We continue our conversation with the Gaylord Phoenix author by discussing the queer comics scene, changing while staying put, and how it’s possible to maintain the punk ethos while holding down a day job.
[Art by Dave Sheril]
We wrap up our interview with the Ink Studs host by discussing stateside coverage of Canadian comics, the importance of preparation, and preaching to the comics choir.
In this third part of our interview with the Inkstuds host, we discuss criticism and sexism within the comics community.
[Art By Mike Myrhe]
I first met Edie Fake on my last trip to Chicago. He was working behind the counter at Quimby’s, the obligatory first stop on any tour of the Windy City. Fake was friendly and helpful and we invited him to a Cross Hatch meetup we were holding in Chicago, later that evening. At the time, however, I had no idea that he was a distinguished cartoonist in his own right–though, given Quimby’s pedigree, the news didn’t exactly come as a surprise.
When I got back home to New York, I started seeing Fake’s work all over the place, first with the arrival of the collected Gaylord Phoenix from Secret Acres and then at the Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest, where the cartoonist was present to sign copies of the new book.
Fake has been producing minis zines for a number of years now, but 2011 seems to be the year that it all comes together for the artist, thanks in no small part to the Secret Acres collection–a downright hallucinogenic journey of exploration of gender and self-discovery.
I spoke to Fake about a number of issues during our hour-long interview. During this first part, however, the conversation largely revolves around the time he spent driving a vegetable oil-powered 1970s school bus around the country, because, well, that’s the sort of topic it’s easy to get stuck on.
In this second part of our interview with the Ink Studs host, we discuss the power of radio, the history of comics as literature, and whether cartoonists really do make the best comics critics.
[Part One]
[Above, McConnell via Paul Hornschemeier.]
For more than half a decade, “Inkstuds” has been offering up some of the most in-depth indie comics interviews currently available in audio form. From superstars to the arcane, the show’s guest list is something of a who’s who of sequential art, with host Robin McConnell having chatted up nearly everyone in the industry who has ever wielded a pen–sometimes twice.
Born as a terrestrial radio show on the University of Bristish Columbia’s CTIR, the show has gained a fair amount of steam as a podcast, standing out in a world dominated by the testosterone-fueled idle chat of fanboys.
Late last year, the show became a book, courtesy of Conundrum Press. The eponymous volume pulled together 30 hand-selected interviews with luminaries like Kim Deitch, Carol Tyler, Mary Fleener, and more.
We took the opportunity as an excuse to find out what makes McConnell and “Inkstuds” tick.
We wrap up our conversation with Usagi Yojimbo’s creator by discuss, space rabbits, licensing deals, and the differences between goblins and gnomes.
In this second part of our interview with the indie comics great, we discuss the influence that manga and Japanese culture in general have had upon his long running series, Usagi Yojimbo.
[Part One]
BROWSE 
