Post Titled: anti-superheroism and other Non-Fiction (as of late) Berlin, April 12-17ish
Mr. White schrieb: Wait, so you don't have Skype at work anymore?
TAR schrieb: I do, but it is a new name and I am not allowed to have any contacts outside of the office.
yes, it hurts a little bit.
Mr. White schrieb: Wow, that's retarded. Do they think you're incapable of communicating with people outside the office through other means?

Got off my lazy bum and finally did something interesting after work- met Helen for a beer at ye olde Yorkschlosschen, not paying attention to the time at all- then with 5 minutes to spare we zipped superfast on bicycles as not to be toooo terribly late to pay a very reasonable €5 at Hebbel am Ufer EINS a.k.a. HAU 1 to see Art Spiegelman talk about the history of comics, really really great- actually, I even started getting antsy, squirming in my seat and struggling to take notes in the dark on the (hopefully) blank back side of my ticket- excellent presentation- and then a sort of odd Q and A where he sat stuck in the middle of the stage between a pretty American woman journalist, Anjana Shrivastava (Welt Online) -a slim Manhattanish-clad with long dark curls and on the other side a blonde puffy redfaced German (Claus Christian Malzahn of Spiegel Online) as they shot these softly meaningless and fluffily menacing (but politically-charged), fairly redundant questions at him from both sides. Talk-Pong. *Donk*... *Donk*
I did actually ask a completely unintelligent question in a moment of panic- suddenly found my hand in the air then standing and adressing - I mean, with these timid Berlin audiences it has happened all too often that the alloted audience Q and A time is never taken-up, bambis in the audience timid timid inner turmoid but no open mouthes -a few questions are asked... but then- "Any more questions?... anyone else?..." dot dot dot, personally if you have someone like Art Spiegelman before you and have the chance to ask a question- well, seems like a great opportunity, also i think it is just respectful of the audience to exhaust the presenter to the point of "Ok, last question-" it shows that they are engaged and actually care-
anyhow, during the presentation (which covered a brief history of the birth and development of comics in print) he dismissed superheroes almost altogether- I was a bit shocked. I mean, here I am - the build-up, waiting until he reaches the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and maybe even some latter-day favorites, touch on the Death of Superman? Touch on the beauty of Spawn or short-lived the Maxx the gazillions of independent comics which are created now?
Nope. No mention of any contemporary Crumb-esque masters and absolutely no no No cred for superheroes: their existence is irrelevant - move on to next subject: Darger. I asked him what else he might say about superheroes if he had more time, would he just continue to bash them?
I believe his response was actually that the drive behind superhero comics was (to) "blow/shoot a wad of machismo/masculinity onto the page/at the reader(?). Galactus, Silver Surfer... I'm still working through it with my therapist." I was surprised later over a falafel when Adam, who had had him as a professor at Columbia- a fact I was not aware of- (in a class of 14 students! fahk, nice.) said that he always re-enforced this anti-superheroism, it pissed off the dykes in the class a LOT.
If I step back and dissect this superhero dismissal ...I suspect he may take this stance for a reason... perhaps for the very same reason that I kind of resent- hmm, maybe Damien Hirst or Matthew Barney? they are successful and popular within their field, they are lucky, wealthy, talented, popular and ... wait, what is a better comparison. Maybe... hmm, a young talented writer like ________ writer who resents J.K. Rowling or Stephen King... Hm. I guess my theory is that Mr. Spiegelman, who is very talented, is a weirdo, a clever oddball- therefore although he may produce great images and brilliant societal and human commentary, he is no Stan Lee, his comics have not been turned into billion dollar blockbusters, -I think -within the world of comics and their creators- that must make one a bit bitter... Nevertheless, despite this little (grr) issue the evening was brilliant, I just wanted to drop everything and draw- which I did- and realized just HOW difficult it is to work with boxes! I have tried for years- the boxes are insanely frustrating... perhaps it is better if do the drawings first then cut them out and glue them or make a comic frame, cut them out and tape them to the back so they are all nicely framed from the front... because building the boxes and then drawing in them is/would make(ing) me nuts-o.

Ok, and on a side note, he mentioned Daumier- and I have a great regret: I was in a antique shop about 4 or 5 years ago and there was a little framed cartoon-caricature sketch by Daumier on sale for I think $120, and I thought- "hmm..." walked out, came back 3 days later aaand -of course- it was already gone. PAIN! it was so lovely. he is so good. Oh, crap, he was also buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery- last time I was there I don't think I had heard of him yet. should go back...