the National Cartoonists Society and worked on a graphic novel. His graphic novel exemplifies his Father’s service in World War II as a member of Patton’s Third Army. Keefe’s work on Flash Gordon continues to appear in syndication.
This reads like it was translated from japanese using Mac’s translation app.
“…taken part in freelance assignments” My name is Jim Keefe. And yes, I admit it – I have taken part in freelance assignments.
And as for the Graphic Novel that I have not actually completed, may I suggest the word chronicles instead of exemplifies.
Keefe has taught and spoken at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, Malloy College, and Hofstra University’s UCCE Youth Programs in Long Island, New York.
Keefe has taught and spoken at, he has.
Keefe currently provides the artwork for the syndicated comic strip Sally Forth, as well as performs freelance assignments and also provides graphic art for a number of different companies.
Note: When I perform my freelance assignments, it’s usually an interpretive dance.
Here’s how I list this same info…
A graduate of the Joe Kubert School, Jim Keefe started his career as the head colorist in the King Features Syndicate comic art department, coloring such world-renowned strips as Blondie, Beetle Bailey and Hagar the Horrible.
From 1996-2003 he was the writer and artist of Flash Gordon for King Features Syndicate – currently available online at FlashGordon.com.
Teaching and speaking engagements include the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, Malloy College and Hofstra’s UCCE Youth Programs in Long Island, New York – and most recently as an Adjunct Teacher at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
Keefe currently is the artist of the Sally Forth comic strip, written by Francesco Marciuliano. Sally Forth is syndicated worldwide by King Features and appears in nearly 700 newspapers.
My thanks for indulging me and letting me get this off my chest.
This is by no means a huge concern, but it does make me wonder how inaccurate the rest of wikipedia is…
