Robot 6, one of the blogs over at Comic Book Resources, has a regular feature by Tim O’Shea called Talking Comics with Tim. In the latest installment, Tim talks to Glenn Eichler and myself about MUSH! Sled Dogs with Issues. More interview than review, it’s an interesting piece and I encourage you all to go read me wax rhapsodic or rap idiotic depending on your point of view. Here’s a little taste…
O’Shea: Question for the both of you, there appear to be metaphorical fences in this book (between people and between the dogs), in addition to the physical fences. Would you agree?
Infurnari: When I read the script, I was reminded of how in art and literature natural landscapes have often represented the depths of the human psyche. There’s something about the dark bottomless fathoms of the oceans, the mysteries of the forest or the wide open expanses of sand or snow that spark our imaginations. In Mush!, the barren isolation of the Alaskan landscape sets the scene for a story about the dogs’ psychological state and ultimately our own interior lives as readers. The fences in this story are boundaries preventing the dogs from being out in the open on a run where they are most happy. The trail is their bliss and the fences that keep them from it mark the breeding area of their issues.
Eichler: Well, definitely. No one can ever know or meld with another person (or dog) entirely, and the isolation in which they all live just throws those differences into brighter relief. But that same isolation also creates fences that enclose the people and the dogs, forcing them together because they really can’t get away from each other. I’m saying the book has a lot of fences. It’s best to read it with a pair of wire cutters.
O’Shea: Glenn, not to get bogged down in details, but naming one’s dog is often a challenge. You really did a good job of naming the team of dogs in this story, did that come to you quite easily as you developed the characters or was it challenging with certain characters?
Eichler: I hate naming characters as a general rule, but I tried for a mix of the silliness and anthropomorphism often found in the names that real people give their real dogs. I also wanted to touch on the way people will give their puppies names that turn out to be either perfectly descriptive of their adult personalities, or utterly wrong.
O’Shea: Glenn (from the book’s acknowledgements you thank the dogs “who talk to him when he sleeps”) how long have you heard the dogs talking to you?
Eichler: I didn’t write that. The dog dictated it.
To read interview in its entirety, click here.
No, that’s not me up there. I’m much more handsome than that!
All kidding aside, head on over to Trip City, where I have an interview with Jeffrey Burandt and Dean Haspiel in Trip City’s latest podcast. You’ll be amazed at the things I say with a foot in my mouth!
Thanks to Dean Haspiel, Jeffrey Burandt and Chris Miskiewicz for making this happen.
Okay, I’ve been meaning to use that subject line for a while now and I just couldn’t hold it any longer!! The Onion’s AV Club takes a look at December graphic novel releases and had this to say about MUSH! Sled Dogs with Issues:
It’s clear that writer Glenn Eichler and artist Joe Infurnari did their research before embarking on the graphic novel Mush! Sled Dogs With Issues (First Second). The book is full of information about how dog teams work together, both in cooperation and in competition. Eichler (creator of the MTV animated series Daria and current writer for The Colbert Report) extrapolates from animal psychology, creating characters with their own neuroses. Some of the dogs are jealous, some self-deprecating, some lustful. Then Eichler and Infurnari contrast the relationships of the pooches with that of their masters: a married couple who’ve begun to have some bitter disagreements about their decision to live out in the wild, far from society. Mush! feels like it ends too soon, but that’s mainly because the dogs and the humans alike are so well-defined that they could easily support a book twice as long. …
Thanks AV Club! You’ll just have to wait until the sequel, SLUSH! Sled Dogs 2; Crazy in the Heat! where our favorite dysfunctional team of dogs find themselves recalled by the CIA for a covert mission in Hawaii with global repercussions! It’s going to be a wonderful shark-jumping good time (yes, they will actually jump many sharks)!
Laura Hudson over at Comics Alliance has been generous enough to give MUSH! the deluxe treatment! In her preview (available here), you’ll find 27 pages from the book–that’s many more pages than are available anywhere else! You can only see them there! WHY AREN’T YOU AS EXCITED AS ME!!
Thanks so much, Laura, and thank you Comics Alliance!
On last night’s Colbert Report, Stephen had a brief segment about MUSH! Sled Dogs with Issues! This is one of the coolest things EVER! He actually pronounced my name correctly, too!
Here’s a link to the full episode. Mush is featured at around 20:00. Enjoy!
http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/tue-december-6-2011-the-black-keys
Thanks, Stephen!
You are invited to Cousin Corinne’s LIVE COMIX BLOCK signing with presentations by Glenn Eichler, Joe Infurnari, Nick Abadzis, & Dean Haspiel
Thursday, December 8th @7:00pm [sharp]
BookCourt – 163 Court Street (b/w Pacific & Dean), Brooklyn, NY. http://bookcourt.org/
Curated & MC’d by Dean Haspiel http://deanhaspiel.com/
Glenn Eichler and Joe Infurnari’s MUSH! SLED DOGS WITH ISSUES. Venus wants Buddy to quit asking her to “make puppies.” Buddy wants Winston’s help wooing Venus. Winston wants Guy’s respect. Guy wants Dolly’s job. Dolly wants to know the meaning of it all. Nobody knows what Fiddler really wants, not even Fiddler. But mostly . . . these sled dogs just want to run. Sounds simple? It should be, but even dogs have their office politics. Office politics with sharp, sharp teeth. From Colbert Report writer Glenn Eichler and dogchanneling artist Joe “Fur” Infurnari comes a postmodern tale of heroism on the tundra, epic romance, and yellow snow. (Hint: don’t eat it.) Mush! is Arrested Development meets Call of the Wild—two great tastes that taste pretty funny together.
Glenn Eichler has written for numerous TV series, in addition to developing and executive producing the MTV animated hit Daria. His previous graphic novel was Stuffed! with artist, Nick Bertozzi
Joe Infurnari grew up with his nose cold, wet, and buried in comics. His work has been recognized with multiple Eisner nominations, numerous publications, and membership in the prestigious web comics collective, ACT-I-VATE. He is a cat person.
http://joeinfurnari.com/
Nick Abadzis’ award winning, LAIKA with Alternative Endings.
Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth’s first space traveler. This is her journey. Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives. Along with Laika, there is Korolev, once a political prisoner, now a driven engineer at the top of the Soviet space program, and Yelena, the lab technician responsible for Laika’s health and life. This intense triangle is rendered with the pitch-perfect emotionality of classics like Because of Winn Dixie, Shiloh, and Old Yeller. Abadzis gives life to a pivotal moment in modern history, casting light on the hidden moments of deep humanity behind history. Laika’s story will speak straight to your heart.
http://www.nickabadzis.com/
BookCourt is proud to celebrate TRIP CITY, the Brooklyn-filtered literary arts salon: http://welcometotripcity.com/
Nick Abadzis will be reading “Perfect Imperfect”
Dean Haspiel will be reading his new BILLY DOGMA story, “The Last Romantic Antihero.”
And, Joe Infurnari will bookend the night with ULTRA Lad! in “Memoirs of the Kid Immortal!”
Be there or be square.
