Upton's All-Stars

Bryce Rasmussen, aka Brycething, aka Bryce Krispies

Bryce has been my pal and one of my chief victims, ever since he moved to Vancouver from Saskatoon in the eighties, fleeing for his life. At that time the Prairies were not a safe place for punk rockers who looked a little weird so Bryce sought safety in the relatively tolerant atmosphere of the West Coast. Since that time he and I have done a lot together, for years we've terrorized the Vancouver alternative gallery scene with our determined assaults on any free food on offer and our rousing football chants of "Art! Art! Art! We love Art!"

Bryce and I, with bassist Steve Geary, formed the "garbage rock" band, Puke Theatre, a small but legendary part of the Vancouver music scene, mostly because my drum set was really made out of garbage! Sheet metal, mostly. People who stare at us in awe onstage at the noise we generated, some maniacs even danced.

Bryce played guitar and sang, admittedly for the most part not at the same time. Bryce has a real talent for improvising song lyrics, which also on occasion has made him a formidable slam poet. Eventually I had to switch to drums to save my hands and the band was never the same after that.

Bryce has been in many of my comics, mostly in Big Thing. (He also makes a cameo in a crowd scene in Buddha, but I don't think he knows it yet. Where's Bryce?) After awhile Bryce became a little annoyed with my admittedly goofy portrayal of him and I'll also admit caricature was never my strongpoint.

His first appearance in one of my comics was as the "man who couldn't feed the cat", a reputation he has yet to live down. Well, right here and now I am putting that slander I created to rest! Since that story was printed Bryce has been my regular cat sitter for over ten years and I can tell you he does a wonderful job!

The Bohemian artist's life has been hard on Bryce, just getting reliable housing in this city of impossible rents has put Bryce through a series of Roommate Hell's too awful to relate. At one point he seriously considered moving into a homemade trailer. But when he is able find the stability and time Bryce paints, writes lyrics and poetry, creates mini-comics featuring his creation, "Junkflesh", the man made of living garbage. He is currently training in bike repair.

Say hi to Bryce for me at: brycething@hotmail.com