the geekocracy

Do I gain or lose punk points for reviewing a punk rock comic?

There’s a certain process web comics go through that is somewhat unique to the growth of, what some might call, “real” comics. First they get their comics on the evil interweb through what I can only assume is done through divine powers (I don’t even know how this blog works!). After establishing a presence they then have to suffer through the criticism of their fans in the form of hate email, which is like the letter’s column, but a hell of a lot more sinister. Then, finally, they break out of their webcomic cocoon, spread their publishing wings and grow into beautiful, print comics. They grow up.

Now, you may be offended that my last paragraph essentially discounts any webcomics that have not been printed, but I don’t care. What I do care about is Mitch Clem, author of Nothing Nice to Say, who has grown into a beautiful butterfly. I mean, thanks to Dark Horse, he has printed some of his comics… I don’t mean that M itch is a beautiful man… What I really don’t mean to say is that I’m attracted to Mitch. Because I’m not. I mean, not that he’s not attractive… I just don’t like guys, but if I did, he’d be the kind of guy I like. Not that there’s anything wrong with blog writers who like webcomic creators, I think that those relationships should be respected, it’s just… You know what? I’m going to move on.

So yeah, Mitch Clem writes and illustrates webcomics for his website, www.mitchclem.com. The most notable comic he works on is Nothing Nice to Say (NN2S), a punk rock comic that Dark Horse has published into a wonderful trade. He also regularly makes a comic on the same site called My Stupid Life, which is just as entertaining, if not more entertaining, than NN2S, but Dark Horse didn’t publish that so I’ll leave it at “it’s good” for now.

As previously mentioned, NN2S is a punk rock comic. It follows two friends, Blake and Fletcher, as they participate and make fun of the punk rock scene in Minneapolis. Blake, named for the front man of the bands Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil, loves pop punk and tends to be the sane one out of the two friends. That would make Fletcher the insane one, which is a role he lives up to with his abilities to make fun of and mock just about anyone and everyone. The best part: he often gets beaten up for it! The dynamic of the semi-sane Blake (his only fau pa: a Henry Rollins shrine that he prays to) and the insane Fletcher make for a classic comedy duo.

Mitch Clem’s comic, despite his classic straight man/crazy man set up, is anything but formulaic. Sure, a good amount of his comics do follow a formula (shit, did I just contradict myself? Fuck you) of his two main characters talking about a punk band/mantra/legend, with a joke or a pun in the third panel of a three panel comic, but this is a formula even he has made fun of. Other comics follow an entirely different stream of consciousness. In one comic he has a lesbian character, Alice, addressing Abraham Lincoln’s grave as she has a picnic in front of it, declaring, “We never talk anymore,” sadly, to his grave. Not so funny when I explain it, hilarious when you see it for yourself, so go read it. Right now Mitch has his two characters going up against punk rock celebrity, Fat Mike, because they illegally downloaded a Dillinger Four album. It’s like seeing the real world through an exaggerated kaleidoscope… As you stand upside down.

The great thing about Mitch Clem is that all of his comics don’t look like they were done by an experienced illustrator and storyteller. That may seem like an insult, but give me a second to explain. When I started reading Mitch’s comics a few years ago (when I was still a teenager!) his art was crude, his anatomy was off and his jokes simple. Even then, his comics were amazing. His comics didn’t stay like that though, they improved. His characters began to take a shape; his style became distinct and consistent. He started drawing backgrounds, and his characters became more dynamic, they started moving. Then he started breaking out of his three panel, set up a joke and end with a knock-out, structure and started telling stories in the form of comic strips. Seeing him transform into someone who can hold together multi-strip stories about punk rock biker gangs has been an absolute joy, an experience you to can enjoy if you go to his website and start reading his comics from the beginning.

The presentation of the trade is far superior than what you might think a punk rock comic should be. Then again, it is Dark Horse, and it’s clear that they’re not cheapin’ out. The cover is a colored piece (Colored by Joe Dunn) of his two main characters, along with Chris, a gutter punk, and Cecil, a punk rock gopher. This is a piece that Mitch would not have been able to pull off five years ago, something that follows many rules of art (that I never bothered learning, but I’m sure exist) that is also distinctly “Mitch Clem.” At the beginning of the book he has brief introductions to the characters, to get the reader caught up on previous work that he hasn’t published. This wasn’t necessary, his comics are pretty straight forward even if you don’t know who the characters are, but it is nice to have. The first two thirds of the book are NN2S comics from 2005 and 2006, but the last third are, as Mitch calls them, “B Sides.” This section of the book starts of with a guest month that Mitch did for the web comic Joe & Monkey, which allows us to see Mitch’s wit applied to characters who aren’t his own. From there we see guest strips he did for comics like Theatre Hopper, Beaver and Steve, Questionable Content, Sam and Fuzzy, Rob and Elliot, Niego, and Wapsi Square. Again, it’s a pleasure to see what Mitch has to offer the world outside of punk rock.

All in all, the book is worth paying money for, even if you aren’t totally PUNK RAWK like me. Even if you are too cheap to buy the trade, or too punk to give money to a “sellout” or the man, then you can go read them at www.mitchclem.com. It’s the least you could do, jerk.