STAPLE! Interview: Jeffrey Brown
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Cartoonist Jeffrey Brown is the sort of DIY success story that keeps independent artists sweating over their stacks of stapled zines and CD-Rs. His first autobiographical graphic novel, Clumsy, was self-published after being rejected by every major alternative comics publisher. A few months later, the book sold out and was reprinted by Top Shelf Productions, which is home to luminaries like Craig Thompson (Blankets) and and James Kochalka (SuperF*ckers!). Brown currently produces Sulk for Top Shelf, and his next book, Funny Misshapen Body, is due out from Simon And Schuster this spring. Along with his autobiographical work, Brown moonlights on the superhero parody Bighead and the Transformers riff The Incredible Change-Bots, and directed a video for Death Cab For Cutie for its Directions DVD. In anticipation of his appearance at this weekend's STAPLE!, Decider spoke to Brown about the ways an artist can try to manufacture sincerity, being both an indieand a mainstream success, and whether he'd trade his street cred for a go at X-Men.
Decider: You reveal a lot of your personal life in your work. Does it affect the way that people act around you?
Jeffrey Brown: Not that I know of. It's possible that they act very differently, but I don't think they'll tell me. I might have to write about that, too. I write about very personal things, but, at the same time, I'm not out to assassinate anyone's character. It's more about letting things happen, and then later, when I have some perspective, I'll think about what it means. It's less about actual events than about how events fit into this bigger context.
D: Do you ever try to shape that context—such as acting in a way that would make for a better story?
JB: I'm very self-conscious about that. I want to be present in the moment. It's like football, when guys are running before they catch the ball and they drop it. If you're thinking about writing the comic as things are happening, what's happening isn't going to be worth writing about, because you're no longer involved.
D: Is it more important to you to tell the story honestly or effectively as a story?
JB: I try not to compromise. It's been a little restricting at times to only tell things as [truthfully] as I can remember, but there are things I’ve built on the reader’s trust that I'm telling true stories. If I start playing with that, I risk undermining work that's come before. Being honest is part of being an effective storyteller. The feelings and emotions I'm trying to express are dependent on honesty. Even though there's no way for you to know whether I'm telling the truth, I'd just as soon write complete fiction if I was going to change things for the sake of the story.
Jennifer Bell D: Especially in Clumsy, the character of "you" has an art school background, but the actual art is very childlike. Have you found that approach to be the most sincere?
JB: Yeah, it's adding another level of intimacy. The reason that works—for the relationship books especially—is when you're in love and you're trying to express to someone how you feel, you're stumbling over the words, and just letting it all out without editing. It can sound stupid, but it's also how someone knows you're saying what you really feel. In the book, by taking away those levels of craft, you're also taking away levels of self-obscurement.
D: A lot of your work is very autobiographical, yet you also do robot and superhero parodies. What’s the connection?
JB: The more of my work someone reads, the more those things make sense together. I grew up reading superhero comics and playing with Transformers, so there's a genuine love that goes into the parodies. And the autobiographical books, even with the heartbreak, there's always a lot of humor. Like in Unlikely, there's a scene where, after being dumped, I'm playing video games and crying, and there's a montage of relationship moments in my head. The humor is the big connector.
D: You're classified as an “indie” cartoonist, yet you’ve sold thousands of books, been picked up by two major publishing houses, and worked with Death Cab For Cutie. Does "indie" mean anything anymore?
JB: Less than it used to. I think the label has been applied to style and aesthetics rather than methods. But people are still starting out on their own and putting the work in themselves to build up an audience.
D: How different is the audience you reach with something like Cat Getting Out Of A Bag, which was released by a larger publisher?
JB: Usually when people talk about mainstream comics, they're talking about superheroes, but I feel like the cat book hits a mainstream audience. It reaches people who have never read comics in their life, but who have cats, and they're interested in the book for that reason.
D: Do you ever get to hear from your “cat lady” fans?
JB: Once in a while. It's definitely a book my parents give to people they know. I hear a lot from 40 to 60 year olds who have cats—and who aren't the audience for Clumsy or Incredible Changebots. I'm a realist enough to know that the majority of the books I write aren't for everyone—or even a lot of people. As much as I like robots and lasers, there’s a finite amount of people who get humor out of that.
D: Have Marvel or DC ever come knocking to ask you to do superheroes for real?
JB: No, but it was my dream growing up to draw X-Men. I've been kicking around the idea of collaborating with an artist on a mainstream genre book like that. I'd love to.
D: Don’t you worry you'd lose your “indie” cred?
JB: My personality comes through no matter what. [Laughs.] I'm not worried about my street cred.
Jeffrey Brown: Not that I know of. It's possible that they act very differently, but I don't think they'll tell me. I might have to write about that, too. I write about very personal things, but, at the same time, I'm not out to assassinate anyone's character. It's more about letting things happen, and then later, when I have some perspective, I'll think about what it means. It's less about actual events than about how events fit into this bigger context.
D: Do you ever try to shape that context—such as acting in a way that would make for a better story?
JB: I'm very self-conscious about that. I want to be present in the moment. It's like football, when guys are running before they catch the ball and they drop it. If you're thinking about writing the comic as things are happening, what's happening isn't going to be worth writing about, because you're no longer involved.
D: Is it more important to you to tell the story honestly or effectively as a story?
JB: I try not to compromise. It's been a little restricting at times to only tell things as [truthfully] as I can remember, but there are things I’ve built on the reader’s trust that I'm telling true stories. If I start playing with that, I risk undermining work that's come before. Being honest is part of being an effective storyteller. The feelings and emotions I'm trying to express are dependent on honesty. Even though there's no way for you to know whether I'm telling the truth, I'd just as soon write complete fiction if I was going to change things for the sake of the story.
Jennifer Bell D: Especially in Clumsy, the character of "you" has an art school background, but the actual art is very childlike. Have you found that approach to be the most sincere?JB: Yeah, it's adding another level of intimacy. The reason that works—for the relationship books especially—is when you're in love and you're trying to express to someone how you feel, you're stumbling over the words, and just letting it all out without editing. It can sound stupid, but it's also how someone knows you're saying what you really feel. In the book, by taking away those levels of craft, you're also taking away levels of self-obscurement.
D: A lot of your work is very autobiographical, yet you also do robot and superhero parodies. What’s the connection?
JB: The more of my work someone reads, the more those things make sense together. I grew up reading superhero comics and playing with Transformers, so there's a genuine love that goes into the parodies. And the autobiographical books, even with the heartbreak, there's always a lot of humor. Like in Unlikely, there's a scene where, after being dumped, I'm playing video games and crying, and there's a montage of relationship moments in my head. The humor is the big connector.
D: You're classified as an “indie” cartoonist, yet you’ve sold thousands of books, been picked up by two major publishing houses, and worked with Death Cab For Cutie. Does "indie" mean anything anymore?
JB: Less than it used to. I think the label has been applied to style and aesthetics rather than methods. But people are still starting out on their own and putting the work in themselves to build up an audience.
D: How different is the audience you reach with something like Cat Getting Out Of A Bag, which was released by a larger publisher?
JB: Usually when people talk about mainstream comics, they're talking about superheroes, but I feel like the cat book hits a mainstream audience. It reaches people who have never read comics in their life, but who have cats, and they're interested in the book for that reason.
D: Do you ever get to hear from your “cat lady” fans?
JB: Once in a while. It's definitely a book my parents give to people they know. I hear a lot from 40 to 60 year olds who have cats—and who aren't the audience for Clumsy or Incredible Changebots. I'm a realist enough to know that the majority of the books I write aren't for everyone—or even a lot of people. As much as I like robots and lasers, there’s a finite amount of people who get humor out of that.
D: Have Marvel or DC ever come knocking to ask you to do superheroes for real?
JB: No, but it was my dream growing up to draw X-Men. I've been kicking around the idea of collaborating with an artist on a mainstream genre book like that. I'd love to.
D: Don’t you worry you'd lose your “indie” cred?
JB: My personality comes through no matter what. [Laughs.] I'm not worried about my street cred.
