"COMICS ARE NO FUN"
- Los Angeles Times, Friday, December 15, 1995

For any fully grown, mature adult who's ever been ridiculed for enjoying the pleasures offered by a comic book, Gary Cifra wants you to know he feels your pain. And As founder of the group Lines On Paper, a "sequential art appreciation society," the 46 year old Cifra wants to offer you respite from a world that may not understand your passion for stories told in one of the oldest media in the world.

"Comic books have in this culture, very much a juvenile image," Cifra said. "However, if you go to other cultures - France or Japan - it's not like that at all." What were ancient hieroglyphics, Cifra argues, if not comics? It is a form of storytelling that combines literature with a visual montage, telling a story not only in a very accessible way, but a powerful one as well. "This is an art form that should be taken seriously." Cifra said.

But lest you get the wrong impression, Lines On Paper doesn't have much time for cultural icons like Superman or Casper, with the group preferring to devote its energies to discussing the works of people dedicated to the art form. Like "Hate," by Peter Baggs. "It's a story about a family" Cifra said. "Like the "Simpsons," with a harder edge."

Lines On Paper was founded by Rod Mullinax, Dan Koeppel,
Jocelyn Heaney, Patty DeFrank and Gary Cifra in 1995.

ESSENTIAL SEQUENTIALS!
Oh yeah, look at this new...
Exceptional Seque...no...
Exquen...aarghh! It's down there!
• Boody Rogers
• Little Lulu
• Popeye
• Tin Tin
• EC Comics
• Mad Magazine
• The Spirit
• Uncle Scrooge
• Peanuts
• Zap
• New Gods
• I Saw It
• Corporate Crime