I’m always on the lookout for ways to 1) promote what the Blog@ folks are doing outside of Blog@ and 2) promote the genuis that is SuperF*ckers … Chris Mautner helps me do both over on his blog, as he talks to James Kochalka:
Q: I’ll just call it “Super Explitive Deleted.” How did that come about? What was the impetus for that?
A: It’s really complicated how I started doing that strip. You know my book “The Cute Manifesto?” I have a contrary dissenting philosophy. The Cute Manifesto is my book of art theory, comics theory and life theory. Basically it’s art and philosophy. I have an equal and opposite philosophy, which I call “the evil universe theory.” I wanted to incorporate my evil universe theory into a regular story. Basically I wanted to show the interconnectedness between all things and that every molecule of the universe is at war with every other molecule of the universe.
Somehow that turned into this goofy story about teen-age superheroes living in a clubhouse. And doing drugs. It was really going to be a quite different story but after I bounce these ideas around for several years before I started, pretty much the moment I actually sat down and put pencil to paper and started drawing the story it completely changed. And that happens anytime I write a story.
Q: How so? Where did you say “what this needs is a Legion of Super Heroes” bent?
A: I have no idea. I don’t know how it happens. (pause) This is how it happened. I had all these ideas about that grandiose graphic novel. But then I also thought an easy and fun way to make a bit of money would be to write a superhero comic for marvel or dc. So I pitched an idea for a Legion of Super Heroes series to DC. And it took them so long to get back to me about whether or not they wanted to do it that I finally just started working on it myself and changed the name to “Super Fuckers.” (laughs)
May 4th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
I wish DC had been adventurous enough to publish Kochalka’s story. His work is definitely an acquired taste but once you acquire it, it sticks with you.