What’s SHOOT THE MESSENGER? Well, AICN COMICS: SHOOT THE MESSENGER is your weekly one stop shop for comic book news that’s dropped in the previous week. Thanks to Newsarama, CBR, Wizard, etc. for reporting it as it breaks. Click on the links for the original stories. This column cuts the crap to run down all the vital information for those of you who don’t follow it as it comes in, and serves it all up with that special ingredient of @$$y goodness.
Hey all, Stones Throw back with some more bustin’ comic book news. I never judged you, so why do you judge me? Let’s go…
First, we have a Q & @ with writer Nicholas Gurewitch from THE PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP. So I’ll pass the mic over to fellow @$$Hole Ambush Bug for the interview and be back after that with the news.
Hey folks, Ambush Bug here. Just wanted to check out this here Shoot the Messenger News Column. Looks nice and roomy. Seems like a good place for an interview. And I just happen to have one right here. Nicholas Gurewitch has been doling out some morbid and surreal humor in his PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP comic strip and webcomic which appears in twenty-one newspapers, five magazines, and five school papers for years. The comic strip originated in the Syracuse University newspaper The Daily Orange and recently a collection of his comic strips was collected by Dark Horse Comics in the hardcover trade THE TRIAL OF COLONAL SWEETO AND OTHER STORIES. Nicholas Gurewitch was nice enough to answer some of our questions.
@: First and foremost, THE PERRY BIBLE FELLOWSHIP: where did that name come from?
Nicholas Gurewitch (NG): Ummm...It's one of those titles that doesn't really correspond with its subject, the way some fat guys are called "tiny" or a cat is named after a dictator. I'm not sure. I just like that my comic isn't a "Perry Bible Fellowship". It works for me in a weird, post-modern way.@: Can you go through the history of how this offbeat behemoth of a comic strip came to be?
NG: I'm not sure if there's any interesting story I can tell. My friend Albert and I had seen a lot of the comics in our school newspaper, and thought we'd try something different. The PBF is what came out of that effort.@: What's it been like to suddenly find yourself in print, with something you can hold in your hands and put on the bookshelf? Were your friends and family happy for you, or have they already shunned you for being a sellout? Nobody turns on you quicker than grandma…
NG: Gramma likes the book. She's happy with it. Everybody I talk to seems to like the book. I can't imagine they would confuse selling my work with selling out. Publishing on the web is way more of a sell-out anyway. Online, you're exposing people to computer radiation and advertisements. The book doesn't have any of that stuff.@: There's a pretty warped sense of humor at play in PBF. What would you say is the target audience for the comic strip?
NG: The comic was initially constructed to please myself, and a very small circle of friends. It's pretty much stayed that way, but I've grown while coming in contact with other people's opinions that have mattered to me, so that's probably played a part in its evolution.@: Artistically, your comic strips vary from cartoon recreations/variations/perversions of beloved childhood icons to classical illustration. What's your secret for such a broad range of artistry?
NG: I'm a careful person when it comes to what I'm about to draw. I think about it very hard. I suppose that comes in handy when I want to stand on someone's shoulders, because I take the time to see exactly what they did.@: Nothing seems to be sacred in PBF. Is there a subject you refuse to pervert to its most comedic degree?
NG: There are subjects I wouldn't know how to make comedic, off the top of my head, but I wouldn't say they're off limits. Anything that a person can have a reaction to can be shown in such a way as to strike an understanding. It all depends on the delivery.A nuclear holocaust is probably the worst thing I can possibly think of, but then again...the ending of Dr. Strangelove is one of my favorite things ever. That's probably because there's just too much going on in that movie to see the explosions as the causes of genocide. You're preoccupied with what it means to the characters, the symbolism, etcetera.
@: Do you consider yourself a funny person or just funny on paper?
NG: I think making people laugh just happens, sometimes, when I do the things I do. I'm mostly just awkward. If I make people laugh, it's usually because they're laughing at my beliefs or something.@: What I like most about Dark Horse's collection of PBF comic strips is the "Lost Strips" section where you go into your own thought processes behind each strip you decided not to run. It was cool to see what went on with this decision making process. Can you elaborate on this section of the book?
NG: It's something that I did all through college in the very first PBF collections I ever did. I think it's just my way of having a lil' DVD-style extra to go along with my work. There's comfort for me in commentary, because even if people don't like the comic I've supplied, they can at least achieve an understanding with the commentary.@: Have you ever found it difficult to fit what you are trying to say within the three to four panel format of the strips?
NG: I think you can always re-write something to have a clear beginning, middle, and end, if you're willing to re-represent the ideas, sacrifice certain elements.@: Any plans to do something more long-form with an ongoing story, or do you prefer short bursts of insanity? Anything else in the works we should keep an eye out for?
NG: I love short bursts of insanity, but there's nothing wrong with a long series of them. I've been experimenting with a longer form graphic story, and am in the process of finishing a couple feature-length movie scripts that I'm pretty excited about.
@: Just how formidable is "Unicorn Power"? Is it more powerful than an atomic bomb? More deadly than the Death Star? How about Superman?
NG: If Superman drove the Death Star into an atomic explosion that was being detonated on a Unicorn...the Unicorn would be standing when the dust cleared. That much is true.Thank you, Mr. Gurewitch. Be sure to seek out the Dark Horse collection, THE TRIAL OF COLONAL SWEETO AND OTHER STORIES in stores now.
Back to you, Stoney.
Thanks, Bug. And now, the news…
@ J. Michael Straczynski has not renewed his exclusive contract with Marvel. However, he’ll continue to write THOR and THE TWELVE.@ Meanwhile, with Greg Rucka no longer being exclusive to DC, the GOTHAM CENTRAL squad (writers Ed Brubaker and Rucka and artist Michael Lark) will re-team for a four issue DAREDEVIL arc in May.
@ FALL OUT BOY have a comic book project with the Dabel Bros. coming up. Eeeeee!!!
@ Christos Gage will saddle up with artist Wellington Dias for Dynamite’s THE MAN WITH NO NAME, starring the Clint Eastwood character who doesn’t have a name.
@ More details on Vertigo’s new HOUSE OF MYSTERY series…
@ Finally, Ardden Entertainment have acquired the rights and will publish a new FLASH GORDON series.
