Last night I moved out of my Brooklyn studio at 112 2nd Ave in Gowanus where I’ve worked, as far as I can remember, since 2006; approximately 9 years or so.

I had been in Brooklyn for maybe a year when I was convinced to plunk down a wad of cash to rent the space along with a bunch of other cartoonists, some of whom I barely knew. Here’s a photo of us checking the room out just before agreeing to rent it. From L to R there’s half of me, Dean Haspiel, Simon Fraser & Gabby, and Leland Purvis. Joan Reilly was behind the camera, and Tim Hamilton must have been exploring elsewhere at that moment. That comprised the initial group. It was Dean who dubbed our space “Deep Six”.

We got along very well some times and very poorly other times, but held it together for quite a few years. During that time more and more cartoonists gravitated to the building and took up residences in various rooms as they became available. People came and went, but there must be about 20 cartoonists in there now along with other artists and creative folk.

Here’s a photo from a few years in, after we’d filled every inch of that room with stuff, and including a few lineup changes. L to R: Chris Sinderson, Robin Ha, Douglas Einer Olson, Simon Fraser, Tim Hamilton, and me.

About a year and a half ago I finally left that original room and moved in across the floor with Joan Reilly and Sara Varon. That was a very peaceful arrangement I greatly enjoyed. But leases expire and the building management has changed hands with talk of knocking the building down and replacing it with condos. I’m not in Brooklyn much anymore and my foothold there had already become impractical, so this seemed like a good time to go.

When I initially moved in I had just begun my first graphic novel, “Parade (with fireworks)”. It’s impossible for me to estimate how much work I did there, but it would include that book, ultimately for Shadowline/Image Comics, “Foiled”, “Curses! Foiled Again”, and “Decelerate Blue” graphic novels for First Second Books, “Loviathan” for ACT-I-VATE, “The Life and Times of Savior 28” graphic novel for IDW, numerous “Ben 10” comics for DC, a “Mega Man” story arc and a short “Sheild” story for Archie Comics, one “Batman” and two “Superman” books for Capstone, numerous “Nico Bravo” comics for The Phoenix Magazine, a couple seasons-worth of backgrounds for the “Batman: The Brave & The Bold” animated series, numerous commercial animatics, and a scattering of smaller projects I can barely remember. If I add up just the comic book art alone, it’s over 1,100 pages. So, I spent a lot of time there in that building.

There were a lot of laughs, a lot of arguments, a stabbing or two out on the sidewalk, ping-pong, lots of take-out food (Kinara, Rachel’s, Peppino’s, Catene), good music, lousy music, visitors and intruders galore.

What a great time to be working in comics as the graphic novel became a force in the book market, and as imprints and careers rose and fell, thrived or collapsed.

Someday, some of what happened may even make sense to me.

I mostly rode my bike or walked, but here’s the view from the Smith & 9th Street F/G stop about a block away from the studio.

 

Crossing the 9th Street Bridge over the lovely Gowanus Canal. I think it was passing this, with all those hidden, mysterious spots, that fed into my creating “Loviathan”; the story of a time-lost Atlantean monarch arriving in present-day Brooklyn.

 

A view of the building with the recently restored F/G trestle.

 

I remember this being my first view of the building back when I rode my bike over to check out the space. The front door was in better shape back then.

 

Impressive, huh?

 

I always thought it looked very “Will Eisner” outside.

 

All the studios are on the second floor, so here’s the path to glory. There’s a giant woodworking shop of some sort on the first floor.

 

Studio 48, which until yesterday, I shared with Joan Reilly and Sara Varon.

 

So comfy! There’s my BMX. An original U.S. Mags!

 

My spot as it last looked just before breaking it down and packing it all away; the giant scanner I bought a gazillion years ago, the beater guitar I found a few blocks away in the garbage, my Joe Kubert School drawing board purchased in 1988, my binders of reference from the pre-digital age.

 

On the day I moved in back in 2006, I bought this $4 bottle of wine from the liquor store next to Pathmark, behind the Lowes parking lot. The plan was to pop it open on the day we all moved out. At the time for some reason I imagined that as we entered together, so would we depart. Not so. For a while I’ve suspected that so cheap a bottle of wine could only get worse over a decade of time, but I had a glass last night and I swear it was pretty good.

Below, a couple shots of my new workspace.