The winner of 2016 The Dash grant – recent Seattle transplant, Brendan Kiefer! We were won over by his project description- a mini-comic about his relationship with an eccentric landlord, “…a hoarder, ex-bodybuilder, and medieval poetry professor who became mostly housebound due to an unfortunate accident. According to him, he also served as Janis Joplin’s bodyguard, went on a date with Farrah Fawcett, and was Hunter S. Thompson’s Austin drug connection and barroom brawling partner. As tenants, we had to deal with his weekly paranoia, freak-outs, emotional abuse, and hour-long stories or ‘lectures’. Though it was a relationship built on resentment and mistrust, he became an integral part of the lives of my partner and myself.”
Some of Brendan’s previous mini-comic titles are Blue Boy, Hospital Comic, Pissy Pants, and Boys. He is editor and contributor to the fantastic anthology Rough House (#2-3). He was awarded a silver medal from The Society of Illustrators in 2014 and holds a BFA in Studio Art from TCU in Fort Worth, TX.