Wapsi Square

Infobox Webcomic|
title = Wapsi Square


caption = "Wapsi Square Volume 1" print collection: Monica, Dietzel and Tepoztecal
author = Paul "Pablo" Taylor
url = http://wapsisquare.com/
status = Updates weekdays
began = September 9 2001
ended =
genre =
ratings =

"Wapsi Square" is a webcomic by Paul "Pablo" Taylor, about the eccentric lives and relationships of a group of neighbors from the fictional square of the title, in Taylor's home town of Minneapolis.

The strip began as a kind of comic soap opera, but events took darker and more surreal turns, often involving the supernatural. The main character, Monica, has psychic powers and has been befriended by a mischievous Aztec (or pre-Aztec) god of alcohol. Moreover, she and her friend Shelly both suffered traumatic childhood events which are connected, and which often color their present-day relationships.

The development of the comic toward more complex storylines has been accompanied by an increase in the sophistication of the artwork from its fairly loose original style to its current stylized look, with characters appearing in front of lower-contrast grey backgrounds.

The comic made its debut on September 9 2001. In October 2003 the comic was picked up by Keenspot, but on May 24 2005 it left KeenSpot to become part of the Blank Label Comics consortium.

Wapsi Square maintained a regular three-times weekly schedule from its inception until July 2004 when it was increased to five days a week. The comic is usually a black and white single strip, but has occasionally expanded into color and/or bigger formats.

Print collections

*"Wapsi Square Volume 1" (ISBN 1-932775-17-X) was published by KeenSpot in February 2005. This covers the early days of the strip in a compact format. It was obviously intended to be the first of a series, but the series was dropped when the strip left KeenSpot.

Subsequent volumes were published through print on demand company Lulu.com beginning in June 2006. The first volume starts again from the beginning but covers a longer time period. These books have a larger page format, with layouts designed to take advantage of the strip's occasional format changes.
*"Wapsi Square: 2001 - 2004" (ISBN 978-1-4116-5442-6 ) (2006) Layout by Steve Troop (of "Melonpool").
*"Wapsi Square: The Demons in My Back Pocket" (No ISBN given) (2007)
*"Wapsi Square: The Timekeeper's Daughter" (No ISBN given) (2008)

Characters

(Partially derived from Wapsi Square website)

Primary

*Monica Villareal - a short, very busty young woman, half Irish, half Mexican and possessing an extremely long tongue. [cite web | url = http://www.wapsisquare.com/d/20050530.html | title = "Wapsi Square", 30 May 2005 | work = "Wapsi Square"] To all outward appearances she is charmingly awkward and naive, but this masks some deeper psychological problems. As a child she was trained as a "glyph reader" by Jin's mother who came in the guise of Monica's deceased great-grandmother. Monica spoke to her family of this, only to be told that she had died twelve years earlier. Later she spent four years in psychiatric care starting at the age of 14 following an incident that was interpreted as a failed suicide attempt. After her recovery she gained degrees in Art History and Anthropology, became co-owner of an antiques store and currently works for the University Museum. It was there that she accidentally awakened the diminutive god Tepoztecal, who has been a constant presence in her life ever since.
**The suicide attempt was revealed in May 2007 to be more of an attempt to physically escape her personal demons, that were chasing her. Jin threw herself between Monica and the bus, saving Monica. Tina was a "random casualty" of the event as Jin's responsibility was to look out for Monica and Shelly ("Muscle girl") and "keep things running smoothly". Period. The well being of other humans involved was apparently not a concern.
**The dark side of Monica's psyche is evidenced by storylines in which her self-doubt took on human form and urged her to attempt suicide once more. Monica succeeded in banishing it as well as coming to grips with her other dark impulses as Monica has come to understand that they cannot hurt her or force her to do things, only suggest and influence, and that not heeding them leaves them powerless. A more recent storyline has "Doubt" trying to convince Monica that it could also be a force for good in her life.
**After Monica visited the Bibliothiki and met Phix the sphinx, she gained the ability to teleport (or "poit", after the accompanying sound effect) unaided. Her returns from the Bibliothiki have so far mostly been off target, leaving her butt first in a bucket and falling down a flight of stairs. However, she was able to "poit" herself and Shelly without any apparent accident. She is also, evidently, able to "poit" objects around, as while heavily intoxicated she removed her bra that way. Finally, Monica was able to "poit" Tepoz from a remote location into her presence.
**Monica has also been shown to have telepathic conversations with Jin, who is generally aware of Monica's thoughts.

*Tepoztecal (Tepoz for short) [a variation on Tepoztecatl ] - one-foot-high, blue-skinned Aztec god of alcohol (though probably much older than the Aztecs and appropriated by their culture), awakened from a 400-year slumber by Monica and now living with her incognito. His powers involve all aspects of alcohol; he can create the perfect martini out of thin air, prepare any type of alcohol-marinated food, and make people instantly drunk. He once transported a marinated turkey directly into Monica's stomach to help her sleep. This worked, but caused some digestive complications. He is apparently not a figment of her imagination, since Dietzel can see him, and both Shelly and Katherine have also seen and spoken to him. He considers himself Monica's friend and protector despite the fact that she (sometimes) hates him and has often been placed in danger by his actions.
**Tepoz was given the charge of guarding the Golem Girls after glyph readers had separated them. Unlike previous guardians, Tepoz took the trouble to isolate the discrete essences of the girls and return their personalities and identities to them. Previously, the girls were intermixed to the point that they may as well have been three identical golems.
**Tepoz was given the duty of "watching over" Monica by Kukulcan. At the time Tepoz mentioned that it had something to with the "Calendar Machine", to which Kukulcan responded that Tepoz had been out of it for 400 years and that something had to be done.
** Tepoz told Monica that he was made by Jin's mother, using the same process used to create the Golem Girls; he speculates that "rats and weasels" were used instead of human remains.

*The Golem Girls: Bud , Brandi, and Jin - three "drunken college girls" with fangs, summoned by Tepoztecal. They are actually temple guardian golems of enormous power that were once combined to form a chimera. Originally they looked and acted like annoyingly frisky teenagers, because that was the way Tepoz envisioned them when he summoned them. Due to Monica's mysterious status as a "glyph reader", they are generally extremely deferent to Monica's wishes, often humorously so. Monica eventually learns that they were subjects of human sacrifice whose mishandled transformation into the chimera unleashed a destructive rampage that destroyed a civilization in 10,500 BC, as commemorated by the Great Sphinx of Giza.

:Only when separate were they controllable, a task that was originally given to the reluctant Tepoz and later to the equally-reluctant Monica. After a discussion with Jin, Brandi, and Bud have been given their memories of the past back, and are trying to deal with living in the "real world", and are no longer drunk.

:*Bud (later calling herself Acacia Budur) is capable of manifesting as a goat. Bud is perhaps the most emotionally damaged by what happened to them, but also appears to be more determined to have a life again. She currently works at a dance studio.:*Brandi manifests as a lion and spends a great deal of time reading and making coffee. She is by far the gentlest of the Girls. Brandi found employment as an office manager in her new life.:*Jin manifests as a giant serpent and later was revealed to be Tochtli (Rabbit), child of the goddess Mayahuel, who intervened in the creation of the chimera by making it so that she was one of the ones to be sacrificed. She disrupted the chimera's creation by committing suicide before the ritual could be completed. This enabled her to maintain partial control over Brandi and Bud, but was unable to stop the destruction of the ancient world. In addition to fangs, Jin has snake eyes on a regular basis and they emit beams of light when she is angry or excited.

::During the chimera's incarceration, Jin was able to leave and pursue her own interests, including being a spirit guide to Shelly and Monica. In a flashback it was shown that Jin trained Monica. ::She and Tepoz have a yet-to-be-revealed history. Jin's mother created Tepoz as an experimental golem. This is consistent with Aztec mythology, where Tochtli and Tepoztecatl are members of the Centzon Totochin (Four Hundred Rabbits), children of Mayahuel, and are strongly related to octli, the traditional alcoholic drink of the Aztecs, and to drunkenness.::Jin has started a serious relationship with Alan, a friend of Kevin, whom she met at the Cerberus Club. After months of dating, including the 2006 Halloween where she dressed up as Little Bo Peep and he dressed up as a Big Bad Wolf, Alan approached her in May 2007 for a committed relationship.::Jin disguised herself as a boy at one time to escape the those that hunter her. Tepoz never met her until she was transformed into a golem.::Jin denies being either a god or a demon, explaining to Shelly that she is merely older (by at least 12,500 years) and can "pull a rabbit out of a hat".::Jin constantly torments Shelly, speaking to her in taunting, sarcastic and demeaning tones, often appearing out of the blue just to make snide remarks and belittle her. The reason for this was not revealed until September 7, 2007, when after being told off by Shelly, Jin is seen crying in a bar telling herself that she can't allow Shelly to be her friend this time, referring to the resetting of the Calendar Machine.

*Shelly Wahnee - a Native American girl from the Southwest, proud of her Comanche heritage. Plays cello and bass guitar and has a music degree. Plays bass in Jacqueline's band "Fermented Banana" and works in her father's auto repair shop. Her refusal to admit that she has a crush on Owen was complicated by Owen's relationship with Lakshmi. She also feels close to Heather, but is uncertain about her true feelings because of Heather's lesbian attraction to her. Shelly also has an inconvenient tendency to let her mouth and impulses get the best of her, resulting in some awkward moments (such as when she barges into Jacqueline's yoga class) as well as unintentionally hurting people's feelings. She is shown as being powerfully built, with broad shoulders and a strong upper body.
**She also has psychological issues related to her mother's death which complicate her attitude to relationships. Her attempt to talk things through with Heather was interrupted when a bowling ball fell on her head and knocked her unconscious. A second attempt was interrupted by an attempted mugging. After seeing off the mugger, Shelly and Heather finally reached an understanding.
**Shelly undertook a vision quest after her mother's death that coincided with Monica's attempted suicide. Jin intervened in both events, saving their lives, but "didn't quite there soon enough" for Shelly. Shelly had seen her anima, a rabbit, but was in a state of hypovolaemic shock and peripheral cyanosis, leaving her too open to the demon world. Shelly is now a "walking doorway", as is Monica.
**Tepoztecal has hinted cryptically that events from her childhood involving the rabbit god Tochtli are in fact meant to link her to Monica, presumably to be a stabilizing influence in her often bizarre life. Bud has also independently sought her advice on "normal" human behavior.
**Shelly's mother, a linguist with special interest in Mesa Verde pictographs and Olmecs, left four clay dolls in her daughter's keeping, saying that Tochtli told her to care for them. While Shelly originally thought that the dolls represented Bud, Jin, Brandi, and Monica, Monica determined that the dolls are actually time setting keys to a clock, theorized to be a quantum device.
**After answering Phix's riddle, Shelly was given a hammer as a reward that, when struck, acts as a tuning fork set at middle C.

upporting Cast

*Dietzel - Monica's "almost human" bull terrier. Seems to have picked up some of Monica's geeky awkwardness in his training. He does not speak, but is somewhat anthropomorphic in his attitude, facial expressions, and understanding of events. He has an adverse reaction to going to the park, since something bad always happens to him when he's there.

*Amanda Ehrlich - a photographer by trade, she is Monica's closest friend and sternest critic. Described as "a strong willed individual who believes that natural selection has been destroyed by society and thusly we are perpetuating a nation of idiots". Amanda recently adopted a stray, feral kitten that she named Selenium.

*Owen Albrecht - a long-time friend of Shelly, he is an easygoing young man who plays guitar and keyboards in "Fermented Banana". Owen eventually became Lakshmi's boyfriend, despite being slightly intimidated by her size and strength, having completely failed to notice Shelly's interest in him. However, he is aware of her femininity on some level, despite the many years of thinking of her as "one of the guys".

*Jacqueline Bontemps - a formerly shy and retiring girl from Maine who came out of her shell in high school and became a drummer in a friend's band. She has inherited a fortune from her Great Aunt, but prefers to lead a 'normal' life. Runs a yoga studio and still performs as the founder-member of "Fermented Banana". The band's name comes from an incident that Monica told them about: one day while trying to brush her teeth in the dark she squeezed the contents of a fermented banana onto her toothbrush by mistake.

*Kevin - Monica's boyfriend. He is tall, kind, and handsome. They first met when Monica was assigned to curate an exhibition of Kevin's photographs, and then began dating after Kevin accidentally hit Dietzel with a Frisbee (while trying to simply land it near him). Kevin had apparently been aware of Monica for some time, and was looking for a pretext to ask her out. Kevin is largely unaware of Monica's metaphysical leanings; he has never seen Tepoz, thinks Bud is Monica's old college roommate, and has been convinced by Monica that a trio of skeletons he found in her basement was actually a Halloween decoration, rather than an artifact of the chimera (see the "More than Shadows" story arc).

After a night out partying, Monica accidentally teleported Kevin into her bed, where the entire group of girls were sleeping off massive hangovers. Panicking, Monica teleported a sleeping Kevin and Bud back to Kevin's bed. After establishing that Kevin was honorable, Bud teleported the two of them back to Monica's so that Kevin could learn what the hell was going on. Kevin appeared to take the entire thing in stride after a 90-minute "cup of coffee" with Monica explaining everything.

*Alan, a friend of Kevin, after dating Jin for several months has entered into a romantic relationship with her. He is presently unaware of her status, history, or abilities, pretty much just like Kevin.

*Daren Watkins - bartender and confidante to Monica and her friends. A former school teacher, which he sometimes finds similar to running a bar. Has a phobia of bananas and thus will not allow Fermented Banana to play at the bar.

*Lakshmi Prasad - a tall athletic young woman of East Indian extraction. She has won an Olympic medal for swimming and her other interests include windsurfing and rock climbing. She also has a summer job at her father's construction company. Although she is very muscular, she thinks of herself as feminine.

*Heather Mills - a tough Texan from a military family, she has Army experience, electronics expertise and an enthusiasm for shooting. Currently program director for an ailing Minneapolis radio station. Her boss says she works too hard. A lesbian, she had an unrequited crush on Shelly before entering into a relationship with one of her music fans, Vickie Talbot. She has not yet met the other regular characters, except Owen. Owen briefly flirted with her when Heather was in a band (Intentional Thumbprint) that once opened for "Fermented Banana" at the Plow in Des Moines, Iowa. Heather sang and played acoustic guitar in the band. Shelly described the band's music as “a bit folky”.

*Katherine Gilchrist - an expert in preservation and restoration, she works in the University Museum's textiles and materials department. Once revealed to Monica that she is a closet nudist at home. Lives alone except for a pet fish. She collects spiders in an apparent attempt to overcome her arachnophobia. She has a compassionate personality and is thoughtful and intelligent, but her chronic shyness puts her off meeting people. She also seems to have an uncanny ability to read people and their emotions. Spending most of her time indoors has given her a pale complexion which, coupled with her dark, hollow eyes and fugitive smile, tends to put other people off meeting her as well, perpetuating her loneliness. Discussions in the strip's Forum revealed that fans like her and would like to see her find happiness. A chance meeting with Tepoz, whose appearance did not faze her at all, led her to discuss her interests with Monica over drinks at Daren's bar.

*Personal demons - these are anthropomorphic personifications of personality traits which some characters have had to deal with, specifically Monica and Tina. Monica's demons were first introduced in May 2003; Tina's were first mentioned in May 2007. Each of Monica's demons represents a certain negative aspect; however, little more is known except that they hold no actual power over those they haunt. They can only try to attack one mentally. Tepoz, the Golem Girls and Tina are all able to see Monica's demons. The ones introduced so far include:
**Anger - represented by a woman with a face like a shattered mirror who has mixed facial features.
**Hatred - represented by a dark hunching figure with simple round eyes and clenched teeth.
**Panic - represented by a female creature with sharp teeth and hair like a medusae.
**Fear - represented by a woman without eyes like an empty mask.
**Doubt - represented by a reflection of Monica with sullen eyes who often has her "word bubbles" reversed as though seen though a mirror. Monica dislikes Doubt and often fights her, but Doubt claims to be a necessary evil whom Monica should sometimes trust.
**Vanity - represented by a head on a thin spine without arms or ribcage on top of fleshy legs and a wire corset outlining an exaggerated female figure.
**Lust - represented by a furry woman with a mask-like face who walks with her hands like a primate.

*Other demons also exist who have not been identified.

*Tina Rosario Aldaco Guzmán - owns Mucho Mocha, the local coffee house. She is always unfailingly optimistic, despite occasionally getting orders wrong, and tries to see the good in everything and everyone. In spite of this, until recently nobody seemed to know her last name. Monica's attempt to find out more about her only caused her to blurt out hints of a shady past. If asked about her fang-like teeth, she replies that there was a mix-up at a dental lab when rebuilding her dentition following a car accident, which was the result of her testifying against her mobster father in a major trial.
After considerable fan speculation as to her true natureFact|date=August 2008, the story commencing May 7 2007 [http://wapsisquare.com/d/20070507.html] ) has revealed that the original Tina "actually died" in the Mexican vehicle pile-up that resulted from Monica's suicide attempt. Somehow several of Tina's personal demons survived and reanimated her body, becoming the Tina that Monica and her friends know. Per Jin, Tina died "and the rats took over the ship". Her altered perceptions of reality, which seem to leave her confused to a certain extent, are not (as previously believedFact|date=August 2008) the result of brain damage, but are due to the fact that she is not a normal human being.
She describes herself as "a conglomerate of emotional and psychological elements with an entrepreneurial spirit" [cite web | url = http://wapsisquare.com/d/20070515.html | title = "Wapsi Square", 15 May 2007 | work = "Wapsi Square"] . Although the demons attempted to learn about Tina through collecting newspaper clipping about the accident, they were unable to read her diary as it was written in a language that they could not read, which Monica told her was standard shorthand (but which is implied to be the glyph language taught to Monica by Jin's mother.):She is aware that Monica also has personal demons (see below), and is able to see and communicate with them. Tina feels that this gives her a special connection with Monica, but Monica appears highly disturbed by the idea of personal demons being able to act on their own. Tina was living in Miami after the accident, but felt an irresistible urge to relocate near Monica. :Tina is most likely connected to the four sunstone keys; she was shown winding a clock with a key that looked like one of the clay dolls, and has fangs and silver eyesOr|date=August 2008.:Tina met bud in 2007 [cite web | url = http://www.wapsisquare.com/d/20071114.html | title = "Wapsi Square", 14 Nov 2007 | work = "Wapsi Square"] - both were weirded out by the other (Bud has no aura, and Tina appeared to Bud as a demon/monster), but managed to reach a mutual understanding of non-aggression. During this meeting Tina revealed that she is not allowed to ever hurt anyone. A later discussion when they were out clubbing revealed that it is "illegal" for Tina misguide anyone other than her original self, who is now dead [cite web | url = http://www.wapsisquare.com/d/20080801.html | title = "Wapsi Square", 01 Aug 2008 | work = "Wapsi Square"] . If she were to harm or kill anyone "time would stop dead".

* Jin's Mother - A "Time Keeper of Lanthis" and the designer of the Calendar Machine. She also trained Monica to read glyphs by impersonating her dead grandmother. Jin's mother had herself turned into a golem in a bid to gain control over the Calendar Machine - she had herself burned alive and her ashes were mixed with clay by the other time keepers when she convinced them they could turn her into a powerful weapon. However, the other Time Keepers had no control over her so she was able to remove the Calendar Machine to the Americas for safekeeping. Per Jin and Phix, Jin's mother has been "torn out her existence" and now resides in the spirit world.

*Phix - a bespectacled sphinx, librarian of an extra-dimensional library referred to as "The Bibliothiki". Phix maintains a "no humans" rule for access to the library as humans burned the library's portal on earth, the Library of Alexandria. Phix challenged Monica's access to the Library, demanding the answer to a riddle with Monica's death as the penalty for a wrong answer; this was later revealed as a test to see whether Monica dedication to learning the library's secrets. After Monica correctly answered the riddle, Phix gave her a copy of "Machine Before The Sunstone", which carried a picture of one of the dolls that Shelly guards on its cover. On Christmas, 2007, Phix travels to Earth's dimension and gives Monica the book permanently for safekeeping - it was written by Jin, a collection of poems that help her remember her mother's teachings. Phix then reveals secrets about Jin's mother and the Calendar Machine to Monica.

:Monica later brought Shelly to the library, where Phix subjected her to the ordeal of the riddle. After Shelly gave a different (but also correct) answer, Phix gave her a small hammer whose purpose Shelly had to figure out for herself. Once Monica and Shelly departed, Phix reflected that the girls had some painful growing up to do, just as she had from the days when she really was a murderous monster.

:The riddle of the Phix was as follows:
"I've never seen your face, yet I kiss it every day. You can see me all around you, in the treetops where I play"
Monica and Shelly each gave different answers to the riddle: "sunshine" and "the wind", respectively. Phix rewarded both of them for their responses but never actually confirmed that either answer was correct. Fans have speculatedFact|date=August 2008 that other characters may also be asked the riddle and will give still other answers.

The Calendar Machine

The primary focus of the current storyline is the "lost" Calendar Machine which was brought to the Americas by Jin's mother after she was turned into a golem. Little is actually known about the Calendar Machine except that it is of great importance to the "gods" and that "something must be done" about it. It is hinted that it needs to be set in some manner and it is known that it predates the creation of the Chimera in 10,500 BCE. Monica has theorized that it is some sort of quantum device, and that it has become greater than the sum of its parts.

Phix revealed that the Calendar Machine was designed and built by the "Time Keepers of Lanthis" (Atlantis). Jin's mother designed it, and when it was set in motion all those present in the "mica lined room" stopped aging. This included Jin, who was 18 at the time. All the time keepers except Jin's mother eventually died - Jin's mother attempted to destroy the Calendar Machine and was "ripped out of her existence" as result. Per Phix, Jin protects her mother by protecting Monica, who is a doorway to the spirit world.

Jin needs the Calendar Machine to be reset in order to go on. The calendar only goes to December 21, 2012, and Monica and Shelly must reset it at that time. Everything starts over; Jin is aware of the reset, but everything is "always different". The reset goes back to the point that Jin's mother attempted to destroy the Calendar machine. Per Phix, the Calendar Machine has already been reset 56 times. If the reset is for the full 5,125 years of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar cycle, then Jin is at least 292,138 years old.

Monica and Shelly are to try and fix the Calendar Machine and restore things to normal - however, as this will allow Jin to finally age and die, Monica and Shelly, along with anyone else inside the Mica Lined Room, will stop aging.

Bud says the Calendar Machine is at Teohuacan, hidden inside a temple room with no doors, teleportation being the only way in or out.

Additional clues about the Calendar Machine are as follows:

* Shelly was given 4 dolls that are theorized to be "setting keys" for the Calendar Machine
* Per Bud, "the machine's motion is perpetuated by the frequency resonance of its components"
* Shelly was given a small hammer by Phix - its use is related to their ultimate encounter with it
* Monica was given a book "Machine Before the Sunstone" by Phix, on the cover of which was a picture of one of the four dolls
* Monica has been tasked with whatever the "gods" decided needed to be done about the Calendar Machine - she was trained for this by Jin's mother
* Tina winds a clock in her coffee shop every day with a key. The handle of the key looks like the same doll illustrated on the cover of the book given to Monica. When asked about the clock, she gives a cryptic answer about dire consequences if the clock is not wound every day
* Tina has silver eyes and "demon teeth" - she was also present when Monica ran in front of bus, leaving Tina "dead" and her body controlled by her demons
* Shelly's mother was a linguist that studied the Olmec and Mesa Verde civilizations, whom Monica thought were in a "witness protection program" as civilizations
* The Chimera did not guard the Calendar Machine, but knew of it (it is an older magic than the Chimera) as temple guards in Aztec society
* The Calendar Stone is likely a stone representation of the Calendar Machine
* Monica found a tapestry that Tepoz said was not meant to be found. The tapestry is a "gateway" that Tepoz said went back in time - Monica noted that Tepoz's explanation had holes in it, but nevertheless put the tapestry into storage. Tepoz then teleported the tapestry into Bud for safekeeping. The tapestry was later stolen by Jin, who then teleported the face (the magic part of it) from the tapestry onto Shelly in the form of a tattoo for safekeeping after Tepoz confronted her about it. The tapestry leads, eventually, to the Calendar Machine, not back in timeFact|date=August 2008.

Trivia

* Wapsi Square gets its name from the Wapsipinicon River which runs through northeast Iowa. Locals refer to the river as "The Wapsi".

Running Gags

* The weather changes so fast in Spring and Autumn that nobody can enjoy the good parts of it
* Shelly losing her temper
* Tepoz getting people drunk by snapping his fingers
* Bra jokes
* Horrible things happening to Deitzel at the park
* Things teleporting into peoples' stomachs (usually against their will)

About the author

Taylor is a native of Iowa and attended the University of Northern Iowa, where he studied photography and art history.

He moved to California after college with his now ex-wife. She was originally from Mexico and got a bilingual teaching job in a mostly Hispanic area. While there, Taylor took various photography jobs and was a substitute grade school teacher.

He later moved back to Iowa to open a photography studio with a good friend from high school (it is now being run exclusively by that friend). At this time, he started dating his present wife, whom he had met during college. He credits her as a big inspiration for starting "Wapsi Square".

Both Taylor and his wife liked the Minneapolis area, so after five years of running a photo studio (and surviving a long-distance relationship), he sold his half of the studio and trekked up North.

Taylor spends his time working on "Wapsi Square" and managing an apartment building in Minneapolis.

References

External links

* [http://wapsisquare.com/ "Wapsi Square"]
* [http://www.blanklabelcomics.com/ Blank Label Comics]
* [http://www.keenswag.com/product.php?productid=16245&cat=248&page=1 Keenswag Store: "Wapsi Square Volume 1"]