Last week we sat down with Matt Dembicki who inaugurated a new feature in Washington History with a historical comic. He fearlessly took on the challenge of developing a storyline about Mayor Walter E. Washington’s leadership during the civil disturbances of 1968. Only instead of a word count, he was limited to drawing inside a single box.
In “Combustible,” readers learn that Mayor Washington resisted federal government officials calling for the use of force against looters. In one square, Washington orders, “The police and the National Guard are not to shoot.”
How did Dembicki manage to tackle such a complicated topic? And what sources did he use?
Dembicki explained that he often looks for “uncomplicated” episodes in larger, perhaps much more complicated histories. The narrative soon became very clear after Dembicki read through Ben W. Gilbert and the Washington Post’s Ten Blocks from the White House: Anatomy of the Washington Riots of 1968, published only one year after the unrest.
“Combustible” is certainly not Dembicki’s first stab at creating D.C. history comics. He’s a full-time editor by day, and an award-winning cartoonist by night (and probably the weekends).
You may have read his work before. In 2012 Dembicki edited an anthology of local history cartoons, District Comics: An Unconventional History of Washington, D.C., featuring brief moments that had large impacts on the city. In one, Dembicki explores Jim Crow Washington by narrating a story from the perspective of Ego Brown, an African American entrepreneur who helped overturn the racially charged ban on street shoeshine businesses.
Dembicki co-founded D.C. Conspiracy, a social club for comic creators that not only meets about their own projects, but also publishes a bi-annual newspaper of local District comics, the Magic Bullet. What began as a free 12-page paper has since grown to 50 pages.
As if that were not enough, you can explore Redistricted, the online anthology of local comics that publishes a new story each month. The latest, illustrated by Dembicki, tells a history of Cairo Condominiums in Dupont Circle, but through the perspective of the building.
So how did Dembicki get started making D.C. history comics? He is clearly fueled by his curiosity in the city’s past.
While working at an office near Dupont Circle, he often noted a dragon-like salamander at the top of the Heurich House mansion. He and Andrew Cohen, Dembicki’s creative partner in many of his local comic projects, developed a 20-page comic book about the history of the mansion, The Brewmaster’s Castle. And from there it was history.
So what’s next for Dembicki? He is looking into creating stories about the city’s former Native American population, homelessness, immigration, and food culture in the District. Stay tuned.
For the full “Combustible” comic and more, purchase your copy of the latest issue of Washington History today.
—Emily Niekrasz
Social Media Coordinator
Historical Society of Washington, D.C.