My name is Steve Willis. Actually I am Steven with a "v" and when I was in school we Steves with a "v" were usually the most common first name in class. Steves with a "ph" Stephens still counted as Steves but generally they were just a bit older than us. We "v" Steves were Ike first termer babies. My Mom told me she just liked the name and she didn't want a "Stefan." My Dad the Virginian wanted to name me "Shenandoah" but he did not prevail. If he had, this art project would've been much different.
Our names shape our personalities, or so some would think. And we Steves are very Steve-like. Then add the Willis and well, there you go. Steve Willis-- making us all very Steve Willis-like and I don't have to tell all you Steve Willis guys what that means.
Anyway, with such a common first and surname you would think I would have met another Steve Willis in the course of my life, whether they were a "v" or "ph." but no. When I attended the University of Washington 1980-1982 there were three of us in the student directory, but we did not cross paths.
I am aware of other cartoonists named Steve Willis, one in Arizona, one in England, and another in Pennsylvania who specialized in pro-marijuana art and I even corresponded with him in the past. I am sure there are several more cartoonist Steve Willis people out there.
There is another Steve Willis (but not a cartoonist) who lives about 15 miles way from me out here in the rural part of rain-soaked western Washington State. We have yet to meet but seem to bump into each other in odd bureaucratic ways.
Famous people named Steve Willis include an Australian fitness television personality, an ATF agent killed at Waco during the Koresh Cult thing, a boxing referee, a Libertarian Party operative, and a Constitution Party candidate for Governor.
My particular Willis surname traces back to one Absolom or Abner Willis who was born in Virginia or North Carolina during the American Revolution. He actually walked out of his home with a dramatic exit in the hills of Virginia and vanished in the 1840s. We don't know where he came from and we don't know where he went. He is my great-great-great grandfather.
Onward.
In this art project I have attempted to locate other people named Steve Willis. Their locations are indicated in the first map. I discovered the name Steve Willis is much more common in the South than in the North. For the purposes of my art project, if I could not find a person named Steven or Stephen Willis I substituted a local comic book shop or art establishment.
All of the Steve Willis or substitutes that were sent a Morty Comix have been indicated on the map above.
In the early 1980s I attempted a project sort of like this one, but that was long before Internet. Several of the Morty Comix I sent back then were returned unopened and I still have the sealed envelopes. I expect several of the Morty Comix in this experiment will be returned as well. In early Century 21 I also tried the random connect-the-dots genre in a totally different online art piece involving license plates. So this current Morty Comix Steve Willis Project is something of a combination of some past concepts.
As you can see when the dots from the previous map are connected a very positive picture emerges. The true inner essence from within each Steve Willis is combined and manifests itself into an image of happiness. And isn't the pursuit of happiness, along with life and liberty, part of what America is supposed to be all about?
And so, there it is. But I bet you are still asking "What the heck is this diabolical project all about anyway?!?" And y'know, I am asking myself that same question.
