Decanter Banter: “I don’t want to get old”

This is Dan. He's the kind of guy who picks up your ex in the same conversation as he's trying to stand up to her on your behalf. What a douche.

Ian Kaufman
Editor-in-Chief

Briefly, the idea behind “Decanter Banter” is to break out of (or at least play with) the typical, formal way of conducting interviews. This is often not effective in sharing information or entertaining readers. More importantly, it’s a lot more fun my way.

The key components of a Decanter Banter interview are: 1. The interviewee is preferably not “newsworthy” in the usual sense 2. No effort to stay on topic is made, and of course 3. Booze.

The last component may seem a little tacky, but think for a moment: how better to break through the social barriers that hinder honest conversation than by getting someone a little tipsy?

What we end up with is hopefully a nonlinear mishmash of seriousness, humour, absurdity, and a greater degree of openness and straight-talking than we usually see in the media. If nothing else, there’s the fun of watching the progression in tone as the empties accumulate.

This week, we kick off the series with Kyle Lees, in honour of the five-year anniversary of his comic strip “Premise Beach”. The strip has been a regular feature of the Argus since before the rest of us got here, and we are often dismayed to see readers flip directly to the comics page, laugh, and then immediately discard the paper.
The next interview will feature a couple of local beekeepers, and a lot of mediocre whiskey. In the meantime, if anyone has Decanter Banter ideas (or wants to conduct one of their own), feel free: argus@lakeheadu.ca!

Argus: Ok, I promise I have some very interesting questions coming, but I’m going to start off with a banal one, which is how did you start drawing? When did you first start thinking, I should do that?

Kyle: Well, I’ve always doodled crap. Sure, I’ve been drawing since I was a kid. Everyone drew when they were kids. But I never really stopped. There was some horrible, horrible fiction drawn in high school that is thankfully lost to the ages. And a horrible fire. That I started.
I don’t know if at any point I decided: “Oh, comics! Yeah, I’m going to do that! Specifically, comics of people drawn from the waist up.”

A: Is that true? You don’t draw legs?

K: I draw legs. Rarely.

A: What about comics that influenced you?

K: The one that everyone says is Calvin and Hobbes (or at least, everyone who was born in the ‘80s or the ‘90s). In terms of doing it on the internet, there are comics that I read and think, I’m going to copy that… Penny Arcade, PvP. They’re doing it really DIY – they’re not going to publishers or syndicates and saying, ‘please, publish my work.’ They’re doing it themselves, and living off of it.

Maggie: [Barking]

K: For those of you listening in at home, there is a dog in the room. [Scuffling] So now Ian’s outside with the dog. I’m reading an issue of Batman. It’s good… Tim Lee did the art.

A: Maggie, sit. Lie down. Lie down, Maggie. Ok. So… what was my question again?

K: Uh, storylines.

A: Oh yeah. So in the past you’ve said the storyline of “Premise Beach” is based on your life. Is this still the case five years into the comic?

K: It’s really a grab bag of things that have happened to me, things that I would like to have happen to me, and things that have crossed my mind that seem like a funny idea.

A: You have these characters that you develop over years, and that you plan to develop in the future. Do you get attached to them?

K: Oh, absolutely. For instance, when I introduced Beth a couple of years ago, she was just a cute girl in a coffee shop who Yvette had a crush on. I began writing the introductory story arc with Yvette completely striking out with her. I got maybe three comics into the story arc, and I felt so bad for Yvette. So she got the girl, they dated for a few months, and then they broke up.

A: Do you feel like sometimes you have to fight your emotional attachment to the characters for the good of the story?

K: I’m finding that to be the case more and more as I start writing longer stories. My eventual goal is to write realistic things happening to these characters, things that aren’t necessarily the best for them, but that I feel would happen.

A: So, like For Better or for Worse.

K: No. NOT like For Better or for Worse. Because in MY For Better or for Worse, Elizabeth never ended up with Anthony. He has a creepy moustache… Lynn Johnston is CRAZY.

A: It is a little weird.

K: Nice lady, though, nice lady.

A: You’ve met her?

K: No.

A: I think writing realistic stories involves a certain amount of risk for an artist. Like, we were just talking about For Better or for Worse, and there’s kind of a perception that it’s a little lame, right? You’re opting more and more for plotline rather than a punchline, unlike [fellow Argus comic artist] Fingers “Thumbs” McGee.

K: I hate that guy.

A: Yeah, I’ve heard you guys have a little bit of a rivalry.

K: Well, just – put some effort into your comics, is all I’m saying. He doesn’t even ATTEMPT to colour.

A: Have you guys ever met?

K: I have met him a little bit. We teamed up for two comics, and the first time it was a gas to work with him, a lot of fun. But that second time… The guy has fuckin’ issues.

A: Do you have issues sharing space with him on the pages of the Argus? Because he is sometimes a little crude…

K: Oh, God. Did you see the last one? The RAPE one? I really… Those are the sort of things I would love to draw – well, not draw, write, because it looks like garbage – but I mean, have a little bit of tact. The things he says are horrible. He’s a horrible person. But I wish him all the best.

A: Do you feel like comics inherently rely on humour? Because most of them do, in practice.

K: Well, it really depends on the type of comic. Superhero comics, which are huge right now despite print dying, are -

A: Whoa.

K: Let’s face facts. It’s on its way out. Get that website up.

A: Yeah, yeah. It’s getting updated this week [www.theargus.ca].

K: Anyway, superhero comics can be funny. But usually, they’re not. Usually they’re not even all that geared towards kids anymore. They’re geared towards adults, and there’s some grim stories in there.

A: Adults physically, you mean.

K: I – well… C’mon. [To recorder] Ian’s being pretentious. I mean, what’s this book right here in your house?

A: What’s that?

K: Batman, issue 612.

A: Oh, yeah. My roommate’s friend must have left that there. He’s six.

K: Look, it’s a good book… Serious stuff happens all the time in comics or graphic novels, whatever you want to call them. I don’t think it’s necessarily a driving force.

A: When I think of Doonesbury, in the early years – the ‘60s and ‘70s – it very much had a plotline and ideas behind it. But it was also always funny. There was always a punch line of some kind. As Doonesbury progressed, the punch lines started getting less and less common. Some people say he’s not funny anymore, some people say he’s more mature and he doesn’t need the punch lines. So, are punch lines a crutch that you rely on to keep readership?

K: It’s not so much a crutch to keep readership, it’s to get new readers in. People who are reading it every time it comes out are emotionally invested in the characters; they don’t necessarily care if there’s a punch line, as long as we see a little bit of character development and learn a little more about these people. But new readers, if they see references to plot points they don’t pick up on, they aren’t going to keep reading. So you’ve got to give something to those potential readers to have them come back again.

A: Is [writing comics] something you see yourself doing for the rest of your life?

K: I would absolutely love to do it for the rest of my life. ‘I want to grow old with these characters.’ But I don’t want them to get old. Which, you know… I don’t want to get old.

Stay tuned, kids. Part two of this interview runs in next week’s Argus.

Tags: decanter banter, kyle lees

Category: News