Living in the Floating World

Jason Leivian divides his life as a comics fan into three distinct “waves.”

“I was into comics as a kid, then as a teenager I got into the Vertigo stuff—Preacher, Sandman, Invisibles,” he says.

Kramer’s Ergot 4 was the spark for Leivian’s “third wave” and was responsible for Leivian’s introduction to Paper Rad and other contemporary comics creators who work in what Leivian describes as the “psychedelic DIY aesthetic.”

This same aesthetic is obvious in Leivian’s store, Floating World Comics.

Leivian opened Floating World in 2006, and quickly established it as Portland’s premiere avant-garde and independent comics shop. In a city full of stores selling comic books, Leivian’s curatorial instincts have helped Floating World carve out its own niche, as well as informing his other endeavors.

Floating World doesn’t just sell comics. Art books (including retrospectives of H.R. Giger, Henry Darger, Takashi Murakami and Banksy, to name a few) sit alongside books about Wilco, vinyl toys and punk house interiors. How-to books featuring tutorials on everything from screen-printing to rolling joints are shelved beside glossy Bettie Page tributes and Edward Gorey.

“Obviously I sell comic books, but I also sell books that I find interesting or inspirational,” Leivian says.

Another of Leivian’s focuses is small press and underground comics. The main room of his store is filled with more mainstream comics—the front display case houses deluxe versions of such classics as Sin City and Watchmen—but Leivian fills several nooks with self-published zines and other more offbeat material.

“My goal is to expose people to all the stuff that’s out there that you don’t really see in mainstream comics,” Leivian says. “Whenever I poke around online, I find all this new stuff, and I get in touch with creators and am able to collaborate with people.”

The store also serves as a small art gallery and hosts a First Thursday opening each month. Past shows have included such high-profile comics artists as Peter Bagge and Nicholas Gurewitch, as well as independent artists from Serbia and Croatia.

In addition to operating Floating World as a gallery and shop, Leivian organizes film festivals and a number of small publications. He recruited artists to create posters for the Supertrash Film Festival (posters will eventually be compiled in a book to be released by Seattle publisher Fantagraphics), and he organizes the annual Floating World Animation Fest. Now in its third year, the animation fest focuses on the same underground and experimental media that Leivian features in his storefront.

“The style I focus on is called ‘video art’ or ‘motion art,'” Leivian says. “It’s kind of in the Paper Rad style, some of it is similar to what Tim and Eric are doing.”

Leivian also publishes an anthology every three to four months that features underground comics artists.

So far, Leivian has produced three issues of Diamond Comics (the aforementioned anthology) and republished a comic book called The Caterer, by artist/writer Steve Aylett. Floating World also organized an art exhibit and benefit for comic book writer Bill Mantlo.

Mantlo was a prolific writer at Marvel throughout the 1980s and was seriously injured in a hit-and-run accident. Leivian commissioned original art and compiled a comic book, with proceeds from the book’s sales going to pay toward Mantlow’s care.

Leivian talks enthusiastically about Floating World’s 2009 calendar. The Floating World Animation Festival may be taking place in more than one venue, he’s organizing another benefit for Mantlo in December and, in a nod to Leivian’s “first wave” as a comics fan, Floating World will be hosting a show in May called “Full of Pryde,” which will collect various artists’ renditions of the Shadowcat X-Men character.

When viewed as a whole, Floating World’s schedule is clearly the result of a manic comics fans’ continuing obsession. Fortunately for fans of the graphic novel, Leivian’s “third wave” is turning into something that we should all be able to ride.