Avoid the Future

One Question Interview #26: Ben Newman

2011-07-28T01:34:00.017+01:00

Picture of The Bento Bestiary nabbed from our friends at Nobrow

As even the most casual ATF reader knows, the way to my heart is through a momentous amount of kaiju references. With that it mind, it shouldn't be hard to figure out why Ben Newman - illustrator behind Nobrow's fantastic yokai-inspired compendium The Bento Bestiary - has forced us out of our hiatus with this volume-length and video-packed answer to our long-standing question about his favourite monsters. This one's got it all, folks: Mattel, Ultraman, late 80s anime, more Ultraman, and the mighty Garamon; so sit back, relax, and enjoy what just might be my favourite One Question Interview yet:

Q: Our favourite monsters in The Bento Bestiary are Taimatsu Maru, Nue and Wanyudo. Whom are your favourite monsters?

I was thinking about this question as I was falling asleep last night and as I desperately tried to enter Slumberland I started to think back to what my earliest experiences with monsters were in my childhood. I was born in January 1982 which was the year Return of the Jedi came out into cinemas and although I was mere weeks old when it was released, I believe this was a point in time where movie and television merchandise was starting to hit an all time peak. When I think of all the difficulty my parents would have at Christmas trying desperately to buy the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle or Thunder-tank or Optimus Prime or whatever the relentlessly new cartoon phenomenon was governing the brains of children everywhere, I feel awful that I would cause them so much stress and money year after year. Especially now, as an adult, when I understand that excess money is not easy to come by and, with the gift of hindsight, can look back and see how my parents struggled to make ends meet while trying to please their children. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that, as a child, I loved toys especially Monster toys and this is the basis of my fascination with them as a grown up. So to answer the question (rather than write a dull mini autobiography about presents I have received at Christmas over the past 30 years), I have decided to compile a top ten of favourite monsters (in no particular order) that I feel have influenced me a great deal growing up and within my work.

10. Hordak (from The Evil Horde featured in the He-man and She-re cartoons)

Crazy evil Mohawk skull with a up-turned collar? Check. Bat encrusted battle chest plate in BLACK? Double check. Deemed to be far more bad ass than Skeletor (was skeletor much of a bad ass? His high-pitch-maiden-like-screeching voice makes me think otherwise), Hordak really knew how to turn heads in his little furry black pants and knee-high, steel toed boots. For me though, the very graphical, symmetrical look of his face pulls the right optical nerves and has done since I was a wee nipper, just watch the grainy video below to believe me.

9. My Pet Monster

'My Pet Monster' was the monster equivalent of Teddy Rukspin and although put together with some of the most garish colours pairings imaginable it ignited a flame of desire in my tiny infantile mind. His blue fur, with a purple and red tuft on top of his head, yellow beady eyes, a bright green warty nose, a corduroy belly, huge dirty fangs and bulbous fingers and toes made me want to tear it from my neighbour's clutches and hide it in my room. Both hands were shackled with bright orange handcuffs that you could snap open in a beastly rage. Yeah, I obsessed a lot over this monster when I was a child mainly due to the fact that I could not have one. I love monsters that try to look scary but actually just look confused and lost. 'My Pet Monster' is one of my favourite examples of that and this live action film that was made to help promote the toy proves it, just look at his befuddled furry face. I remember it blowing my mind as a child and watching this trailer on youtube, 20 plus years later, I was surprised to find how well I remembered the opening credits.

8. The Zoanoids from Guyver

When I was eleven, I would spend ages browsing the shelves at the local video shop looking at all the 18 certificate films like Critters, The Goulies and Troll, whilst my Mum and sister would be looking for 'Care Bears' in the children's section. One day I came across a new Japanese animation called 'Guyver'. My Mother kindly rented the first video out for me even though I was about five years too young to be watching it (some might say this is bad parenting but it just made me think she was even more awesome). "Guyver' was about a young high school student who stumbles across a bio-weapon that bonds to him as an organic battle suit and is then inadvertently flung into a war with the evil Kronos who conduct experiments on humans turning them into killer monsters called Zoanoids with an assortment of different abilities. I could go on and explain this in so much more detail and even longer sentences but I'll save you the eyestrain and boredom and just tell you it was incredible. This was my first foray into violent action in a cartoon and I loved it. Head would explode, limbs were hacked off and giant holes where burnt through bodies with lasers. Yep, cool right? If you're still unsure, the video below should sell it to you.

7. Jamila

Jamila was a man before a trip to another planet evolved his body into a giant, very broad shoulder, hulking monster. He really does look exactly like a mutated American football line backer. His shoulders have become the top of his head and the expression on his face is that of laughter rather than the intended horror. Check out this sparring match with Ultraman. Jamila is having the time of his life!

6. Mer-man

A lumbering, mentally under-developed 'Creature from the Black Lagoon'. I think that short sentence really sums Mer-man up pretty pretty pretty well. You can definitely see that Mer-man has had a big influence on the monsters I design. I guess I just have a big soft spot for brightly colours, idiotic, silly looking monsters. Thanks, Mer-man.

5. The Thing (from.... er.... The Thing)

Basically.... I just love this film. The Thing can look like anything so my fascination for this alien/monster isn't bright colours or a goofy face, its because its terrifying. I love the scene where they start dissecting it on the operating table and the open stomach forms teeth and bites off the doctors hands and then the heads slowly falls off the body and grows legs and antenna and trundles off down the corridor whilst the frightened survivors flame through the living hell out off the remains..... at least that what remember happening..... awesome.

Just found the scene on youtube... turns out I do remember it very well. Computer generated special effects have nothing on this.

4. Woo

Alex from Nobrow introduced me to this incredible beast that I now love dearly. The abominable yet adorable Woo is not as sleek as some of her contemporaries but then she is a giant supernatural monster that lives in the snowy mountain tops where an ergonomic look vastly outweighs that of aesthetics. Covered from head to toe in long yeti-like hair, she can be found summoning large blizzards to wipe out locals who are being mean to her daughter, Yuki. I love that her only viewable characteristic, apart from all the hair, is her terrifying face which is made up of two amphetamine wired eyeballs and a wide dentistry-nightmare of a mouth. Her face gives me flashbacks to Terrahawk's Zelda.

3. Moguera

Originally created by The Mysterians to bend humanity to their will and then later in 'Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla', it built by man to destroy Earth's greatest monster Godzilla but ended up helping him destroy SpaceGodzilla. Ugh! This giving me a headache. Moguera has made the cut because... well... he is essentially Robo-Godzilla and what is not to like about that sentence? Moguera ended up having the head off a mole, the hands of a lobster and a huge square corrugated body.... yes, he looks amazing... in the most laughable way possible.

2. Garamon

This is one of Alex from Nobrow's favourite Kaiju and... well, to be honest I can not put into words how brilliant Garamon is, it is probably best if you just skip to 2.57 in this here video and those first four seconds will explain everything. Honestly, it just makes me laugh every time. He is such (literally) a massive dork.

1. Dada

Last but not least, Dada is a monster that travelled to Earth extra-dimensionally with the aim to capture Earthlings so that he can take them back for testing on his home planet. He has a giant black dome for a head and a peering white face with large yellow eyes. The colour of his eyes change depending on the stages of his rejuvenation process after an injury. Beneath this daunting black dome is a white body covered in what can only be described as very fashionable 60s zebra stripes. Yes, this guy is a snappy dresser and that's what I find so appealing about him. This monster is so graphical and geometric and yet feels very organic. The stark black and white with a splash of colour really appeals to my visual tastes outside of monsters but I guess that's what happens when you are a sharp dresser from another dimension.

A SpaceGodzilla sized thanks to Ben for this suitably colossal answer. The Bento Bestiary is still available in hardback on the Nobrow site for £12 and you are strongly, strongly advised to grab a copy for you and/or the monster-lover in your life immediately. You should also absolutely check out Ben's other Nobrow treasure, Ourobors, and cry that his awesome Dicephaly Bros figure is long out of stock. We regret not getting one, and so we'd appreciate if you'd share our misery too.

LINKS

Ben's website

Latitude 2011: We're hosting a UK Graphic Novel Panel!

2011-05-23T16:57:00.003+01:00

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be at Latitude Festival on the 17th July, hosting a graphic novel panel featuring the venerable William Goldsmith, Darryl Cunningham, and Julian Hanshaw. Who the hell do these plucky comics people think they are? Rock stars?

From the Latitude website:

Three of the UK’s most heralded graphic novelists discuss and read from their recent works from Jonathan Cape and Blank Slate Books. William Goldsmith presents Vignettes of Ystov, an engrossing story cycle set within a fictional “vaguely Eastern European” city. Darryl Cunningham talks about the real-life experiences that inspired Psychiatric Tales, his collection of stigma-busting accounts set within an acute psychiatric ward. Winner of the Cape/Observer Comica Graphic Short Story Prize, Julian Hanshaw gives insight into the Vietnam-inspired The Art of Pho, which has been described as “part travelogue, part dream, part cookbook”. Chaired by Martin Steenton, of comic arts blog Avoid the Future.

It's going to be loads of fun, and although I'm sworn to secrecy at the moment, I can promise that there are going to be plenty of surprises, a wealth of never before seen material, and maybe even an announcement or two made. Tickets are available here. See you there!

Review: Root Rot, Edited by Michael DeForge & Anne Koyama

2011-05-11T15:50:00.002+01:00

Koyama Press | Edited by Michael Deforge & Anne Koyama | Softcover, 72pp, Colour | ISBN 978-0-9784810-9-4 | $12.00

I'll begin with an admission that I probably shouldn't state publicly: I’ve grown to really dread reviewing anthologies. This doesn't mean that I hate the medium—nothing could be further from the truth—it's just that my patience (read: failings as a writer) means that it's often difficult for me to find something meaningful to say about them outside of listing a bunch of isolated observations about different strips.

With Root Rot, none of that hesitancy exists. You only have to look at the editorial duo behind the book to know you’re in good hands. In the red corner: the widely-heralded, eye-gougingly brilliant, two-time Doug Wright award winner Michael DeForge. In the blue corner: you have the one-woman indie publishing powerhouse, “Kickass” Annie Koyama. Instead of grappling each other in the middle of the squared circle, they combine their might to create an anthology-making tag team of epic proportions.

More concisely put, this is the indie comics anthology done right. It possesses all the wild artistic abandon of, for example, a Kuš or a Nobrow collection whilst having the kind of authoritative restraint of the soon-to-be-dearly departed Mome. Unlike a lot of anthologies (the three aforementioned series very much excluded), Root Rot excels through having a consistent theme and format. The book’s evocative eponymous through-line and consistent two-pages-per-artist restriction gives it a strong identity and rhythm that creates a genuinely cohesive—and rewarding—reading experience.

Dan Zettwoch's piece is a highlight amongst a book of highlights.. which really says something.

The pungent naturalism of the "root rot" theme provides the perfect showcase for this down and dirty dozen (there are actually seventeen contributors, sue me) to go wild with. The two-page restriction is really a great mechanism for a couple of reasons: the first being that it solicits the desire to read more work from creators by teasing the reader with just enough to draw them in; the second being that it allows creators who may still be finding their feet with longer work and non-sequential/ non-narrative pieces to shine without the pressure of a more generous page count.

The staccato nature of the two-page format really gives the impression that DeForge and Koyama desire to proxy hammer a psychic nail into the part of the reader's brain that recognises greatness. Of course, this is probably true. This really is one of those collections that's of such a consistently high quality that it's difficult to pick standouts. So, in honour of DeForge becoming a two-time Doug Wright award winner on the weekend, I’m going to conclude this mini-review with the first—and most likely last—annual Avoid the Future Root Rot contributor awards:

Most intensely amazing cartoonist: Dan Zettwoch
Palme d’Or for Life-affirming, traditional comic storytelling ability: Bob Flynn
Most likely to be requested to paint a mural at ATF HQ: T Edward Bak
Funniest dude: Chris Eliopoulos
The memorial “My eyeballs are now running down the sides of my cheeks... but I kind of love it” Award: Jon Vermilyea
Most astonishing: Angie Wang
Highest chance of being found sandwiched between some Moebius, XIII and filthy, banned erotica in a Parisian comic shop: Derek M Ballard
Best decapitation of beloved cartoon icon: Robin Nishio

And... finally...

Award for my absolute favourite comic of the lot: Hellen Jo

So there we have it, folks. Special shout-outs go to Inés Estrada, Lizz Hickey, Mickey Zacchili, Jesse Jacobs, Jason Fischer, Greg Pizzoli, and Joe Lambert who all contribute great/ interesting/ handsome work to the anthology too, I assure you. I sincerely hope that this isn’t the last we’ll see of DeForge and Koyama as anthologists, because the world could certainly use another book like this.

Make sure to check back in throughout the week for more fun and frolics in Koyamaland. Until then, be sure to visit the Koyama Press website for an overview of all the great books released so far and where to buy them, and follow the editors on Twitter (Annie, Michael). Oh, and for heaven's sake, visit every link included in this article.

One Question Interview #26: Mark Andrew Smith

2011-05-03T22:08:00.002+01:00

The Skull Bros in... action (?); from Gladstone's School for World Conquerors Issue 1.

Part Teen Titans, part Harry Potter, Gladstone's School for World Conquerors makes it's debut in comic shops this week, published buy Image. Written by Mark Andrew Smith, (best known as the writer behind The Amazing Joy Buzzards and co-creator of the impressively varied Popgun anthology) and illustrated by Armand Villavert (with colours by Carlos Carrasco), it follows the misadventures of the students of the titular academy--a school for the children of the Earth's greatest super-villains--as they uncover its secrets and the alarming truth behind the superhero community.

With a day to spare before release, Mark kindly accepted our offer to answer a question on the new title.

Q: How did the concept and design of Gladstone's School for World Conquerors come together?

For Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors the concept all started with the title. It was an appealing name and something mysterious. I really wanted to wander the halls of this school and discover what it was all about. From there I brainstormed around 20 characters and from those about 6 really stood out. The characters that jumped off the page at me were Kid Nefarious, Mummy Girl, Ghost Girl, Martian Jones, and the Skull Brothers. After the art came in for the characters from Armand I had them firmly locked into my mind and the writing just flowed with that creative ammunition.

The character design for Gladstone’s was instant once we selected our main characters. Armand did sort of a “usual suspects” police lineup of them and it stuck. He nailed them perfectly the first time and there were no comments, notes, or suggestions for revisions from me to him. I think that really speaks volumes about Armand’s talent.

A line-up of the Gladstones students (click to enlarge). Mummy Girl's our fave.

Bonus Q: In your opinion, what is it about the superhero concept that has caused it to be so enduring?

I think it’s just kind of a fantasy to be a character that can do all of these incredible things. The mind is the limit of what can be done. I think for me the characters are also very compelling. Gladstone’s we’re doing our best to build an entire universe of heroes and villains and it’s been a fun road creating the world of Gladstone’s.

A huge thank you to Mark for answering his question. Clearly a sucker for punishment, he's casually agreed to return later in the year for a full-length interview, where nobody will be able to accuse us of cheating for asking more than one question. We're looking forward to it.

Sunday Comic: Noah Van Sciver

2011-05-01T15:24:00.005+01:00

© Noah Van Sciver, 2011

Not content with being one of our absolute favourite creators to emerge within the last few years, Noah Van Sciver submits himself straight into our hearts with this special guest comic. With convention season upon us, it's only right that we be reminded of their worst, most despicable qualities, right? Right.

Noah's latest comic, Blammo #7 is available to purchase now via his blog, and worth every goddamn penny, if you ask us. With content moving seamlessly between laugh-inspiring comedy and genuinely touching examinations of the human condition, Blammo is more than just a return to the classic single-author alternative comic floppy format. Rather, it serves as a reminder of how much potential that format has to chronicle—and showcase—the trajectory of important creative talent. You should buy all seven issues, and then join us in the sweaty-palmed agony that is waiting for his graphic biography of the young Abraham Lincoln, The Hypo, to be released. We can't wait.

Huge thanks go to Noah for making our weekend with this submission. If any creators out there are interested in pitching a future Sunday strip to us, please get in touch via the usual address. Shazam!

One Question Interview #25: Simon Gärdenfors

2011-04-29T17:03:00.007+01:00

Photo: Gusten

Much like eating a fun-size Snickers on a diet, today's One Question Interview may a little tiny bit of a cheat. Ever since Swedish cartoonist/ musician/ TV personality Simon Gärdenfors' gave us a glimpse of his extensive candy packaging collection during our interview promoting The 120 Days of Simon last year, we've been filled with confectionery curiosity. Recently launching a Kickstarter project for a cartoon starring a popcorn judoka, and currently working on an graphic memoir which takes its visual cues from classic candy wrappers, it's clear that to understand Gärdenfors, you must understand the inside of his cupboards.

Unfortunately, when we came to him to ask for his list top ten wrappers, boxes, and sachets, he told us that Swedish website Preview 11 had already beaten us to it. Fortunately, those forward-thinking question-nappers are allowing us to post the list in English here. Hoorah!

What are your ten favourite examples of candy packaging?

#1: Double Dip  - Sherbet (UK)

The charmingly hateful characters make my heart melt. The silliness of the packaging combined with the colours make it magic. It has new packaging now, and it’s not attractive at all—the characters are drawn in a way that is just not pleasant.  

#2: Burbu Soda  - Sherbet with chilli (Mexico)

It’s basic and beautiful with just a few colours. Keeps it simple.  

#3: Cisco  - Cereal (Japan)

I think it’s from the 60s—I bought it in a specialty store in Tokyo. Genuinely airbrushed! Characters!  

#4: Chira Chira Chocolate  (Japan)

I believe that it’s from around the 50s. The clown's charming smile speaks for itself. Bought in the same store were I bought Cisco.  

#5: Butter-Nut  (U.S.)

The box design is from the 1930s, it contains 24 candy-bars. Really hot gouache illustrations, pale colours and hand-drawn typography. Bought it at Economy Candy in Manhattan, last spring.  

Photo: Gusten

#6: 本日语  - Gum machine (Japan)

A mini-gum machine from Japan. Packaging can often be extra nice when you don’t understand it—when you can’t interpret the letters or characters, typography just becomes pure symbols in the brain. Here, I get only what the illustration depicts.  

#7: Chipileta  - Sherbet with chilli (Mexico).

Most candy from Mexico contains chillies. The package is not as simple and stylish as Burbu Soda, but the mis-print, the stripes and the happy squirrel give it extra points.  

#8: Non Stop - Chocolate bar (Sweden)

The colours and simple style give this package a place on the list. It is the only Scandinavian candy I have in my collection, too—maybe because I have some sort of domestic blindness. I have to put this in the fridge so the chocolate does not melt—best before 01/27/2006. I bought this because I thought that they would probably change the packaging. Sure enough, a few weeks later, it received new, uglier packaging with Photoshop gradients.  

#9: Tubble Gum  - Chewing gum (France)

I’ve always liked pink bubblegum aesthetics. I have four different kinds of Tubble Gum. These feature a variation of the baseball cap wearing boy that I remember from childhood. I don't have that one in my collection though. It's probably the package I miss the most.  

#10: Milky -  Chocolate Candy (Japan)

This design just gets everything right. I liked it so much that I plagiarized it for the cover of my comic book Lura mig!.  

A very sincere "tack så mycket" goes out to Simon (Gusten, and Preview 11), for providing the translated list. For more Gärdenfors goodness, head on over to his blog, or, for follow this link for Paco the Judo Popcorn-specific updates.

News: Simon Gärdenfors Needs YOU to Kickstart Paco the Judo Popcorn

2011-04-26T12:30:00.002+01:00

Friend of Avoid the Future, Swedish cartoonist Simon Gärdenfors has teamed-up with animator Jonas Pike Dahlstrom, to set up a Kickstarter page for an awesome new project. Their noble dream: to create an animated pilot for their character, the mighty Paco the Judo Popcorn. As it stands, the project has 23 days left to meet its target of $5000, and it's up to you, the benevolent arts patrons of the digital world, to make sure that the project comes to life!

From the Kickstarter page:

Paco is a popcorn with superpowers. Although he spends most of his days like any other ordinary popcorn kernel passing time with his other friends in the kitchen, when he gets mad he transforms into a super judo popcorn!
We've already made an animated 1-minute teaser featuring Paco's origin story with lots of action in the same cute candy package visuals we plan to use in the pilot episode. Paco is the kind of cartoon we dreamt of watching as kids and it is our belief that kids of all ages will dig it also.

Outside of the inner-joy that comes from knowing that you've helped bring this project one step closer to fruition, incentives for donating include stickers (everybody loves stickers), an mp3 of Paco's theme song, t-shirts, original art, hand-made Paco dolls, and for $10,000 Simon and Pike will dress as the characters and perform at your birthday party. Donald Trump, if you're reading this—and we know you definitely are—we're counting on you for that last one!

Come back tomorrow for a little more Paco goodness as Simon Gärdenfors goodness as he returns to ATF for a One Question Interview about the candy collection he hinted at in our very first interview ever!

News: Latitude Festival to Feature Graphic Novelists for the First Time!

2011-04-25T14:39:00.004+01:00

One of the things we get most excited about is the continued integration of comics into the accepted arts and entertainment landscape. So, when the team behind music festival Latitude contacted us with the information that they would be including graphic novelists in the line-up of their literary arena for the first time, we jumped at the chance to help spread the word about it.

From Thursday 14th – Sunday 17th July, festival goers will be able to see the likes of British comics legend Bryan Talbot (Grandville, Alice in Sunderland), alongside William Goldsmith (Vignettes of Ystov), Julian Hanshaw (Observer/ Comica graphic short story prize winner 2008), and Guardian cartoonist Nick Hayes (The Rime of the Modern Mariner). With yet more guests to be announced, there’s plenty to be excited about.

We recently spoke with the festival's Arts & Special Events Promoter Tania Harrison about her decision to include graphic novelists for the first time:

It’s something I’ve consciously thought about and have wanted to do for a couple of years. I think there has been big growth in the world of graphic novels, and they’re very appealing to a large group of people who are music fans—a lot of our audience read graphic novels or comics in preference to traditional novels.

Graphic novels are accessible to a lot of people, and that fits in with the mission behind Latitude—we’re looking at all art forms, of which graphic novels are very important. There’s a whole wave of really exciting graphic novelists out there and it’s only fair to include them at Latitude.

As well as confirming that there will be something every day for comic fans in the literary arena, she also dropped a few hints that there are still many great things to be announced. We recommend keeping one eye on the Latitude website for more information as it happens. Tickets can be purchased here, and the full/current line-up of acts and guests can be found here. See you there!

One Question Interview #23: Joey Weiser

2011-04-22T17:12:00.004+01:00

One of the thumbnails depicting Weiser's original, slightly darker Cavemen in Space ending

As one of the very first creators that we interviewed on the blog, we’re very pleased to have Joey Weiser back to kick off our second wave of One Question Interviews. The man behind Cavemen in Space, The Ride Home, and Mermin, Weiser is responsible for some of the most accessible and appealing all-ages comic work available at the moment. Also, he draws the weekly giant-monster kaiju-inspired webcomic Monster Isle, which is obviously the best genre a webcomic can possibly be.

Catching him off-guard, we jumped at the chance to talk to him after he hinted on his Twitter account that his 2010 AdHouse all-ages graphic novel, Cavemen in Space originally concluded a little differently.

Q: Is it true that Cavemen in Space originally had a different ending?

Yes! I recently mentioned this on Twitter, because it’s been about a year since my fundraiser to publish the Cavemen in Space graphic novel. The original concept for how the book ends had a much different twist.

In the original ending, the crew of “The Wheel” still successfully defends their space station from the Zanntu invasion, but ultimately the Earth is still taken over by the alien empire. This take-over leads to Professor Casimir’s experiment being shut down, and then the characters are given the same choice to either return back to the past, or live with the Professor as his assistants, now under Zanntu rule.

This ending was one of the very first ideas when I was brainstorming for the book, along with the final conclusion with who decides to return to the past, and the very last panel. It stuck around through all the outlines, the pitching process, and even into first draft or two of thumbnails. The concept came to me because I was actually working for a company at the time that was purchasing and integrating other companies into them. It was interesting to me because it was certainly difficult, and not many employees actually transitioned over unfortunately, but life goes on for better or worse.

However, as I continued to work on the book, it grew into another thing, and this idea wasn’t working for me as much in the end. I think it’s a good twist for “twist’s sake,” but it didn’t really reflect the kind of ending I wanted anymore. Plus, I became more concerned about Casimir’s growth, and thought that it was better for his character if he made the decision himself to shut down “Project: Cavemen” rather than just being forced to.

Our gratitude goes to Joey for being so nice about us accosting him on Twitter for this answer. If this feature left you a bit mystified, Cavemen in Space can be previewed and purchased over on the AdHouse site. He'll be debuting new work as part of the 2011 Fluke Anthology (see our post about last year’s here) at FLUKE! 2011 in Athens, GA. Our personal favourite of Weiser’s characters, Mermin, was most recently seen in this gorgeous illustration he did for the Drawn for Them ♥ Japan Tumblr. Yes, you’re quite right, he does make a lot of neat stuff, doesn’t he? It would only be right to buy one of everything on his webstore now.

An Infinite Universe: an Interview with Madéleine Flores

2011-03-29T17:43:00.028+01:00

With a passport almost full to bursting, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the internationally-raised Madéleine Flores resides in Florida, but her debut graphic novel, The Girl and the Gorilla is published out of London. A charming all-ages book about reading, writing, self-belief, and—well—hanging out with a gorilla, it was published by Blank Slate in Autumn 2010 and currently sees her in contention for an award at this year’s Stumptown comics fest.

Not content to simply win our favour by drawing a special dedication in our personal copy of the book, Madéleine provided not one, but two very special illustrations for this mini-interview. A drawing machine—and one of the nicest folks we’ve had the pleasure of talking to—we were excited to hear how the story arose from boredom at work (like all the best ideas), her desire to write something she would have liked to read in middle school, and what her five favourite books of all time are.

To begin with we wanted to ask you a little bit about your background, both personal and creative. We know you’ve studied in at least three different countries and speak several languages, for example. Who’s more well-travelled, you or Carmen Sandiego?

Heehee, Well, to start off at the very beginning, I breathed my first breath of life in Texas -Yeehaw~! But quickly shuffled on over to Germany, where I spent most of my life, then a quick stop in Georgia, then scooted down to Florida and went up north to Minnesota for a bit and decided that I liked the Florida weather more!

I think moving around might have actually helped push me in the direction of becoming an artist, because always changing schools and addresses made it difficult to make new friends, but the one consistent thing anywhere I went was pen and paper.

I think Carmen Sandiego has the leg up on the traveling - but I'm catching up! My passport is almost full now!

Do you consider The Girl and the Gorilla to be an all-ages (in the literal sense) book?

I certainly intended it to be enjoyed by everyone, but in the back of my head I kept thinking that I wanted to make something that I would have liked to have read in Middle School.

The impetus of the plot regards Aurelie receiving a rejection letter for a submission. Is this based on your experience as a creator? How much of yourself do you see in the characters?

Well, I certainly have received my share of rejection letters,but I'm lucky in that I have a very strong support system of friends and family who always have my back and just when it seems like I'm out for the count they say just the right thing, push me back into the ring and I'm ready to go!

Out of all the characters, I think my personality is mirrored in Elijah D.Slipwitch - he's a positive fun little man. I hope I'm like that - minus the little man part.

How did the land of Creativity develop when you were planning the book?

The original meat and potatoes of the story came around 2007 or so. I was working in a bookstore and we had our regular customers who would gravitate to their favorite sections, so I decided all the different sections were countries and the customers were the citizens. Then I built up from there- deciding that all the different authors lived there as well, it went on and on.

Sometimes being bored at work is fun!

Something we really wanted to talk about is the construction of the comic, itself. You’ve chosen to omit a major part of traditional comic language by using no panel borders. Why was this?

I think that's just something that happened by accident! I read lot of French BD-blogs and my favorite ones never used any panels. I liked the way it opened up the art and kind of created an infinite universe.

What can readers expect next from you? We want more!

WELL! I post little journal comics on a regular basis on my blog and I'm working on another comic project right now and I'm sorting out all the story and art involved in that, I hope I can finish it up sometime soon! I'm really excited about it and I'm using everything I learned from the process of creating The Girl and The Gorilla to up my game this time around.

But what I am most focused on right now is my application to The Center for Cartoon Studies- I'd like to learn more about comics.

Finally, what are your five favourite books of all time?

Oh boy!

1. The Voyages of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting ( I read this every year- I don't own a copy of it myself, but I like to pretend that I keep the library in business by checking it out once in a while!)

2. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams ( I was being chased by bullies in 7th grade, ran into the school library and grabbed the first book off the shelf and hid behind it , all nonchalant like- something out of a movie scene, heehee~ Good thing Adams is at the beginning of the Alphabet, I fell in love with the series, I've never laughed harder in my life!)

3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling (This was my favorite in the series because we saw more about the Wizarding World Community and I love Harry Potter. Ha!)

4. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (The wordplay in this book changed my life and how I think about the English language, FOREVER! I love it!)

5. World Mythology (This was a huge Mustard colored book in my Elementary School Library. The Librarian took off the book jacket and I never bothered to look at the title page to get the proper name, but it contained hundreds of creation myths from around the world and had adorable gouache paintings along with each story. Oh Nostalgia!)

Finally... Congrats on your Stumptown award nomination! How do you feel about it?

Super, hyper, mega thanks to Madéleine for not only answering our questions in words and pictures (!), but also drawing that wonderful illustration heading the article for us. Look at that lettering up there- charismatic, huh? Why not head over to the Stumptown voting page and make your opinion heard? Once you’ve done doing that you should visit her blog, which is updated regularly with all kinds of great illustrations and comics. We’re regular lurkers over there, and you should be too.

LINKS

Order your very own copy of The Girl and the Gorilla via Blank Slate Books
Check out Madéleine's blog

A Strange Kind of Courage: an Interview with Peggy Adam

2011-03-23T17:01:00.006Z

Without a doubt, the absolute highlight of our time running Avoid the Future has been getting the opportunity to translate Peggy Adam's graphic novel Luchadoras for Blank Slate Books. Originally published in French by Swiss publisher Atrabile in 2006, it's a powerful story set against the backdrop of the Cuidad Juarez female-victim homicides. Using fiction to expose real-life atrocities, Adam places the reader directly in the middle of the oppressive setting of Juarez, examining the atmosphere of misogyny, exploitation, and corruption that gave birth to these horrific crimes.

As the book packs its bags and prepares to go off to print this week, we thought it was the perfect time to officially invite Peggy for a chat about the Luchadoras and her work in general. Passionate, and eager to show her support to those affected by these issues, she tells us about what inspired her to create the book, how it relates to her other work, and the symbolism present within the story.

First released by Atrabile in 2006, Luchadoras has now been published in several countries and languages. Did you imagine that it would be greeted so enthusiastically by publishers outside of the French comic sphere?

When I was writing the story, I was hoping it would be published in Mexico. That still isn’t the case, but with the book having been published in Spanish, I haven’t given up hope of seeing it there one day... at least so the women of Juarez know that somebody is talking about their situation outside of Mexico, and that we’re supporting their fight.

What do you think has attracted international publishers to the book?

What makes a book sell in different countries? I don’t know. It’s more about a publisher having a crush on a book, I think.

How did you first become aware of the femicides of Cuidad Juarez? What specifically inspired you to create a story set amongst the backdrop of these tragedies?

In November 2005, I came across an investigative article by Manon Schick in Amnistie, the Swiss edition of Amnesty International’s magazine. She reported figures of more than 430 women murdered in 12 years in Ciudad Juarez. There were testimonies by some victims’ mothers, some of which have been threatened or attacked for asking justice for their child. I couldn’t believe it.

After doing some research, the reality was actually a lot worse than what I thought. I was extremely upset, and when something upsets me, I need to talk about it. It happened through comics because that’s the medium in which I can best express myself.

One of the most compelling things about the book is how you take a slightly indirect look at these awful events by producing a character-based narrative. Do you recall the process by which your ideas for the characters and their relationships took shape?

Alma and Jean already existed in a slightly different form, in one of the books from my series Plus ou moins... [More or Less... published in France by Atrabile]. They came naturally to me. Alma might not be representative of all the women in Juarez. I wanted a violent woman who wasn’t a victim. She responds the way only she can to the violence that surrounds her—that’s her way to defend herself.

The story comes little by little as the characters are created. The further I am into the story, the stronger the characters’ personalities become. Sometimes I add a character to create a setting for a situation, or to give more weight to the story. For Luchadoras, I mixed real people with fictional people.

Throughout the book, Juarez almost feels like a supporting character—a corruptive force that brings out the worst in humanity. How would you describe your presentation of the city?

To me, a city is made by the people who live within it. So, I focused on the people and not so much on the setting – just enough so you can recognize you're in Mexico. I could have used a fictional town and the story wouldn’t have lost any of its interest. But the fact that I rooted it in a real setting, in a situation that is still happening today, allowed me not have to explain as much in the book. We know what’s happening in Juarez.

Some of the readers who don’t know about what’s going on there may think that, yes, what happens in the book is terrible but ultimately it’s just a story. However, reality in Juarez is a lot worse, and once you’ve realised that, you see the world we live in in a different light.

There’s a moral ambiguity to the book, in that even “good” people seem inevitably forced to do “bad” things in order to survive. Do you believe the book to have a moral message, or does it stand as a reflection of a corrupt world?

My world isn’t black and white, and so I don’t have “good” or “bad” characters. We all have a shadowy part, whether it is cowardice, resentment, jealousy, or sometimes a strange kind of courage... My characters are just the reflection of what I observe in the people around me, so this book absolutely doesn’t have a moralistic purpose—how awful would that be?

Yes, the Mexican government has corruption within it, but it’s not very visible in the story—except for the character of the cop involved in drug trafficking, who actually exists. I didn’t want to give any special explanation to these women’s genocide, as there are so many causes: drug cartel madness, government and police corruption, poverty, and above all, sexism and misogyny—the latter two being so deeply, habitually rooted that they destroy relationships between men and women.

Although the main narrative is quite direct in the way you present it, there also seems to be a layer of symbolism at work. Images of birds and cats reoccur during the course of the book, and the wrestling match that Alma and Jean attend seems to carry special significance...

It is true about one of the birds: the howl that you see when Alma’s sister gets into the van is a symbol of death. The vultures that Jean observes with his telephoto lens can also be interpreted as death symbols, but also as symbols of life as they eat organic waste and thus are essential to the planet’s ecosystem.

Cats are always present in my stories, simply because I’ve always had cats with me. And also, they have nine lives, so if they die in one story, they can come back in another one...

About the wrestling match: I refer to it in Plus ou moins... It can seem a little cliché as a reference, but to me Mexico comes with El Santo and Blue Demon!

The word “Luchadoras” is an interesting title choice, being familiar to professional wrestling fans as the Lucha Libre term for female wrestlers. What attracted you to it?

At the first the book was simply called “Lucha Libre” but a collective released a book with the same title a few months before mine was published, so I decided to call it “Luchadoras” instead. In the end it is more relevant to the story, as it is about women who are struggling, both figuratively and literally, to defend their right to a better life.

In an interview with BDentente, you talk about the connection between the book and Plus ou moins..., and covertly wanting to offer a more uplifting resolution to Luchadoras. Do you consider Luchadoras to be a stand-alone work, or do you feel that your work presents different moments of the same, interconnected creative universe (such as Love and Rockets)?

It’s true. Without really controlling it, I realise that my stories are all linked to each other. Sometimes it will be just a character that goes from one book to another, sometimes a place. I like the idea of being able to make a character appear in one book or another without it seeming weird. What I build throughout my comics is an extension of my world, and I don’t find it odd that my characters sometimes meet or just pass each other by—after all they live on the same planet!

Rather than Love and Rockets—which I discovered quite late—I think I’ve been influenced by movies such as Short Cuts by Robert Altman (adapted from Raymond Carver’s short stories), Happiness by Solondz, or Magnolia by Paul Thomas Anderson. I like individual stories that coexist, sometimes conflict, and finally merge together.

Just to torment all of us English-speaking readers, can you talk a little about can you talk a little about your current projects? Will the final Plus ou moins... be seen soon?

I’d like to be able to answer this question! I always have projects on the go, but I just need to find time to make them happen...

Usually we only have to thank people for giving up their time to speak to us, but we owe Peggy an incomprehensible amount of gratitude for trusting us with her book, as well as giving us the opportunity to share it with the English-speaking comics market. Luchadoras will be available from Blank Slate books very soon: be sure to follow our Twitter feed or our Facebook page for updates as they happen.

LINKS

Peggy Adam's website
Blank Slate Books' page for Luchadoras
To learn more about what's happening in Juarez and give your support to the families of victims, visit http://www.mujeresdejuarez.org/EUversion.htm

New videos from Noah Van Sciver & Elio

2011-03-20T08:11:00.004Z

First it killed the radio star, and now it's coming for our beloved indie Cartoonists! Recently launching YouTube spots for their latest comics are the right honourable creators Noah Van Sciver and Chris "Elio" Eliopoulos.

Van Sciver's Blammo #7 is currently available for purchase over at his blog now. As you would expect from the guy Martin labelled as his man to watch in 2011, this latest issue is worth every penny, and features some of Van Sciver's best work yet (the stories Who are you Jesus and Buried Alive come highly recommended).

Although we haven't read Elio's Monster Party! yet, the video alone sends our substantia nigras and ventral tegmental areas into a dopamine-producing frenzy. That, coupled with the fact that it's being put out by the unstoppable quality-publishing behemoth that is Koyama Press makes it essential reading. It's yet to be released, but you should all go add Eliopoulos' blog to your RSS feeder of choice in order to swoop down on it like the comic-loving hawks you are as soon as it becomes available.

What are you waiting for? Go, go, go!

Autobiography at the Heart of Everything: an Interview with Luke Pearson

2011-03-16T16:35:00.005Z

Taken from Hildafolk, published by the acclaimed NoBrow Press as part of their 17x23 series

As you’d expect from one of the leading lights of Britain's new wave of young creators, the quality of Luke Pearson's work seems to develop just as rapidly as the scene itself. In a critical climate where work is often polarised into the two extremes of art and entertainment, Pearson’s latest comic, the spell-binding contemporary fairytale Hildafolk, feels just as at home in publisher NoBrow Press' visually intelligent catalogue as it does between good old fashioned yarns like Bone and The Adventures of Tintin in my bookcase.

We thought given the comic's spellbinding setting, it would be easy for us to stay on topic in the following interview. Oh, how wrong we were. The combination of our foam-mouthed enthusiasm for his work and his considered, insightful answers gave way to a conversation that refused to be contained. Moving back and forth between subjects such as his development as a creator, his perspective on comics as an auteur medium, his relationship with children's books, and the status of the British comic scene and beyond, it was a real pleasure, and one we've been looking forward to sharing with you.

Why comics?

It's probably a similar story to most people. I was above average at drawing as a kid, I liked comics and so obviously I started drawing my own. It was a way of entertaining people and at school it was kind of a way of showing off and attention-seeking, which was an important vent for a shy kid like me. I liked being funny and gross and seeing the reactions people had and I still get that same buzz now, though I'm probably not as gross or as funny any more.

I always wanted to be either a comic artist, an illustrator or an animator just because these were jobs where you got to draw fun things. I'm not sure I knew what the boundaries between those were or if I was even aware that there were any, it was all just drawing to me. Which in some ways is how I still feel about it, in that I don't just look at and think about comics when I'm making comics, I feed my knowledge of what makes good illustration and animation into what I'm doing. But in a way I arrived specifically at comics by necessity.

As a kid I thought of comics as something I could do until I figured out how to make a cartoon. But it dawns on you that it takes a ton of people to make a cartoon and only one person gets to decide what really happens in it. Since I was never going to be confident or assertive enough to be that person and I was more interested in telling my own stories than in the act of animating itself, I realised that wasn't going to satisfy my ego.

Obviously in the last few years I've become more wrapped up in and fascinated by the vast, storytelling potential of the medium and all that stuff. I'm not doing them begrudgingly because I can't make a cartoon. But ultimately comics suit me because it's the medium in which I can have the most control over the most things with the littlest input from anyone else.

It feels legitimate to say that one of the major differences between mainstream comics and indie/ small press is there's a much greater emphasis on single-author works. Do you think there's a case for stating that comics might be the ultimate medium for auteurs?

I totally believe that to be the case. My dissertation for university was on autobiography in comics and that was basically the point I was trying to make, though focusing specifically on that genre. When telling the tale of your own life it seems natural to me that you'd want to tailor the reading experience to allow the reader to see the world through your eyes and in a non-literal way through your state of mind. It's this ability to control that experience due to the wobbly boundaries of the format and of what the medium even is that makes it so perfect I think. Sure a novel is mostly the singular vision of the writer, but any control over the display of their words is denied them. As soon as you start to tinker, to change the size or the colour of words for effect, what's happening? It's taking tentative steps towards becoming a comic. The fact that anything you can visually make happen is (in theory) available to you for self expression and storytelling purposes should make it pretty appealing to the auteur. Although the word doesn't actually mean as much when anyone can draw their singular creative vision on a bit of lined paper and call themselves an auteur.

Taken from Pearson's New Game, as seen in Nobrow's sinfully handsome anthology A Graphic Cosmogony

Hildafolk certainly feels like it's from the same creative voice as your other work, and I think that anybody familiar with you could easily pick out a "Luke Pearson" comic or illustration on sight. Do you consider there to be central elements or themes that inform your work?

I like to think that if I just do whatever seems interesting to me at the time then those elements and themes will eventually begin to reveal themselves. Hopefully that's what's happening because I definitely don't feel like I've set any up intentionally. I'm actually usually worried that you wouldn't be able to pick out a "Luke Pearson" comic because I feel like I haven't settled stylistically yet and that each new project I do is probably a bad or weird choice given what came before it. But I think the variation between the things I do is way more extreme in my head because people usually tell me that they can spot my work fairly easily. I do sometimes struggle to see exactly what that voice is made up of though and it's always troubling me slightly. But there are definitely some things that seem to naturally crop up again and again which I guess go towards defining it. Also my comics definitely don't stray too far away from my own life experience which I guess gives them a similar feel.

Not including Hildafolk, a fair few of my shorter comics have featured protagonists who are vague stand-ins for me and rather than having a fleshed out character of their own are just kind of vehicles to say whatever I've got to say. I haven't written anything yet that's required me to look at things from a vastly different viewpoint to my own. There's an autobio comic at the heart of everything I do.

In Dull Ache and Some People, it's a lot more apparent that you have a great urge to experiment with style. Is it fair to say that Dull Ache sees you purposely trying out different things, as well as taking a more direct influence from other artists in order to develop? There's one strip that reminds me of John Porcellino's work...

Half of Dull Ache is old material that spans probably about two years of different phases I've gone through. There might be some even older stuff. A lot of that stuff is my sketchbook work and I tend to let my influences flow pretty freely in those. For the bits I drew especially for it, I was trying to keep that sketchbook spontaneity and not stress about consistency. The bit that looks a bit like a Porcellino comic was an experiment in putting a comic down without planning and in a state of mind in which usually I'd never even pick up a pencil. My entire process from start to finish can be quite laborious and I get anxious just thinking about starting something sometimes so that was an attempt at seeing how I could combat that. There are a lot of styles and approaches to comics that I enjoy and want to explore, the hope being that eventually I can bring them all together and turn them into something that's uniquely mine, so I guess I used Dull Ache to muck around with those ideas and not worry about the bringing them together part. If I do more in that series I think it'll continue in a similar vein.

One of many potential Pearson avatars, this time seen in the comic 'Bed' from Luke's Dull Ache collection

A lot of your work has autobiographical elements, even if they're not necessarily framed as such. For instance, even your supernatural-themed story from Solipsistic Pop 2 seems to feature an avatar of yourself. Does Hildafolk represent a more permanent step in the other direction?

It's definitely not a permanent step but a sort of intentional one. I'm really drawn to autobiography and I'm constantly thinking of straight up autobio stories I could easily draw but I try to stop myself because I don't feel like the world needs to read about the troubles and woes of a 20 something guy who doesn't do much but draw things. I prefer to twist anything I've got to say into something else. I want to make comics that are just plain fun and maybe have a broader appeal too though which is where Hildafolk comes in. I wanted it to be for all ages and for it to feel warm and positive without being cloying or lame.

What can you tell us about the origins of Hildafolk?

I'd been drawing the character that would become Hilda for about a year previously. I haven't really had any other recurring characters so I knew I'd have to use her for something [Luke directs readers to two prototype versions of the character here and here]. I didn't know who she was then but I knew the world I wanted her to exist in. The original pitch to myself was that it would be like Lyra's world in the His Dark Materials books crossed with Moominvalley, steeped in Scandinavian folklore and full of weird, cartoony monsters. That was just one of many vague ideas bubbling around a for a while until Nobrow contacted me about possibly doing a book in their 17x23 series. They were into the earlier image I'd done so that was that. The book doesn't touch on anywhere near as much stuff as I'd eventually like to but the aim was always to create a world and a character that could become the basis of some kind of series.

It's obvious from reading Hildafolk that you have an engagement with world-building, and an important part of any world are its monsters. What inspired you to create the non-human cast, both in terms of their narrative purpose and design?

They come from a few different places. The wood man comes from a really short story I read in a book of folk tales about a guy called "The Wood Man" who turns up at your house and brings you wood, but then he lies down in front of the fire but he won't leave and he's got really long legs and takes up loads of room or something. When I first read it I thought he was actually made of wood but I think he's just a regular tall dude. But having the wooden thing in mind I thought it'd be nice to combine him with the wooden character I drew for Nobrow 3 and he became that guy. I guess I've always liked trolls. I'd go and see a lot of standing stones and things as a kid and I always liked to think of them turning into giant people and shuffling around at night. The image of huge lumbering beasts going about their business unseen has always stuck with me. I guess I wanted to populate the place with creatures that are strange and eerie and maybe a bit sorrowful but not necessarily monstrous. Or just cute and weird. There isn't that much too it really.

She's not lying, you know.

What are your favourite 'all-ages' works? They don't necessarily have to be comics-based.

I'd say Tove Jansson's Moomin books and comics which is fitting because the influence they've had on Hildafolk is pretty evident. Anyone can appreciate them. They work for kids because they're populated with strange and sweet characters, funny stuff happens and the world is always warm and inviting. But they're full of these hilariously spot-on observations and scathing criticisms of adult life. They work for multiple audiences because they're intelligent and have a lot of things to say, not because they have cheap, dirty gags that go over a kid's head. They're good-natured and questioning and you feel like a child who grew up reading them would grow up to be an extremely decent human being. I'd say Asterix is a great all-ages comic. I loved it as a kid but I never got the whiff of lameness that I sometimes got from comics like The Beano when I compared them to the dirty, grown-up 2000 ADs I liked to read.

Speaking of The Beano and 2000AD-- In terms of discernible comics culture, Britain has long and limply stood in the shadow of its Franco-Belgian and North American cousins. Do you feel that things are beginning to change?

It does feel like something is changing, maybe. It could just be something vague and optimistic that people say but I see it said quite a lot. I'm not in the best position to appreciate the change if it is happening as I've only relatively recently immersed myself in comics culture, but the main thing seems to be more smaller publishers being more willing to publish un-established artists and more interesting comics.

I know that only a few years ago I wouldn't have had the opportunity that Nobrow have given me in putting a full colour book out already and getting it into shops. I've definitely been lucky in starting out at a time that's incredibly convenient for a new artist, so the best we can hope is that more and more cartoonists get to take advantage of this and that some of them are really good. I could be wrong but it also seems like more comic shops are more willing to put indie and alternative comics in a more prominent position of the store. If more and more people were to see that stuff as 'the real stuff', the main attraction (never gonna happen), then audiences would be more likely to pick up on the creators and books that are uniquely British and some kind of culture can be formed. But if you go into a comic shop and all you see is the intimidating wall of glossy mainstream booklets, independent voices get lost. The culture gets kind of flattened and generalised.

For many following the trajectory of Pearson's work, his piece in the childhood-themed third volume of British comic anthology Solipsistic Pop may seem like the logical stepping stone between the reflective ghost-themed memoir he submitted to Solipsistic Pop 2 and the fantastical, story-book world of Hildafolk.

Do you think that in the Internet age, and the convergence of artists and media within social networks, etcetera, it's as important to help generate domestic comic scenes?

It's not as important. The Internet lets you work in isolation with the promise that if you're actually good then your work will get seen and spread and good things could happen. You build your fanbase internationally, but ultimately you'll always be claimed as the produce of wherever you've come from. Domestic scenes will always exist, just due to geographical restrictions and the desire for cartoonists to congregate. And the flavour and direction of these scenes will likely be defined by their strongest and most popular artists. I think when the UK has some more 'big names' then the scene and the culture will be more easily defined, but who even really cares about that. People should just worry about making the best work possible and getting it out there in the best way possible, wherever they're from.

Who in the UK do you see as having the greatest potential to reach that kind of 'big name' status?

Tom Gauld is already a big name but I feel like he will keep on rising into superstardom. I also want to go on record as predicting that Nick Edwards is gonna be huge.

What's next for you?

My next book Everything We Miss will be released by Nobrow in June and there's a continuation of Hildafolk planned for the end of the year. There'll also be other smaller projects appearing as the year goes on.

Hold on a second there, if you think I'm going to let you just casually tease your next book you have another thing coming, mister. Give up the goods!

It's a kind of exploration of things that are missed or that go unseen, both the everyday and the surreal, weaved around a story of a crumbling relationship. It kind of veers off in a very different direction to Hildafolk, it's not for kids. That's about as much as I can say right now. There'll be more info and sneak peaks coming hopefully very soon.

A troll-sized thanks goes out to Luke for making our week with this interview. He's currently in the process of finishing up his new blog, but in the meantime, we very much recommended checking out his old Blogspot blog, his inspiration Tumblr, and following the talented scoundrel on Twitter. Whilst you're off checking all those out, we'll be rifling through the bins outside of his house for any clues we can find about Everything we Miss. Better invest in a shredder, Pearson!

LINKS

Buy Hildafolk via the (freshly redesigned) NoBrow website
Buy A Graphic Cosmogony via the (oh so dreamy) NoBrow website
Buy Solipsistic Pop 2 & 3 (featuring Luke) via the Solipsistic Pop website
Pre-order Paper Science 4 featuring a cover and contribution by Luke via We Are Words & Pictures website

Guest Review: Rondal Scott III on Expansion Part One by Malachi Ward & Mat Sheean

2011-03-11T22:45:00.009Z

In what marks Avoid the Future’s first ever guest post, we gave Rondal Scott III—the creator of the awesome Strange Kids Club blog—free reign to review the comic of his choice. Known worldwide as the man who puts the "goo" in "good taste", he didn't disappoint.

“Billions of years ago the universe was a smaller, denser place, teeming with intelligent life.”

Thus begins Part One of Expansion, a “three part epic science fiction comic” co-created by artists Matt Sheean & Malachi Ward, which sets out to explore just how vast the recesses of the universe can be through the eyes of two, estranged travelers. As collaborators, Sheean and Ward’s work seems to complement one another seamlessly with no single panel wasted or left unattended. Those familiar with either artist’s previous work will likely appreciate this subtly even more so as neither individual’s style takes precedence over the other.

Sheean and Ward waste no time tossing you into the thick of the story, opening with an in-progress space battle that features rockets hurled in all directions, ship panels explode, and bodies that are twisted- torn asunder by the inexplicable assault. It’s within this chaos that we meet our protagonists, Briggs and Turner, and it’s interesting to watch the chemistry unfold between the two as they forge headlong into the unknown (otherwise known as the A.T.R. or Abnormal Temporal Region).

It is within the A.T.R. that Briggs and Turner encounter a lost civilization, lead by a woman named Basilia, with some interesting outlooks on life that essentially set the stage for the main premise of an ever-expanding universe. What that means for the future of all existence is left unresolved by Part One’s ending, but it can be assumed that there is much more to be learned before the series final act. “Part One was mostly setting up the plot, so in Part Two we start to really get into the conflict,” said Ward in an earlier interview. “We also get to know Basilia and her people better. It all builds to the third part, where everything contracts.”

The writing follows suit with the art, providing a steady pace and fluid dialogue. If I had to choose one flaw it would be that acronyms are used without explanation (such as the one mentioned above). It would have been nice for a few footnotes to help make sense of them, but they compliment the book’s high-minded science fiction setup well enough that they only stop the story from being slightly less entertaining. For an independent production the overall book boasts some excellent quality. From its copper-toned cover to the masterfully applied grey washes that give each character a real sense of depth and life, Expansion is at two talented artists boldly going where only a few others have gone before them and they’re doing it with style.

All Artwork © Copyright Malachi Ward and Mat Sheean

Expansion Part One © Copyright Malachi Ward and Mat Sheean

LINKS

Buy Expansion Part One via Malachi Ward's Blog

About Rondal

Rondal Scott III is a creative instigator who tackles each day with Red Bull-induced enthusiasm and is a self-professed Twitter addict. His obsession with horror movies and 80s pop culture inspired him to start Strange Kids Club in 2009 where his puppet persona geeks out on a daily basis. He is also currently Co-Editor of Fuel Your Illustration and a frequent contributor to the Bloodsprayer.

An Interview with T.J. Kirsch (Part Two)

2011-03-10T23:52:00.008Z

A potential cover for a potential collection. We're going to personally bug him until it becomes a reality.

When I told T.J. Kirsch that we were going to focus this second (and final) part of our interview on his education, the Oni Press-affiliated artist suggested that I should make ironic quote marks around the word. Far too humble, he has the unique experience of transferring from the Savannah College of Art and Design to the comics-specific Kubert School, and it seemed like too good a chance to pick his brains about the rarely-explored subject.

In addition to quizzing him about his University years, we force him to make like a stool pigeon and give up the goods on the latest She Died in Terrebonne print editions, as well as reveal the origins of his recurring Slim Johnson character. 'Education', ha!

Click here for part one.

As an artist, what do you think are the keys to creating a good detective story?

I'd say find a good writer! What you need is a solid story, and relatable, distinctive characters. Of course as an artist, I'd say the artwork end of it is pretty important too. Take a look at what guys like Chester Gould did: very distinctive characters, great storytelling, and gritty art that's at least grounded in reality. I draw inspiration from him as well as Jordi Bernet and his Torpedo work, but there's so many great examples of great detective comics. Of course you can't leave out all of the great Batman artists and guys like Will Eisner.

Speaking of detectives: what can readers expect to find in the latest She Died in Terrebonne print volume?

Well, funny you should ask! The latest issue of She Died In Terrebonne (#3) is back from the printer and available in the Agreeable shop! It's got the third act of the story seen online, as well as a great backup story written by Kevin [Church] and drawn by Eric Kim. It's a Sam Kimimura flashback story basically, involving Sam and his early days in the SFPD. Eric was a great fit for a Sam story and I think he did a really great job. I was going to draw it myself but I had a few too many things going on at the time. Plus, I'd just finished the main SDIT story, so a break from Sam Kimimura was in order.

A little birdie tells me that the complete Terrebonne collection now has a publisher attached to it...

Aha! Yes, we've somehow tricked a publisher into partnering with us. They're a small Chicago-based outfit called Nan bu Nan Publishing It's a boutique situation but they've got a handful of really quality authors and both the guys behind it, Rick Boven and Nick Vandermolen, are very enthusiastic and complimentary about mine and Kevin's work. So, the book's in good hands, and we've all got some work do on that, on the design and production end of things. It should be released sometime around late summer/ early fall if I'm correct.

You mentioned to me a couple of weeks back that you were thinking of compiling some of your solo material into a collection - can we expect to see that materialise any time soon?

That's very possible, yeah. I might put together a little collection in time for the Boston Comic Con in April. It'd probably include all my Top Shelf 2.0 strips and maybe some extra material. Thanks for reminding me! I've gotta get on that. I know most people probably haven't seen that first Slim Johnson story, so maybe that'll be in there.

That first Slim Johnson story: Office Bitch, from Fat Chunk

What’s the history behind the Slim Johnson character? 

At first he was just a one-off sort of throwaway character I came up with when I did a story for the Jamie Smart-edited anthology Fat Chunk. He's this Vietnam war veteran who's obviously been through some stuff, and he's trying to start over and find out who he is. He's clearly got some issues. I think I came up with the name on a whim - something that was funny but sounded like an everyman. Like a lot of R. Crumb's characters.

You mentioned earlier that you studied at The Kubert School. Am I right in thinking that you went to SCAD at some point?

I went to SCAD for a school year then took a year off. Then I went for three years and graduated from the Kubert School.

What made you make the leap to a comic-specific school like The Kubert School?

I don't think it was such a huge leap - just in terms of the curriculum anyway. SCAD was really expensive, and it was the first time I'd been away from home for that amount of time. I think maybe I was too young to really take anything seriously. I did well in terms of grades and things, but those don't really mean anything in art school anyway. The one quote I hear a lot about art school in general is "you get out of it what you put into it," and I was I think a bit too immature at the time. I think more than anything SCAD set me on the comics path. Plus, I didn't know it at the time but I was sick, too, but undiagnosed.   I took a year off from school after that, then went to Kubert. It immediately felt like I was in the right place.

Toppled, written by Elton Pruitt and illustrated by Kirsch, can be read in its entirety, here.

Were you certain about what you wanted to do during your year off? Was it a long and torturous decision, or did you "just know" that comics were the thing for you?

Oh, I was pretty certain. At first I tried a local liberal arts college as a fine arts major, and all was all wrong for me. After being at SCAD, it was like going right back to high school. Plus the art classes were just about as slow as molasses. I think we did about 3 weeks of just mixing paints and getting your station in order before putting paint to canvas. I tried that for maybe a month and a half before leaving. At the same time I found a job as a parking lot attendant at an independent movie theater, which was great. It was either just me, or me and another guy in this booth out back. Nobody was supervising you so you could draw or write or play your guitar - whatever. You know I just remembered... I think I read an interview with Brian Ralph in the Comics Journal or somewhere, where he mentioned being a parking lot attendant and how it was the only job he had that he didn't completely hate. So remembering that quote, I jumped at the chance to do that job. I wonder how many artists have that type of gig...

That sounds like a dream job to me!  

It was pretty great, and it was pure luck finding it. I drew a lot of the comics in that booth, and read a lot of comics for sure. Plus, there was the free popcorn, soda, and coffee. AND free movies when I wasn't on the clock. I think I saw Ghost World a few times there.  

Did you apply to Kubert via their famous in-comic advertising? What were your thoughts when you got there?

I think I applied to Kubert like everyone else. I KNEW about it because I had seen the ads since I was a kid. I heard horror stories about the workload and stuff like that. When I got there I made a lot of friends - it's hard not to when you're in the same room all day every day drawing next to the same guys. It's funny, I was just going through some old portfolios from that era and it's really funny how many assignments seem totally out of context and strange to the outsider, but at the time we're just trying to make each other laugh with every drawing... Some in-joke about a teacher or something along those lines.

What would your advice be to young cartoonists who are trying to decide between a "regular" college program and a more specific comics-based school?

Oh god. It really depends on the person. If you're serious about wanting to be a cartoonist and you don't want anything to 'fall back on' you should look into schools like Kubert or CCS, most definitely. If CCS was around a few years earlier I would've applied there, but I don't have any regrets. SCAD is also a great option, and now of course they've got their Atlanta branch up and running with some great talented teachers like Chris Schweizer, of Crogans fame. If you want a job after you graduate from a "regular" college, then get a degree in nano-future bots with a minor in fixing cars! Then do your comics by yourself. But really, if you're looking into any comics-related schooling, ask or email people that've gone there previously. That's the best way to find out how it really is, and if it's for you.   

One of the nicest, most co-operative interviewees a comics blogger could ever hope to find, we'd like to offer T.J. a very sincere thanks for taking the time to chat with us. One of these days, we're going to hound him to talk about his wilder years as a drummer in a band. Until then, be sure to follow him on Twitter and buy every single in-print comic that he's worked on. Consider that an order!

LINKS

T.J. Kirsch's blog
She Died in Terrebone as seen on Agreeable Comics
For more of T.J.'s collaborative work, check out Straw Gods & So Buttons

An Interview with T.J. Kirsch (Part One)

2011-03-07T22:23:00.004Z

A sneek-peek of Kirsch's art in the upcoming third volume of Oni's Amy Devlin Mysteries, written by Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir

T.J. Kirsch is a blood-thirsty mercenary of an artist. Born with blood in his eyes and a pencil gripped tightly in his hand, he’s a firm believer in the benefit of working in collaboration with a wide variety of writers. Although he’s best-known for his work with Oni Press (Uncle Slam Fights Back!, Jam!), T.J.’s spent the past five or six years honing his craft with a diverse list of cohorts, including Agreeable Comics’ Kevin Church and So... Buttons' Jonathan Baylis.

Fresh off of completing online detective story She Died in Terrebonne with Church, Kirsch has swiftly found himself drawing another sleuth, this time for Oni Press via their Amy Devlin Mystery series. In the first part of this two-part interview, we caught up with T.J. to discuss his latest work, his thoughts on working with writers, his latest comic for Top Shelf 2.0, and his dream projects.

You’re currently working on the third installment of the Amy Devlin Mysteries series, Lost & Found, with writers Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir . How did you get involved with the team behind the book?

I’m working with Nunzio and Christina, along with Editor Jill Beaton. All three have been great to work with - very receptive and complimentary to the work I've done so far.

Well, I'd been bothering Oni quite a bit trying to find another project after I did Uncle Slam Fights Back!, and I ended up doing some shorter pieces for them last year. First I illustrated a story for the Jam! anthology, and then a backup for the Resurrection series. After doing those, I tried out for another project that went to another artist, but they needed someone for this Amy Devlin book—it's exactly the stuff I like to draw. I had drawn another detective [Sam Kimimura, of She Died in Terrebonne] for a while, so they saw I could do something in that same vein. I read the first book and loved it, which had some great art by Christopher Mitten. The second one hadn't come out yet, but it has since, and it's just as good. It's a great series, and the books are also really nice-looking hardcovers, thanks to the design and production work of Eric Skillman and Oni's Keith Wood.

Since we last spoke, you had another short solo story, Beefed, appear on the Top Shelf 2.0 website. Do you consider comics like Beefed and Slim Johnson’s Fever Dream as anti-structural sandboxes to experiment in?

I don't think they're anti-structural really. They've got a loose structure in the same way that some slice-of-life comics have, in that something happens but there aren't really any great stakes in the small events, if that makes sense. I didn't have any real aim in creating them other than to experiment, really. I have fun doing them. After working on someone else's script for awhile, it's kind of a creative exhale, an outlet.

The opening page of T.J.'s short comic Beefed, currently appearing on the Top Shelf 2.0 website.

There seems to be a contrast between the cinematic-style work that you do with writers, and the more visually experimental work you do in your solo work. How do you see your own work in comparison to your collaborations?

When I write, there tends to be more of a visual influence overall, yeah. Usually when I get an itch to do a short story, the ideas come to me as an image, or a collection of strong images. I can't get them out of my head until they're a fully formed finished comic. Sometimes I get an image in my head, and I use that as a jumping-off point for a potential strip.

I haven't yet tackled a long-form comic from the writing end, and I envy those who can do that well, like some of my collaborators. I've learned so much from every one of the writers I've worked with, and I think it keeps my work fresh going back and forth between writing my own stories and drawing someone else's script. I think I've said this before, but it's giving the artist something to draw outside their comfort zone, and the expanding repertoire that comes out of that which is the benefit. Working by yourself, you can get into a rut, and just keep operating inside your own little bubble.

Is there a writer out there you’d love to (or would have loved to) collaborate with?  

Oh, that's a good question! Well I'd definitely want to work with Kevin again, for sure. I think we've got a great working relationship going, and I'd hate to not take advantage of that. There are some other writers that I've worked with that I'd love to collaborate with again at some point as well - Elton Pruitt, Jonathan Baylis, Jason Pell... It'd be fun to draw a script from Jeffrey Brown or James Kochalka, because again, they're both such pure cartooning talents. It would be interesting to see how much they can let go of their vision to another artist. Evan Dorkin would be another one.

This is difficult because most of the writers I'm a fan of are also cartoonists themselves, and it's rare that they'd even collaborate at all! I'm talking about guys like Dan Clowes and Chester Brown, guys like that. I would've loved to have drawn a story for Harvey Pekar. That was one of the major things on my list of career aspirations. I'm a big fan of his work and what he represented.

Kirsch's collaborations with autobiographical writer Johnathan Baylis represent some of both creators' best work. Representing just how important and indivisible the comic artist is as an author of a piece, T.J.'s art and layout brings tangible depth and importance to Baylis' childhood memory and affection for Famous Monsters of Filmland.

You’ve mentioned to us in the past that you came to ‘alternative’ comics quite late, and have been a voracious reader of them ever since. Flipping to a more mainstream focus, I really enjoyed your Secret Defenders Covered submission last year - have you ever been interested in superhero work?

I haven't been really interested in superhero stuff since I was about 13 or so. The reason I got back into comics was discovering there was material on the other end of the spectrum, like autobio and 'alternative.' After I did Uncle Slam, I said that was the last superhero comic I'll ever draw. I did it because the script was really funny, and damn good. I'm not ruling out anything entirely, but that's not the genre I want to focus on at all.

You’ve worked on detectives, superheroes, horror characters, derby girls, and everyday Joes. Do you have a dream project?

I did have this horror pitch that I want to do, but it's going to take some tweaking before it's ready. I'd like to explore that one more at some point. As far as a dream project, I'd love to write and draw a graphic novel in the drama side of things. Leaning toward slice-of-life... Maybe a romance thing? I read Blankets when it came out years ago and was blown away. A coming-of-age graphic novel! Every cartoonist has one of those in them right? I should do that.

One of my goals is to draw for Mad Magazine, and has been for a long time. Their entire stable of artists have inspired my own goofy drawings a whole lot. I'd also love to maybe draw a story for Bongo Comics. I've been a Simpsons fan since the beginning and I remember drawing Bart Simpson in the margins of every school notebook when I was supposed to be paying attention.

What are you enjoying at the moment?

Recently I've had my face buried in the first two Amy Devlin books every day for reference, with nothing much else! Other than those two, I've been reading Fogtown, one of the Vertigo Crime books. I love the Brad Rader art! I've gotta find more of his stuff.

Whenever I'm feeling a little burned out I pick up a Jeffrey Brown book or something by Kochalka, as a refresher to remember why I enjoy comics. I also read the first volume of Tezuka's Black Jack and I loved that. Asterios Polyp was another one recently that knocked me out... and I've gotta mention Toby Cypress' new book Rodd Racer as well, being a former student of his. Plus, Whenever I venture out to the comic store I can't help but pick up any Jonah Hex issue with Jordi Bernet art. They're all pretty inspiring to me.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for the conclusion of our conversation with T.J, where we turn the focus onto the upcoming collection of She Died in Terrebonne, the origins of Slim Johnson, his journey as a student from SCAD to the Kubert School, and more.

LINKS

T.J. Kirsch's blog
She Died in Terrebone as seen on Agreeable Comics
For more of T.J.'s collaborative work, check out Straw Gods & So Buttons

Review: The Wolf’s Whistle, Bjorn Rune Lie

2011-02-14T16:57:00.004Z

Bjorn Rune Lie | Nobrow, 2010 | 15.5 x 22 cm | 32 pages | Available now

The Wolf’s Whistle isn’t so much of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as it is a wolf adorned with an amazing Technicolor dreamcoat. Artist/writer Bjorn Rune Lie eviscerates the well-known Three Little Pigs fable and stuffs it with a tasty mix of crime-thriller and costumed-vigilantism in this genre-blurring, half-comic, half-storybook prequel. If that wasn’t the most unnecessarily grotesque introduction to a review of a children’s book ever, I don’t know what is.

To start with, the book emits a mysterious air. Its handsome, pulp noir-inspired cover gives readers some gentle clues about what to expect inside. The back-lit silhouette of a costumed, anthropomorphic, wolf-eared hero looking down on the scene of a crime is more of a visual leitmotif than an accurate portrayal of its contents. Ostensibly functioning as an origin story of the costumed-vigilante known as The Lone Wolf, it actually provides an alternative back-story to the infamous incident between The Big Bad Wolf and the three fraternal pigs.

An inversion of the standard lupine/swine dynamic, it turns out that Big Bad—here known as simply Albert—is not so bad at all. Rather, he’s a mild-mannered janitor working for a comic book company, dreaming of being able to create his own comic book some day. He and his childhood friends—collectively, "The Fearless Four", a homage to historical bigot Enid Blyton’s Famous Five—live in an old house on the corner of Dead End Street and Porkobelly Avenue. Illustrating the book’s unique balance between light-hearted whimsy and darkness, Albert’s imperfect but happy life is suddenly torn apart as his home, and his friends, are taken from him in an act of arson. The culprits? None other than Albert’s malevolent Mafioso landlords, the three Honeyroast brothers. I don’t think I need to tell you which species they belong to.

My favourite page, exhibiting the fusion between comic and storybook formats. The sequential nature of the panels allows for subtle and nuanced storytelling, with the prose anchoring and enhancing it.

Retroactively rationalising the actions of supposedly evil characters from classic stories is a firmly established trope, with even the mighty Mario and Donkey Kong unable to escape the gravity of its cultural tractor-beam. In fact, just last year, J.D. Arnold and Richard Koslowski’s graphic novel—B.B. Wolf and the Three LPs—utilised the same technique (very differently) to a positive critical response. Unlike B.B. Wolf’s tragic Delta Blues-Driven narrative, The Wolf’s Whistle's chief appeal is its subtle manipulation of genre archetypes and the standard construction of comics and illustrated stories.

In sewing together his story from mismatched pelts, Bjorn Rune Lie has created a book that will work on many different levels for many different audiences. Children will marvel at the joyful art, fun characters, and general weird and wonderful nature of the whole thing. Pretentious, stuffy adults like me will find reward in recognising its references and the way in which it expertly combines sequential images and charismatic prose.

Revenge is a dish best served with apple sauce. Just kidding, I’m a vegetarian.

It’s an immensely compelling read, but as a consequence, perhaps one that ends a little too soon. Due to the nature of being a prequel, the story ends before Albert gets a chance to take his revenge, and it’s difficult not to crave more of Bjorn Rune Lie’s irresistible characters and world. I can’t escape the thought that’s exactly the point though, as by establishing the motive which informs the Wolf’s actions against the Three Little Pigs, the onus—and power—is given to the reader to re-imagine the original tale from a new perspective. Still though, I wouldn’t half mind an official sequel.

LINKS

Buy The Wolf's Whistle via the Nobrow website
Bjorn Rune Lie's blog and website

Review: KLAUS 1 & 2, Dicky Short

2011-02-08T13:09:00.007Z

Dicky Short | Self-released, 2010 | 2x 24p, black and white | Available now

When Umberto Eco described Charlez Schulz as a poet in his 1963 introduction to the first Italian collection of Peanuts, he openly admitted the statement was intended to grab the ire of the cultural custodians of the day. The gall of the man! By lauding Schulz’ ability to convey the complex emotionality of human existence through his dialogue and subtle manipulation of rhythm and visual language, Eco elevated Peanuts to the status of art. Today, although still ghettoised in the big, pop-cultural picture, you’d be hard pressed to find comic readers—of everything from Persepolis to Power Girl—who would dispute that status.

From the strip format’s syndicated newspaper heyday in the late 20th century to the web-comic rush of the internet era, very few artists have managed to capture the same lyricism as Schulz in their work. Stepping up to the Herculean plate is Richard “Dicky” Short, creator of Klaus, a four-panel web-come-print comic following the exploits of a pensive anthropomorphic cat of the same name. One part Peanuts, one part Jim Woodring’s Frank, Klaus transplants the myogenic spirit of the classic strip comic into a new, slightly stranger yet similarly robust body. Like a Hunt 102-weilding Victor Frankenstein, Short isn’t afraid to experiment, and readers may soon find themselves absorbed in the witty, contemplative, and warped world of cat-people, humanoid rodents, and metaphysical ruminations.

Whilst tributes certainly exist within the comic (the title character’s own stripes resemble Charlie Brown’s iconic shirt and an early plot arch in which he raises a baby bird appears to playfully riff on the Snoopy/Woodstock relationship, for example), Klaus is much more than left-field homage to Schulz’s work. Although always adherent to the four-panel construct, there is a considerable element of creative exploration to the comic, helping it veer away from format expectations. Gags are not always a given (or at least not always the primary focus) and the art style can be malleable to the purpose of the strip. For instance, moments of intense voyeurism are depicted with a greater realism than the otherwise constant cartoon aesthetic, and time and space periodically jump about, requiring the reader to engage in a much more active way than a strip comic usually insists upon.

As with any great strip cartoon, from Krazy Kat to Calvin and Hobbes, Short is developing both the visual and structural feel of his work as the series progresses. Sure, there are times where he strains the glue of the proverbial envelope a little too much with his pushing, and times where the troupes of the format are rested on a little too plainly, but these all part of the natural development of the strip.

To return to Eco’s comparison: Short might be best understood as the Ginsberg to Schulz’ Whitman, in that Klaus doesn’t so much recite the poetry of Peanuts as it does advance upon it for a different generation. If the reader thinks that comparison may be a little grandiose, please forgive me—it’s just my excitement for the strip speaking. Vexing, warm, and developing a genuine depth all of its own, it’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited about the format, and can’t wait to see exactly just how the comic develops.

LINKS

You can contact Short via his blog to order a copy of Klaus
Also: check out his Flickr account for more Klaus goodness!

Review: Everything Dies Issue 5, Box Brown

2011-01-24T09:02:00.010Z

Box Brown | Grimalkin Press, 2011 | 38 pages, black and white | $5 | Available now

Feeling spiritually bereft lately? Is your theistic gas tank running on empty? Maybe you’re just a little curious about matters of death and the afterlife? Luckily for you, Box Brown has returned with a 5th issue of his religion-themed web-and-print series, Everything Dies, for loyal fans and newcomers to eat up like tasty, tasty communion wafers.

For those unfamiliar with the series, a typical Everything Dies story functions like a Bizzaro version of one of Jack Chick’s infamous tracts. Whereas a Chick tract typically utilises the comic form to disseminate religious intolerance and manic evangelical stories of the satanic evils of homosexuality, evolution, and Dungeons & Dragons (seriously.), Everything Dies offers an educational and (largely) objective insight into various world religions via illustrated parables, real-life stories, and fictional narrative.

Those who read my review of the first couple of issues may remember I have a particular fondness for Brown’s Heart of Stonework sub-series, to which this entire issue is dedicated. Originally appearing as short exchanges based on—but not strictly adherent to—Buddist kōans, in which an elderly monk imparts wisdom to his student, its characters have grown over time, creating a compelling character-driven narrative of their own.

The central character, an ex-monk, hides his ceremonial incense-burns underneath a bandanna and mop of wavy hair: perhaps a subtle re-enforcement of the comic's Bruce Springsteen-inspired title.

Although a direct sequel to the web-exclusive story “Cigarette”, this issue works well on its own merit, and newcomers shouldn’t have any problems making sense of this classic tale of challenged faith. The story follows a disillusioned ex-monk who abandoned his order and beliefs following the death of his teacher. Saturnine and filled with resent, he is presented as a man adrift in existential waters, bitterly rejecting his Buddhist past whilst still struggling with the spiritual vacuum left in its wake.

Serving to humanise religious belief whilst allowing Brown to explore his own atheism, Heart of Stonework has become the thematic cornerstone of Everything Dies, and the conduit through which the entire series is best understood. By fragmenting religion in such a way, across a collection of stories and publications, Brown presents it as it really is: an interconnected yet disparate collection of stories, ideas, and cultural concepts that have become tightly entangled over time.

More than anything, Everything Dies’ chief success is that it is an exercise in theological reverse-engineering, breaking down the unfathomable whole to better understand all of its working parts. Until Moses comes down from Mt Sinai with the instruction manual, I, for one, am more than happy to watch Box Brown work on it.

LINKS

Buy Everything Dies # 5 from the Grimalkin Press webstore
Buy Everything Dies back-issues from Box Brown's webstore
Everything Dies website

Video: Jess Smart Smiley's Dragon vs. Killer Whale

2011-01-14T16:41:00.009Z

Although December is traditionally the time where Team ATF retreat into our cave and do little else but eat and play video games (and read comics, of course!), our festive plans were derailed as I contracted the nasty case of flu that was going around. Bed-ridden and reduced to a human husk, friend-of-the-blog Jess Smart Smiley decided to step in and cheer me up by taking on my challenge to draw a dragon fighting a killer whale.

As you can see from the video above, I don't think that it's any wonder that I went on to make a full recovery mere days later. As seen in our recent interview with him, Jess' is currently working on all manner of fun projects, not least of which is his all-ages Upside Down series, the first of which will be published by Top Shelf later this year. For more great drawings like the one above, we highly recommend visiting his website, or even adding him on Facebook. He'll be the best Facebook friend you'll ever have, honest!

Review: Baba Yaga and the Wolf, Tin Can Forest

2011-01-13T10:40:00.010Z

Tin Can Forest | Koyama Press, 2010 | 28 pages, 23x30cm, full colour | $15 | ISBN 978-0-9784810-5-6

Although the arcane forest of Baba Yaga and the Wolf couldn’t be further from the prosaic streets of American Splendor, I couldn’t help but think of the late, great Harvey Pekar’s iconic defence of comic books whilst reading it: “you can do anything with words and pictures”. Tin Can Forest—the Toronto-based team of artists Marek Colek and Pat Shewchuk—obviously share the same conviction, embedding this classic Slavic folk-tale with new magic via their inspired use of graphic narrative.

Ostensibly a follow-up to Coleck and Shewchuk's 2008 collection, Pohádky (“folk tales” in Czetch), readers are presented with a world where the natural and supernatural coexist freely, and deals with the devil are part of the status quo. The story itself focuses on Katarina, a woman desperately seeking help in order to cure her fatally-ill husband, Ivan. Ivan, as it turns out, is a lycanthrope, a condition he contracted as a result of an occult body-switching fratricide he committed as a younger man. When things are this weird, who better to call than a witch? In this case, the best known witch of Eastern-European folklore, the Baba Yaga.

The subject of countless reiterations over time, Baba Yaga has been portrayed as everything from a maniacal, child-eating hag to a deistic guardian of nature. With a clear reverence of their source material, Colek and Shewchuk embrace the plurality of the character, depicting her both as a benevolent shamanic healer and an omnipotent harbinger of death. This dichotomy is best illustrated by the “remedy” that she provides Katarina, stuffing Ivan full of chamomile and wormwood and burying him in the garden. Taking holistic medicine to the extreme, if the plants within him survive through the summer, he will return home, cured.

A nod to the oral traditions that inform the story, the events that befall Ivan and Katarina are delivered retrospectively from the perspective of Katarina’s youngest sister. Now an elderly woman passing down the story to her great-grandchild, the veracity of the story is unclear. Time and space fold into one another as her words float across the richly-detailed images of the forest, sometimes hovering above the action, sometimes emanating from within, via speech-bubbles from the characters’ mouths.

Tin Can Forest subvert—or at the very least play with—the traditional conventions of comic books to match the poetic nature of the story. Characters move between panels with dream-like fluidity and panel borders barely exist. I found myself reminded of cinematic auteurs like Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro, and even Luis Buñuel, in the way Tin Can Forest disassemble and rebuild their chosen format to create something breathtaking and unique.

Ethereal and perplexing, Baba Yaga and the Wolf continues publisher Koyama Press’ reputation of being on the forefront of exciting, progressive comic and graphic novel work. As much of a celebration of folk narrative as it is the potentials of the humble comic book, it is a real triumph for its creative team and deserves to be read by a wider audience. Above all else, it is proof that with enough creativity and understanding of the form, you can do anything with words and pictures.

LINKS

One Question Interview #22: Anne Holiday

2011-01-10T15:03:00.005Z

'Xena the Warrior Cat', written by Anne Holiday and illustrated by Tom Humberstone (from Solipsistic Pop 2)

Today's One Question Interview is with writer Anne Holiday, best known in the comics sphere for her work with Solipsistic Pop editor Tom Humberstone. With the duo currently working on a series of comics documenting the recent student demonstrations in London, we thought we'd take a page out of the police's book and isolate her for interrogation.

As a writer, what do you consider the challenges and rewards of comic books to be?

"As a writer, I think the challenge is to find someone to work with. And that’s a very real obstacle. You can have as many ideas as you like but without the skills to realise them visually on the page, you’ve got very little that resembles a comic book.

However, once you’ve managed to persuade people to collaborate with you – and I’ve only managed this with two people thus far so I’m miles away from being knowledgeable about it – it’s pretty damn rewarding. Seeing your ideas on the page rather than just reading or processing the words on their own is a bit of a surreal – and totally amazing – experience. It’s probably a bit like holding your child for the first time maybe. But, then again, I wouldn’t know because I don’t have any kids – I’m just drawing on that sense of satisfaction about having contributed to the making of a ‘thing’ that you couldn’t have done alone. When Tom Humberstone sent me a draft of our first collaboration Xena the Warrior Cat, I was so giddy with excitement I couldn’t stand still for an hour. He made those words look so bloody brilliant, I had a really difficult time getting back to my notebook and writing any more. Once you’ve found a good collaborator, keep working with them."

Our thanks go out to Anne for taking part in this mini-interview. If, like us, you're looking forward to seeing her latest collaboration with Tom Humberstone, we highly recommend checking out her blog The English Holiday Club, for updates as well as lots of other fun projects (such as this).

Featured Project: Luchadoras Translation

2011-01-03T09:37:00.027Z

A defiant Alma surveys her fiancé's handiwork in Luchadoras

Currently, we’re excited to be aiding Blank Slate Books in bringing Peggy Adam’s French-language graphic novel, Luchadoras, to the English-speaking market. Due for release this February, it’s our honour to be acting as translation team, and be part of enabling the book to gain more much-deserved exposure amongst readers.

Set in Mexico during the height of the Ciudad Juárez feminicidios, the book follows Alma, a victim of domestic abuse as she attempts to escape her abusive fiancé. First reading the book a couple of years ago, Judith and I were immediately won over by the care and precision with which the subjects of domestic violence, societal corruption, and misogyny are handled. Drawing attention the often disturbing, complex issues of the surrounding murders through the humanity of her characters, Luchadoras became a firm favourite of ours, and we jumped at the chance when Blank Slate boss-man Kenny Penman offered us the chance to translate it.

While Alma’s story is at the core of the graphic novel, the tragic, senseless killings affect every character in the comic. Throughout the book, Juárez’ dark side is revealed and the city itself becomes the personification of its problems. Appearing as an arid, inhuman entity that enables and perpetuates a hopeless cycle of brutality, it's a place where innocence is almost impossible; the police are plagued with corruption, maquiladora bosses are involved in unsettling kidnappings, and men are seemingly free to beat women as they please.

Without getting into spoilers, we believe the book is truly a graphic novel of substance that everyone—comic fan or not— should read. We’re thrilled to be involved in this project, and to be part of what looks like a marquee year for Blank Slate. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and/or Facebook for more updates on Luchadoras, including upcoming interviews with Peggy Adam and Kenny Penman in the build up to the book’s February release. We can’t wait!

For more information on our involvement, head over to this article on the Blank Slate website. For those of you interested to find out more about the Juárez femicides, Amnesty International have several webpages and documents available to read. We recommend starting with this one.

One Question Interview #21: Luke Pearson

2010-12-20T16:47:00.004Z

'The Egg', Pearson's contribution to 'Solipsistic Pop 3'

What can be said about Luke Pearson that hasn't already been done so? People love his work, and it seems to be fairly unanimous that he's one of the most promising up-and-coming talents in British comics. He was one of our absolute faves during our Solipsistic Pop 2 coverage, and he's only continued to impress us (along with the rest of the internet) in the time since.

In addition to having new work in Solipsistic Pop 3, most excellent publisher Nobrow have just released Pearson's latest comic, Hildafolk. Understandably, we had high hopes for this One Question Interview, and we certainly weren't disappointed, with Luke giving us a detailed insight into his style, visual interests, and what separates his taste in illustration from his taste in comics.

Q: Through your comics and illustration, it's clear that you have an interest in geometry and/or patterns. What can you tell us about this and how it relates to your work?

"I think the geometric thing comes from the interest I developed in angular, mid century illustrations while doing my illustration course. I'd take a lot of inspiration from poster art, old book covers and 50's animation design and I started making illustrations using just the polygon lasso tool in photoshop, which is when the triangles began to appear. I like illustrations that are built up of strong, readable shapes and often boiling things down to their simplest geometric forms is the best way of doing that.

I would say that my taste in illustration and my taste in comics are not the same. With comics I'm generally drawn to inked lines and circular, cartoony forms which makes my aims quite different. So I direct those illustrative influences at the page compositions and titles and such instead. I really love the diagrammatic nature of the comics page. When planning out a page you're essentially arranging geometric shapes in various patterns and there's unlimited potential for what that pattern could be and what it could mean for the reading experience. I think the patterns I actually include in the imagery are a reflection of that (I also just like knitted jumper patterns).

When I'm thumbnailing my layouts, I kind of get a kick out of looking at the pages and pages of various combinations of sketched out squares and triangles within rectangles. It's like I'm writing and experimenting with this bizarre, esoteric set of symbols that only I can understand and I find it totally cool. Because of this strange joy I think I often try to draw attention to the design of the page, rather than allowing it to discreetly do its job. I'm hoping in the future I can master that without compromising on the actual storytelling.

If you check out my tumblr I sometimes post the kind of inspiration I'm talking about and you can sort of piece together how my influences combine."

We're very grateful that Luke gave up some of his time to answer this question for us, and we hope the rest of you won't hate us for momentarily slowing his mighty pencil. In addition to his excellent above-linked tumblr page, you should absolutely positively go slam your eyeballs against his blog, which contains all manner of wonderful examples of his work. We've just ordered our copy of Hildafolk, have you?

Competition Result: Solipsistic Pop/ Chloe Noonan Remix Challenge

2010-12-14T16:17:00.006Z

We're delighted to announce that the winner of our Solipsistic Pop/ Chloe Noonan Remix Challenge is Casey Bieda, with the above entry. Picked by Marc Ellerby himself, this monstrous submission will see Casey net some seriously enviable swag.

Casey will not only receive the fabled blank-covered copy of Solipsistic Pop 3 to draw on to her heart's content, but also an almighty comics care package consisting of all three volumes of Solipsistic Pop and all three issues of Chloe Noonan: Monster Hunter, signed by Marc.

Casey currently produces the webcomic Interesting Papers to be Written. More of her work can be found on her Deviantart page, where she reveals that Metal Gear Solid 3 is her favourite video game. She gets our thumbs up just for that.

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition, we appreciated every single one!