Press
Interviews
"Comics as Art: Original Comics and Other Ephemera" catalog
Interview by Robert Cronin, March 8, 2003
Josh Neufeld's autobiographical travelogue comics have appeared in his comic Keyhole, along with the works of Dean Haspiel. Josh is known for his work on Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, which is now a major motion picture. The critically acclaimed Titans of Finance, another Neufeld title, takes an unflinching look at the financial world. His work has also been featured in 9-11: Emergency Relief, Duplex Planet Illustrated and The New York Times.
How is the aim of biographical and autobiographical comics different
from other comics?
I approach biographical comics from the perspective of teaching, of communicating
real information. My autobiographical comics give me more freedom; I don't
necessarily need to stick to the facts as long as I feel like I'm creating
emotional truths. My collaborations with Harvey Pekar (American Splendor)
and David Greenberger (Duplex Planet Illustrated), as well as poets
like Eileen Myles and Nick Flynn, are sort of a combination of biography and
autobiography: I feel free to use some poetic license, but I try to stay true
to the intent of the writer. Altogether, I think both forms work best on an
intimate, human level, refraining from alienating the reader through too much
melodrama, self-aggrandizement and/or bombast.
Can you describe the process of working with Harvey Pekar on American
Splendor? How does a story idea become the finished product?
That's the mystery of Harvey. He has a unique ability to take the everyday
events of his life and form them into incredibly satisfying stories. And he
does this without — for the most part — resorting to narrative
captions. I only can dream of being able to pull that off in my own autobiographical
work! Anyway, Harvey generally calls me up (he hates computers and doesn't
even have an email address) to ask if I want to do a piece with him. Then he
reads the script to me over the phone and mails or faxes me a "script." I
use the term "script" loosely, as what it actually is is a piece
of paper with some hastily drawn boxes, rough stick figures and hand-written
balloons coming out of their mouths. But through talking it over with him,
I get a general mental picture of what he wants, and I take it from there.
Just for my own peace of mind, I generally type up a more traditional script, based on his scrawls, and then get to work on the art. He used to like to see a layout of the piece before I finished it, but now he trusts me enough to just send him the finished piece.
What are some limitations to working with an autobiographical writer
such as Pekar?
What are some advantages?If all I ever did was illustrate Harvey's
work I would probably go nuts. I mean, one can only spend so much time immersed
in someone else's life. But I do lots of other comics — not to mention
my illustration career — so I have plenty of other opportunities to
branch out and to extend my horizons. The advantages of working with Harvey
are enormous. In many ways, I feel like he is a mentor to me. He's done so
much, lived through so many interesting times, and is so knowledgeable and
well-read, that I always feel like I have something to learn from him. And
also there's just the thrill of collaborating with a true comics legend!
How do you translate one of your own life experiences into a coherent
comic story?
Like I mentioned above, the first thing I learned in trying to do autobio comics
was that I didn't have to limit myself to "the facts." As we know,
facts are usually open to subjective interpretations, so the main thing to
worry about is the emotional impact of the experience. I generally try to find
my autobio stories in the material I rely on for telling people about my life
in social situations: parties, get-togethers, etc. If it makes a good party
story, seems to be entertaining — either funny, sad, poignant, whatever — than
I figure it's got a good shot of making a good comic.
Then the hard part begins: of writing it down, making it into a script, finding the through-line, keeping the characters fresh, finding a satisfactory conclusion, and then drawing the damn thing. It all seems to take so long, and is so exhausting! But then at least I have this permanent document of my experiences, something I can always look back on, if not with pride, then at least with a sense of accomplishment.
Do you see your comics as educational?
I try not to put that burden on myself or my work. At the least, I like to
think that my comics can teach people that the comics form is wide-open to
all sorts of stories, not only superheroes and funny animals, but literary
fiction, biography, formal experimentation, and everything in between.