PRINTFighting crime, CoMo style
Local artist gives Columbia a female superhero
COURTESY OF KEITH CHAN
Mizzou anthropology doctoral candidate Keith Chan uses Columbia as inspiration for his comic book, Keeley: Comic Hero Extraordinaire.
August 5, 2009 | 12:00 p.m. CST
She fights crime using little more than the speed of her inline skates, agility and a powerful glowing crystal. Say hello to Keeley, Columbia’s very own female superhero, who takes on rogues in Ninth Street’s alleyways before skating past Jesse Hall to class. Keeley lives in local comic artist Keith Chan’s imagination and lately on the pages of his recently published comic book series.
“I created Keeley because I never read comics with real, everyday girls who get to become superheroes,” says Chan, an MU graduate student working towards his doctoral degree in anthropology.
You can’t get more real than Keeley. Clad in a tank top and cutoff shorts, the 22-year-old protagonist of this comic strip is much like any of the thousands of coeds who crisscross campus every day: chronically late to obscure classes on criminology, juggling TV time and homework, and most comfortable on the couch with the cat. But Keeley is also married, and inline skates are her favorite mode of transportation.
In Issue 1 of the comic series, Calling, Keeley’s ultra-normal world takes a turn when she discovers a glowing crystal that enables her to — in her own words — do “super-fast skating” and “super-high jumping.” Sweet, dude.
As Keeley gains control of her newfound powers, she ventures beyond Columbia’s borders and takes on the high-crime streets of St. Louis. But unbeknownst to our skinny superhero, her crystal-induced powers have made her the target of a mysterious, CIA-esque agency, introduced in Issue 3. No spoilers, but stay tuned for Issue 4 to find out more.
Superhero comics might have a niche appeal, but you don’t have to be a fan of graphic stories to appreciate the local flavor that Chan injects. For example, he uses popular landmarks as the backdrops for his strip. Jesse Hall, downtown shop fronts and Cosmo Skate Park are all featured in homage to the town Chan has called home since 2001.
“I read the Tribune and the Missourian and get ideas from there,” says Chan. “The Ninth Street chase scene in my second issue is partly inspired by the muggings that were happening around that time.”
Familiarity with and insider knowledge of the local college culture is a recurring theme with Chan. His first published comic strip, Collegetown, centered around the nuances of being a student at the University of California-Berkley, which he attended as an undergrad at the time. Actually being in a particular place also influences Chan’s comic drawing methodology.
“Sometimes I sketch places on the spot, but usually I take pictures and then draw from there,” says Chan, who also counts photography among his hobbies. “I mostly draw by hand, but with my third issue, I’ve been experimenting with using computer programs.”
Using a process similar to movie storyboarding, Chan writes out a script and plans sequences before drawing out the actual scenes. Once he’s satisfied, the printing process begins. He self-printed copies of his first two comic books at the Brady Commons copy center but utilized the self-publishing Web site Ka-Blam.com for his third issue. To get his creation out on a local level, Chan approached Rock Bottom Comics owner Glenn Brewer in 2006.
“We display locally produced comic books up front,” says James Cagle, manager of Rock Bottom Comics and self-professed comic enthusiast. “This is a small town, so people are always excited and encouraging of homegrown talent.”
Rock Bottom Comics keeps about a dozen or so copies of Chan’s Keeley series, along with those of other local artists. The store caters to a wide cross section of customers “from junior high kids to card-carrying professionals,” says Cagle, who himself appreciates everything from mainstream Marvel comics to more obscure graphic novels.
The ambiance of Rock Bottom Comics is distinctly cocoon-like and welcoming: Cagle greets most of the people who walk through the door by name and engages in insider chit-chat about the latest comic world scandal. Yet the hospitality of your neighborhood comic bookstore cannot detract from the increasing exodus of artists who are fleeing the print medium to experiment with the borderless world of online digital publishing.
“It allows for greater access to a wider audience,” says Cagle. “You can’t set up a table in Australia, but you can reach fans worldwide through online publishing.”
Chan’s Keeley comics are also available online through his personal Web site and at IndyPlanet.com. But as both he and Cagle agree, nothing beats the excitement of tearing open that plastic wrapping to reveal the latest edition of a comic book you’ve been eagerly anticipating.
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