Peoria Pundit

Above: Mandy Kane, a tough as nails heroine who is on the run from her past, can deliver a punch and a one-liner.

Comixpedia says of David Wade’s 319 Dark Street: “This wry and dry send-up is a cross between film noir and sex-in-the-city romps.” Nah. Film noirambiance abounds, but the closest comparison I can make is to the early issues of Jamie Hernandez “Love and Rockets” (the Maggie and Hopey series, not the Palomar series by his brother Gilbert). The protagonist of 319 Dark Street is Mandy Kayne. Like the early Maggie character (a “pro-solar mechanic”), Amanda is a cute girlish who excels in an activity stereotypically exclusive to men: Boxing. Of course, she’s targeted by a hit man after she refused to be take a dive. And for some dark reason that will no doubt be revealed as the storyline progresses, must live in a run-down apartment building in the wrong side of the fictional city of Middlebay. And just as the early L&R series was set in the world in which dinosaurs and superheroes existed in the background, this fictional world includes mad scientists and re-animated corpses. Kane is something of a superhero herself, dispatching muggers and assassins with aplomb (that is, when she’s nor a singer in a jazz band). Nice. The cast of characters is colorful, as is the language and adult situations. I came across David Wade’s work via a link on Chris Muir’s Day By Day site. I went through his entire strip in one setting, that’s how good it is.

Peoria Pundit: I did a Google search, but found almost nothing new about the strip and nothing about you. Tell my readers, please, a little about your background as an artist.

Wade: I started cartooning and drawing gag strips when I was 2. I grew up as a ‘Peanuts’ junkie. Schulz is my primary influence when putting a pen to paper and doing anything in regards to sequential art. In my teens, I discovered Archies (PEP anyone?) and then Marvel comics. I think it’s good to learn a little something from everything. I learned a boatload from Schulz and Stan Lee about characterization. That expectation of what a character will say or do is every bit as important as the art around the words. Sometimes more so. I have a degree in Advertising Art, I perform stand-up which helps my comedic writing skills and I’ve always had an attraction to nostalgic things (records, ads, books, music, TV shows etc.) I suppose all those elements combined with 319 Dark Street.

PP: Obviously, there’s a strong film noir influence in the strip, but there’s also something of a science fiction/monster movie bent to it as well. Can you tell my readers what source material affects 319 Dark Street?

Wade: You could say that I’m a noir connoisseur. In any good noir (Kiss Me Deadly, Criss Cross, Double Indemnity) the main characters always kick the bucket which leaves me in a real pickle with Dark Street. I created Dark Street in late 2003 after stumbling across the Hellboy (pictured) graphic novel ‘Wake The Devil’ by Mike Mignola. I hadn’t been into comics for a long while at that point but that book just blew my mind and really inspired me. It opened a floodgate and suddenly I was into comics again. This time I gravitated towards more hard-boiled, street-level stuff like ‘Alias’ and ‘100 Bullets‘. Along with Mignola, my new favorite artists were Michael Gaydos, Eduardo Risso and Marcelo Frusin. I had never really paid much attention to color in comics before but the work of Lee Loughridge and Matt Hollingsworth was also hugely influential. So, noir films, the aforementioned artists and the freedom of the internet led to my strip coming into being. The sci-fi monster element is a nod to Mignola’s work but believe me, the recycled man definitely has a purpose.

PP: Please tell me Middlebay is a fictional city, as I could not find a map of it anywhere. What real locale is it based upon?

Wade: Leave Mapquest. Middlebay is a fictional city! As a kid, I used to create my own subway lines on old Hagstrom NYC maps so when I created 319 Dark Street I figured I’d have a little fun and create an out-of-the-way city in northeast Michigan and let everyone get a good idea of where the events were playing out. I see Middlebay as a mid-sized San Francisco/Boston type U.S. city. I’m also very drawn to the idea of an antiquated, European-style city in America. So, I try not to make Middlebay look modern. It’s also loosely based on Brooklyn in regards to its area and contrasting neighborhoods. I needed to clarify all of that in my mind because the notion of the city as a character is something I look forward to exploring.

PP: The first strips were just that — three panel strips that could appear on an daily newspaper’s comic page — disregarding some of the adult content. Some of these strips worked like gag strips. But the most recent comics are larger, full-page pieces that do more to advance the plot. Why the switch? Is it a sign you are taking the plot line more seriously, as opposed to the “farce” some have described it as being.

Wade: The switch to a grander mystery can be traced to the comic ‘100 Bullets’. This fantastic work enticed me to go deeper and expand the noirish themes I was already flirting with. That being said, I still didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew so when the smoke clears, you’ll see that the big story is not too complex. Now, things have come along to the point where I can either do single 3-4 panel gag type strips OR attempt more elaborate ones that advance a larger story that Amanda’s character has proven, over time, that she deserves.

Above: A corrupt, tough as nails cop, plus zombies.

PP: It seems to me that you might be getting to know the characters a bit better? Do you feel that’s true, and if so, how is it affecting the strip?

Wade: I definitely have a firm idea now of how I want the characters to be and that makes coming up with ideas easier than when I first began.

PP: What can you tell me about publication schedule, as I’m jonesin’ for a fix?

Wade: When the strip first started, I was on a Tuesday and Friday schedule. I had to go on a near-hiatus in the past year but in May the strip will be returning
regularly on a once-a-week Friday schedule.

PP: Chris Muir — on whose “Day by Day” site where I found the link to your Web comic — is actively promoting his strip to newspapers. Do you see yourself going that way at all?

Wade: I am completely done with newspapers unless someone approaches me. How many paper mache rejection letter sculptures can one make? Seriously though, the Internet has really been a godsend. I have total freedom creatively and promotionally and I don’t have to jump through any hoops. It is the new frontier for the American comic strip. Why should I continue to waste time dumbing my work down while trying to second guess the syndicate suits who green light strips like ‘Girls & Sports’ and refuse to pull the plug on ones like ‘Family Circus’, “Marmaduke’ (pictured) and ‘Garfield’?

This entry was posted 2 years, 9 months ago on Friday, May 11th, 2007 at 1:57 am and is filed under Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.