Mike Dawson has been tooling around the world of indie comics for some time now. After years of self-publishing minis, the artist been work on the six issue mini-series, Gabagool back in 2002, chronicling the life of three Bronx-based nerds in their early 30s. It was the publication of this year’s Freddie & Me: A Coming of Age (Bohemian) Rhapsody for Bloombury, however, that really put the artist on the map.

The book is as much a love letter to  Dawson’s life-long musical obsessions as it as the autobiography of a young British transplant growing up in the States during the height of Reganomics.

In this second and final part of our interview, we talk about the reaction of Queen fans, the catharsis of autobiography, and how having a kid has affected the artist’s output.

[Part One]
Read the rest of this entry »

Most of us are content to abandon our childhood obsessions, in pursuit of more “grownup” fare. For Mike Dawson, however, being a Queen fan has proved a lifelong commitment, something inexorably linked to his own story, growing up as a British immigrant in the United States in the mid-80s. When Dawson first sat down to document his devotions, he expected little more than a quick one-off.

Four years and 300-odd pages later, Freddie & Me was finally complete. When it came out, earlier this year, the book proved surprisingly touching in its exploration of the lives of both Dawson and Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury.

We sat down briefly with Dawson to discuss the birth of the book and the power of autobiographical comics.

Read the rest of this entry »