rom the earliest days of my youth on the streets of the city I have been bemused by the anonymity of the ? people around me. The indifference of people to each other in crowded places seemed contradictory to the commonly accepted idea that cities were created for safety. Indeed, the more time I spent on the streets the more I became aware of how unnoticed were the people who streamed past me. I grew up accepting this as a normal phenomenon of metropolitan life. Only years later did I realize how pervasive was this brutal reality and how people often accept. even welcome, invisibility as a way to deal with urban danger Pincus, the protagonist in "Sanctum" is a composite of someone who passed me a hundred times almost unnoticed. I set his story during the grey 1930s because it was a time when life seemed simpler and the dynamics of city living easier to define The passage of years and the growth of modern social machinery has done little to change things. Today, more than ever, invisible people populate our cities (ill Ener, Tamarac, Florida, 1992 lobe 7 yam UU BCC 2g SE same Stl sCast Eonar States pen Me Cleese Bharat portent eee me Set Production Kevin Lison Entre right © 192 by Kitchen Sink Press short excerpis for neve re in any mane, exp of the pabliser res publications, write tothe addres above Primed in USAPINCUS PLEATNIK! WHERE ARE You, BoY2 We GOT COMPANY, Pincus WAS AHIDER | FROM CHILDHOGD HE SOUGHT A SANCTUM WHERE HE COULD BE SAFE FROM THE UNPREDICTABLE DANGER OF HUMAN CONTACT. TO HIM THERE WAS iN INVISIBILITY, \y INSTINCTIVELY HE UNDERSTOOD THAT BEING UNNOTICED ISA MAJOR SKILL INTHE ART OF URBAN SURVIVAL...As PINCUS GREWOLPER HE LEARNED WAT HIDING WAS NOT THE ONLY WAY TOAVOID Z SOON HE ACHIEVED REAL. INVISIBILITY THROUGH WHICH HE WAS ABLE To AVOID THE RISKS AND THE INVOLVEMENT OF ROMANCE ss WHAT ABOUT THAT GUY YOU AT THE PARTY LAST NIGHT 2 WERE TALKING To EVENTUALLY THE REST OF I Hope SUCH A-A 50...1T 16 DANGEROUS OH, HE WAS NICE... BUT, FUNNY, N'T RECALL HIS NAME OR EVEN WHAT HE LOOKED Like/_ SHIRE THE BEST..NEGOT A GREAT PRESSER, MIS$U5,,, ts IN TIME, PINCUS BECAME A SKILLED CLOTHES PRESSER AND SECURED A STEADY JoB IN, ABE SHMOTTERS DRY CLEANING E AYERY GOOD NAH PRESSER, LLIKE IT HERE, ie PiNCve: ABE. INTHE Bu HONEETiy BACK, WHERE Mace NORE MBA Lor BEHIND SAFERI!EACH EVENING AFTER WORK , WITHOUT FAIL, PINCUS WOULD BLEND INTO THE STREAM OF THE HOMEWARD BOUND AND MAKE HIS WAY TO THE SANCTUARY OF HIS TENEMENT ROOMS, APARTMENT 46, 55 DROPSIE AVENUE.. THERE, IN HIS SANCTUM, HE WAS IN CONTROL OF HIS, ENVIRONMENT...HE ENJONED AN ORDERLY LIFE.q HELLO. HELLO! (2>\\||| ewusT A MOMENT. | Now sik... ‘ rik sig,.tssr.sae cet} you say You Are on iia oct oe ME TO-DNS OBIT PINCUS PLEATNIK ? ]/" a ctroxe., At 55Dropsie COLUMN Pty «AM. Avene . Services at al ’ Midtown Memorial 50, WHATS THE PROBLEM, 618 !? DOWN MSTER! THis DOzSSAy, PincusPleatnik OF 55 Dropsie ‘hie. E) pa | VP hier ut NEVER MAKE | MISTAKES ...BESIDES,..MY JOB 1970 EDIT THE LISTINGS AS llY SHOULD \ CALM DOWN... BE SENSIBLE! BESIDES T AM A BACHELOR WITH NO KIDS NO FAMILY WHOWILL CARE? 75 JUST An A MISTAKE SO,WHAT COULD IT HURT? PINCUS,,,PINCUS, YOU ARE A GOOD presse! \ YOu GOTAJOBIN ABE SHMCTTER'S STORE... YOU MAKE A’ LIVING! ITS MY DAY OFF. T'LL TAKE ANICE WALK IN THE PARK.., MAYBE IT'LL SOME NERY, TNE BEEN OBITUARIES FOR. TWENTY YEARS! I CONT MAKE JAKES“cGRY EOWA SORRY ED} THEIR CEE Fr fITS FRIDAY ae eed N | ‘@ (Wir/ Boss ? \ YEAH, ’ WE DELIVER. “THREE DAYS ACHIFFONIER . TOA PINCUS E D\, PLEATNIK AT. DEAL! fi X r 55 DROPSIE? Hy i if N Ar NI Now, Dummy ! BEFORE HIS ESTATE GRABS IT! CAREFUL, DON'T BANG UP \ HE WALL? Ae, ©ONE OF OUR. TENANTS DIED 2? 50 72,,,WAS HE BEHIND INTHE RENT ??..,HMMman AMONTH?. AHANES He 1S WHADDYA € WHADDYA MEAN if 1a "AND MEAN WE CAN'T 2 ONLY ONE PUT OUTA'FoR os WE GOTA, MONTH. HE RENT’ SIGN. LEGAL RIGHT! Pn MG ane! aes ) THE RENT! f 3 4 KNOW WHAT HE OWES us? yy AMAN, LISTED INTHE OBITUARY / su PINCUS PLEATNIK / Don'r 4 WHATS 175 48 WORRY, eos ON) (WE NEVER MR. PINCUS \ LAWYERS BR ee PLEATNIK | TO HANDLE GO/ OlED.. I'M = THAT! CHINGING, —— ante Fi THE Lock! ‘ | ; 2 | a MI (Ge 4 =~ i) | ok Pan | Gis Je LY YES &HOA, Gerene UME. TIME To GO HOME FOR SUPPER!HELLO?! | N fijj/ ABE SHMoTTERS we Wi RI IHO ARE YOU? wn QH3?2,,, THE ya CLEANING A LAPY 25REBA LOOK AT THIS... MY Bieb vesetow ERDAY! DAMMIT! MIT. SHE SAYS, Pincusour \ PRESSER JUST |" CALLED THERE THAT. CALL WAS THEIR, WAY OF WARNING ME... THEM UNION GOONS MUSTA KILL ED POOR PINCUS!I ‘THe gir fi =LET ME UT IT THIS WAy,..M GOING TOMARRY HIM... WITH-OR: WITHOUT you! IF_YOU FIGHT ME THEN AFTER WE MARRY WE'LL MOVE AWAY AND You'll BE ALONE! GINE US Your BLESSING! YOUR MOTHER a ANDI ARE GETTING & ACQUAINTED,’: _ You ' ih ” Gag f you! Pe, NIK mei EN UP! ' 3 ) ieise i mt WeWII’ scruces. Y WHATS wit ye HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING! w PIPES NEEDED CLEANING THE GAS /y LONG. BuT ISTOPPED TO TALK TO THED> LONG-Team pee CONTINUING. CARE!THERE NOW! SILL FIX YOUR, PILLOW... MORE COMFORTABLE oe BAP? LISTEN, I'VE THOUGHT IT ALL OVER! Nou ANDNOUR MOTHER PLEASE NEED ME Now! $0 I've You Sust Sit COME To STAY =TO LIVE DOWN AND RELAX! Hilly WITH You! ... WE CAN BE wREAD YOUR PAPER! TOGETHER NOW, TM HERE NOW!y q AHA. SEE ON THE CALENDAR You SHOULD LIGHT A MEMORIAL CANDLE FoR YOUR FATHER, TODAN, HERMIE /, Hime Now LET ME See.,.0. NAAT NEEDS TO BE DONE HERE! —1 sw ANG TOMORROW 1M GIVING UP MY LIBRARY Jog SOL CAN BE HOME HERE WITH YouR MOTHER | GOOD NIGHT MAMMA YETTA. I'M _ LEANING NOUR MILK HERE?! $0, TOMORROW, HERMAN, TAKE THE DAY OFF..WE'LL GO DOWN To CITY HALL AND GETA MARRIAGE LICENSE/ YAwWwy T'DON'T REM MBER, YAW yi DID WE TURN OFF THE GAS STOVE?; ll iy Lh Tt | | ry 4 i | 11; / i | Aan mu i)! ee ON ene ENE, wn LOST A LEG...AND A PARALYZED ARM.| | i il hi i ! \ EP Ny 1S HERMAN NOW ? OH, Hi CPG el Back acer nN THIS NERY BRANCH?I his book is dedicated to Carolyn Lamboly. Disabled, irapoverished and alone, she despaired of rescue at the hands of the community support system, where her request for help had been lost in the Dade County computer system. A few days before Christmas, 1990, Carolyn hung herself with a light cord in her room. Meanwhile, a local hospital finally found a way to get paid from the nursing home which hadn't been able to “qualify” her application. On January 3, 1991, some days after her death, funds for her were made available. Because she had no next of kin the funeral home kept Carolyn Lamboly’s body for two months. No one claimed her, so on the afternoon of February 27, 1991, she was buried in an unmarked grave in Memorial Park, Dade County, Florida.$295 08 $360 CAN KITCHEN rt graphic novel, Roe lastoncy ght in aw Ceca eitore) oii i NaN ies at Tata aple' UD Seamer er in comics in 1936, He pioneered of graphic novels with A Contract With God in 1978, followed by A Like Force, a be (Vad ads a-h obese iam ye |