My friend David Mruz passed away this week. I first remember meeting David at the BIG FUNNY show, where we had a bunch of art hung up inspired by the newspaper comics of the turn of the previous century, as well as many examples of Sunday pages from that period. David introduced himself and gave me some 100+ year old Happy Hooligan sheet music, just because he thought I would appreciate it. This sort of amazing casual, generous kindness was something that has come up frequently in the remembrances of David I have been reading online.

In the years since then, I always sought David out when I would go to the local comic conventions to sit around and shoot the shit for a while, as it was always one of the big highlights of the shows for me. David was a delight to talk to… he had an incredible enthusiasm for comics, and for the history of cartooning in Minnesota specifically. I am really going to miss getting to talk to him.

You can read a wonderful remembrance of him by his good friend of 50 years Joel Thingvall here and learn about all the wonderful things David accomplished (such as running the first comic conventions in Minnesota back in the 70s, and as a founding member of the Minnesota Cartoonist League).

Back in 2011, Britt Aamodt and Barbara Schulz interviewed me for a project of theirs collecting oral histories of Minnesota cartoonists. I recommended they interview David, since he knew more about the history of cartooning in Minnesota than anyone else I ever met (and probably knew more on that subject than anyone else ever has). Britt and Barb have given me permission to post the interview here. It does a nice job capturing David’s character and enthusiasm, and it will teach you a hell of a lot of things you did not previously know about cartooning in Minnesota. Rest in peace, David.

Photo of David by Britt Aamodt. Click on the photo to read Britt Aamodt and Barbara Schulz’s interview with David.

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

http://tczinefest.org

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.

Here is a message from Denise Fick about a cartoon screening she has coming up:

I attended a couple Cartoon Jams around 5 years ago (at Diamonds and the coffee shop on Snelling) when I lived in St. Paul. I live in SW MN now and sadly can’t make the jams anymore. I wanted to give CCTC a heads-up that I’m screening my latest cartoon at the St. Anthony Library at 7pm June 9th. I’d be very happy if you could tell others at the Open Book event Saturday (or any other time for that matter) about it. I made the cartoon with the support of a state art grant. Members might be interested. Here’s a link to my facebook page: facebook.com/OracleOfNut­town There’s a trailer that gives a pretty good idea of what the 30 minute cartoon is like. Thanks, Denise

The Minneapolis Cartoonist Conspiracy meets at 6:30 until 10:00 the first Thursday of every month at Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe in Northeast.

Generally, we draw collaborative “jam” comics, socialize and drink caffeinated beverages. Afterwords, we often have uncaffeinated beverages somewhere else.

The meetings are open to anyone who wants to draw with us, and the results are posted here sooner or later (and sometimes even printed).

Diamond’s Coffee Shoppe
1618 Central Avenue Northeast
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Bus info here.

Please spend some money at Diamond’s while you’re there, even if it is just a cuppa coffee… they are excellent hosts, and we wanna stay welcome there.