Transcript: Indie Comix

Bif Bam Pow Wow
Episode “Indie Comix, Artist and writers”

Tom: Indie comics, they can be crude or complex in both their style and content. But there is no denying their influence on mainstream culture. Today, we take a look at one of our favorite contemporary underground artists. Today we take a look at one of my favorite contemporary underground artists.
Welcome friends and foes to another exciting installment of Bif Bam Pow wow. I am Tom your crudely rendered host. Not you are a fan of indie artists the chances are that you have heard of Jeffrey Brown. Jeffrey burst on the scene in 2002 with his self published graphic novel Clumsy.
Since then he is become somewhat of an indie comic darling. Churning out a bunch of new titles including a couple of my favorites, Be a Man, and I'm going to be small. For which he won an Ignuts award for best mini comic.
Okay friends if you're looking for a good starting point with Jeffrey Brown then I highly recommend you begin where he did with his debut graphic novel, clumsy. It has been reissued by top shelf productions where you can find all of his latest title as well. Now like a lot of his work, it is largely autobiographical and it will dwells on relationships and Brown's key everyday observations.
The thing about this book that I relate to, and makes me feel less alone in the universe, which is what indie comics are good for. Is it kind of lets me know that I'm not the only person who is a needy psychopath when it comes to relationships. Thanks. Well this should serve as a good entrée into the world of underground comics.
If you are looking to dig a little deeper, well then I have some great recommendations that will set you off right on your path to comic book enlightenment. Perhaps one of the more influential underground artists of our time, if you can still call him underground, would have to be one of my personal favorites, Daniel Clowes.
From ghost world to art school confidential. Clowes has influenced pop culture in ways that we have never even realized. Now Mr. Clowes has recently moved from Chicago to Los Angeles. And Mr. Clowes we really wish you luck out there and we hope that we see a lot more from you buddy. Maybe another movie or maybe more than one comic a year. Because that would be really sweet, your stuff is awesome and I am way into it.
Another favorite that I have absolutely got to recommend is Craig Thompson. You must drop what you're doing right now, go out, and find yourself a copy of blankets. This is an incredible book, it is sort of another relationship tale, but it is so well done and so sweet and really romantic. The art is fantastic and it is really, really good. Go get it. Blankets by Craig Thompson. Do it right now.
Now folks you know me, I just can't do a show unless I pan in something. And unfortunately the target of my ire is going to be Tek Jansen. That's right, Stephen cold there went through Oni press and did a Tek Jansen comic. You would think that would be funny right? You'd be cracking up the whole time, grabbing yourself laughing. It didn't happen. It did not happen in any way. I wasn't feeling it. Steve not at all. I would say avoid this one, sorry Oni, you have other good stuff though. We'll keep our eyes peeled.
Okay folks I've do all you collectors out there are thinking, well where can I get my hands on something that might be worth something for an indie comic. Unfortunately all this stuff has been reprinted so many times that it is hard to find any of it that actually holds any value. I suppose a first print of any one of these might be worth something, but you know. Not really. a lot of these artists have their own personal sketch books that they occasionally sell. Now that would be something that might actually have some value. Depending on the artists will kind of dictate what it might be worth.
Okay friends buckle up we have a very special treat for you. Because we got a chance to recently hang out with our aforementioned hero, Jeffrey Brown. Oh man, we got to ask him a couple of questions and he is a really cool guy so I think you are going to like this. He looks just like his cartoon self you know. All black and white and kind of squiggly, well just check him out.
Jeffrey Brown: I am Jeffrey Brown I am a Chicago cartoonist. I started doing comics about six or seven years ago. My most recent book is called incredible change bots and it is a parody of the Transformers but I'm better known for my autobiographical books. My first book was called clumsy. And my next autobiographical book is called Little things and that will be out spring of 2008.
Q: Who is your favorite superhero?
Jeffrey Brown: I guess that Wolverine has always been my favorite superhero. Which I feel like is really clichéd now. But I was always a Marvel guy growing up.
Q: What alternative artist today do you feel deserve more recognition?
Jeffrey Brown: The two that spring to mind are Honors Nelson and Paul Hunchmeyer. They are both on a web site called the holy consumption with me but they are doing a lot of really great work.
Q: What else are you currently working on?
Jeffrey Brown: Right now I just started a book called funny misshapen body, which kind of covers high school, college, art school. And it kind of chronicles my life through those times and becoming a cartoon artists and when I first started drawing clumsy. So I just finished the script for that, and I just started drawing it. So it will be about a year before that is done.
Q: If you could have one super power…?
Jeffrey Brown: Tough call, I you know with the classic invisibility versus flying I think I would have I was always into invisibility. It just seems slightly safer.
Q: Are you sure that's the superpower that you would want?
Jeffrey Brown: I think I'm going to stick with invisibility, um yeah. The other one I always wanted as a kid was shooting lightning but yeah. I will switch, let's go from invisibility to shooting lightning at stuff. People, things, criminals.
Tom: Awesome, special thanks once again go out to our personal friend Jeffrey Brown. Wow I am feeling inspired right now to go out and start my own graphic novel based on my relationships. Well on second thought, maybe you can just go and read the restraining orders by yourself, if you are interested. We will save that for another episode. in the meantime we have to go. And I want to leave you with these parting words; see me, feel me, touch me, love me.