

English / 日本語
Dear God,
It’s me, Ian.
The year was 1996. I had been running a small publishing venture called Migraine for a number of years, putting out mini-comics, zines, books, and the occasional record — all in the D.I.Y. spirit.
The press released three projects of my projects that I still really like, this being the Japanese translation of one of them. The comic is a somewhat confusing semi-autobio comic about my life and own bewilderment at having moved to Portland, Oregon — told through the eyes of a blobular fellow named “Our Hero”.
Another project I put out at that time were the first two issues of an encyclopedia zine called My Alphabet, written by Patrick Mullins. They are my favorite Migraine releases and available in pdf format here and here.
Shortly after that time, I visited Japan for the first time, playing music with the noise act Jalopaz. It was a really intense visit, and I wanted to pay back the friends I had made here by giving them something. Joshua Hansell translated the comic for me, and I printed a limited edition of 250 spiral-bound versions of this comic, boxed them up, and sent them to Tokyo for friends. That was the last of this comic. Until now.
In retrospect, it’s shittily scripted and drawn, but it definitely captured a certain moment. And thus, I share it with you:
Law of Diminishing Returns
Note: LODR was originally laid out with 4 panels per page, but that wouldn’t work so well as a gallery in here. Also note that the gallery contains 126 panels, so proceed if you have some time on your hands…
神様へ
イアンです。
時は1996年。その頃僕はMigraineという小さな出版業をもう何年か営んでいて、ミニコミック、マガジン、本、そして時にはレコードも出版していました。もちろん、すべてD.Y.Iの精神に則って。
僕が手掛けた出版物のなかで特に気に入っていたものが3点あり、これはそのうちの一つの日本語訳です。このコミックは少し複雑な自伝的要素があって、僕が始めてオレゴン州、ポートランドに引っ越した時の経験や驚きを「われらがヒーロー」という名の物体の視点から語っています。
その頃出版したもう一つのプロジェクトは、Patrick Mullins 作の百科事典を基にした雑誌、My Alphabet の最初の2号でした。これらは僕のもっとも好きなMigraineリリース作品であって、こことここでPDFフォーマットで提供中です。
それから少し時が経ち、僕はノイズアクトJalopazとともに披露するため、日本を始めて訪れました。それはとても強烈な体験であって、出会ったすばらしい仲間達に何かをあげることで、せめてもの恩返しになればと僕は思っていました。Joshua Hansellに訳してもらったそのコミックを、僕はらせん綴じにして250冊印刷し、箱にいれて東京の友達へと送り出しました。それがそのコミックの最後でした。そう、今日まではね。
今にして思えば、この作品は筋書きも絵もひどいものだけれど、ある特定の瞬間をしっかりと捕らえていると思います。だからこそ、ここであなたに紹介します:
Law of Diminishing Returns
注:LODRは元々1ページに4コマというレイアウトでしたが、それはギャラリーとしてここで紹介するには不向きなので再構成しています。
又、このギャラリーはおよそ126コマあるので、時間がある方々に見ていただければ幸いです、、、。
Ian Lynam is a graphic designer living in Tokyo and the art director of Neojaponisme. His website is located at
ianlynam.com. His new book,
Parallel Strokes, on the intersection of graffiti and typography is available now.
Posted in Humor, The Future No Comments »


Answer: Bob Dylan was so influential that even the most infamous leftist terrorist organization in U.S. history — the Weathermen — took their name from a Dylan lyric (”You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows” from “Subterranean Homesick Blues“)
(The Question was: How influential was Bob Dylan?)
Less militant parties have also taken a modicum of influence from the man born as Robert Allen Zimmerman, Jr.: in particular, other musicians. So to finally put the spotlight back on the Bard of Duluth, here is a list of artists and bands who have taken their names from Bob Dylan song titles and lyrics.
W. David Marx (Marxy) — Tokyo-based writer and musician — is the founder and chief editor of Néojaponisme.
Posted in Humor, The Future 8 Comments »

Bzzzzzz….
Wha? Wha?
Oh… An alarm… Time for school. I should get up.
Mr. Apatow musters up the strength to climb out of bed, pinstripe pajamas to match his pinstripe sheets. He sits — in a complete daze, somewhere between dreaming and daydreaming.
”How could they have canceled Undeclared? The series needed time. Am I doomed for a string of one-season shows? I will never ever be a success in this Boardwalk of Broken Dreams called… Hollywood.”
At this point, Mr. Apatow is facing himself in the mirror.
”But at least, Freaks and Geeks will be a cult series. Appreciated postmortem. The kind of series that will inspire fan fiction. Now, what I’m hoping for this fan fiction is that it’s written far enough in the future where all talk of my failures are essentially there for irony’s sake — like when I think out-loud along the lines of ‘I will never be a success in this…’ etc., it will clearly be humorous in light of my hit film projects.”
He continues his soliloquy, “I am hoping this fan fiction gets incredibly meta. Like, it portrays itself as Freaks and Geeks fan fiction at first, but really, it’s just a vehicle for expressing the inner thoughts of ‘Master Creator’ Judd Apatow. I hate this idea that meta humor is somehow a gimmick, like a limerick or something. Meta is a part of the equation now, a part of the fabric. The author’s not dead. The author is typing about the movement about his hands typing. My next movie’s going to be called Hunt and Peck.
”I’ll tell you though. Success is not all roses. The 40-Year-Old Virgin — the soundtrack choices are criminal. First, we rip off that Apollo 100 ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’ from Boogie Nights. You know it’s going to be a terrible movie when the soundtrack just steals key audio moments from other contemporary movies. Like that stupid camping movie with Seth Green and Dax Shepard. Without a Paddle. The movie starts with The Faces’s ‘Ooh La La,’ which was so amazingly deployed at he conclusion of Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. What next, start a movie with Iggy Pop’s ‘Lust for Life.’ I never want to hear ‘Born Slippy .NUXX’ in another goddamn movie.
”And then that whole ‘Aquarius’ finale. When are people going to figure out that ‘Aquarius’ was not completely unironic. People just don’t get Hair. Maybe I somewhat blame Milos Forman, but jeez. I mean, I made that whole 40-Year-Old Virgin movie, and I still think that ending was just ridiculous. And I’ve had sex before.
”A lot of people ask me why I use Seth Rogen in every movie,” Mr. Apatow says at a mass rally held later in the afternoon. “I don’t know. I just don’t. He’s not my alter ego, but he’s not my superego either. He’s just like, my Jack Nance. Yeah, that’s it: he’s like the modern day Jack Nance.”
At this point, Lindsay Cardellini pipes up, “Wha…” but the Apatow-Narrator cuts her off. He’s not only the writer, but also the script doctor.
”I don’t know much about fan fiction, but I am hoping for a Manoj N. Shyamalan ending where it turns out… it was all just a dream…. written by Judd Apatow.”
W. David Marx (Marxy) — Tokyo-based writer and musician — is the founder and chief editor of Néojaponisme.
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