Chester depicting the life of Jesus
(from "YUMMY FUR")
Chester Brown is a Toronto cartoonist and in my humble opinion, one of the greatest in the world! We had lunch yesterday... I was floored when he reviewed pages of my next project after WHAT IS MEDITATION, and actually liked it! I'm super grateful. You can read about it directly on his web page! Or excerpted below. Thanks Chester!
"Matthew Brown and I got together for lunch yesterday. We agreed to meet at BMV first. (BMV is a chain of used bookstores in Toronto.) There was a locked glass case there with presumably valuable books. I noticed that there was a signed hardcover copy of Louis Riel behind the glass for $60! Then I noticed that beside it there was a signed copy of The Little Man for $30. And beside that were signed copies of The Playboy and I Never Liked You; those are only $20 each. (Does it make sense to put books that are only $20 in a locked case?)
Matthew was late. He apparently went to the wrong location of BMV. When I’d suggested that we meet at BMV, I'd assumed it would be obvious that I was talking about the location next to the restaurant we were going to. Instead, Mathew went to a different BMV, then realized his mistake, and rushed over to the right location.
He’s been working on a comic-strip biography of Mark Rothko and showed me his progress. He’s come up with a clever approach for the project."
This comic tracing what meditation is and interviewing two great living teachers in comics form is posted panel-by-panel every day on Instagram and Facebook... full pages 46-48 are posted below!
And coming up soon, the "Road to Independent Comics" show at MLAC -- the Mississauga Living Arts Centre Gallery! I`ll have numerous framed original pages on the wall along with 4 other artists--Caeleigh Boara, Claudio Ghirardo, Joy San and Katie Shanahan! Live Reading Opening on THURS. JAN. 18 from 7-9pm... pleeeease come! Actors will be there, such as Morgan Phillips, Liyat Benchetrit, Jacob Pendergrast, Sarah Goodman, Colin Matthews and possibly more... musicians like Mikhial Gurarie, Paul Swoger-Ruston, Adam Reich and yours truly... drawings on the windows... snacks!
The show runs Jan.13 - Mar. 18, for those who can`t make it to the launch!
I've already started work on my next book--ROTHKO--a cartoon biography of my favourite artist, Mark Rothko. Here is me, eating some Rothko-esque pastry to celebrate.
Eating Rothko-like pastry
Here is Mark Rothko.
Mark Rothko with "Number 7," 1960
Here are some paintings by Mark Rothko.
Meanwhile, I'll keep posting "WHAT IS MEDITATION?" panel by panel on Instagram and Facebook... Here are pages 42-45!
“What is Meditation? And Why Should I Do It?” is an ongoing confessional slapstick autobiography docu-comic about meditation—daily panels can be found on Instagram under Poopsiepenguin... and Facebook.
Last night I finally completed finished a first draft--including comic book interviews with living teachers Ed Muzika and Fred Prack, a "Notes" section with tips on How to Meditate and Comics Masters who influenced this project, plus the complete typed transcripts of Ed and Fred's original interviews--it came in at 107 pages. EXCITED!
I am open to any questions, comments or good anecdotes.
Featuring original artwork pages from the artists; a reading space for the public; artists drawing on the gallery windows; video loops of actors reading comics and a live reading with improvised soundtrack at the opening night reception! Participating artists: Caeleigh Boara, Claudio Ghirardo, Joy Sans, Katie Shanahan, Matthew Brown
We do still need $600.00 to cover the rent. Please consider having a look at the Indiegogo fundraising site for the MLAC Independent Comic Artists Exhibition and dropping a few dollars!
“What is Meditation? And Why Do It?” is an ongoing confessional slapstick autobiography docu-comic about meditation—daily panels can be found on Instagram under Poopsiepenguin... and Facebook. These pages continue the live comics interview with spiritual teacher Frederick "Korim" Prack--explaining how the individual builds their "mental map" of the world in early life, the emergence of "should's" which form a key part of our mental map and cause conflicts with the world, and the key role of awareness.
I've finished all the pages with artwork, and am now working on lettering the final sections about "How to Meditate" and "Comics Masters whose Work has Influenced this Project!" Then I've got to scan and photoshop them.
Hopefully the book will be ready to launch by May, 2018. There may even be a simultaneously released French translation... Peut-être même une traduction en français diffusée simultanément! Get in touch if you like what you see!
2017, Trip Comix Written and illustrated by Matthew Brown
When I reviewed Matthew Brown’s Architecture Department last year in Indie Penance #8, I wrote that I “didn’t have a much better idea of what it was about as I reached the final page. But that didn’t stop me from loving the book and wanting to read it again soon.” Well, Brown has once again evoked a state of befuddled joy with The Cliff, his second book set within the titular vertical world.
While I believe it began life before Architecture Department (Brown’s Master’s of Architecture thesis forged into a graphic celebration of design), The Cliff continues the world constructed withinthat book, and is a similarly existential passage through a world of improbable structures and allegorical personalities.
The plot, for what little justice summarising it can do, follows mafia prince Mutt Blue, whose desire to explore the lower levels of the Cliff sees him exiled from his family and commencing a journey of self-discovery. In an increasingly surreal adventure that seems to take as many elements from Samuel Beckett and Lewis Carroll as it does Cerebus the Aardvark and Peanuts, Mutt finds love and friendship, explores the dark secrets behind his heritage by visiting Earth under the protective wing of a detective penguin, and discovers that you truly can never go home again.
A labour of love that took 13 years to complete, The Cliff is comprised of a “cycle” of five books with a discernable 7-year gap between the first and second instalments. It’s fascinating to see the shift in Brown’s art style and approach to storytelling here; his work is often rudimentary in places and defiantly inconsistent, and therein lies its charm. The Cliff feels raw and personal in places, yet equally detached through its heavy surrealism and symbolism in others; a potently esoteric concoction that lends the plot the mystery of a labyrinthine puzzle. At times, it’s apparent what the author is alluding to, but then the story will take a sudden turn into territory so unexpected that you’ll doubt your initial interpretation. As with Architecture Department, I finished the book convinced that I’d appreciated it merely on surface level and would only glean more on future visits.
The Cliff is for a very specific kind of comic book reader. If you’ve made it this far into the review then you probably know whether or not that’s you. If you’re tired of the same old genre crap, and ready to embrace work that marches to the beat of its own drum, then you owe to yourself to check out Matthew Brown’s work. In an era where so many talented artists and writers limit themselves by producing work for a pre-existing audience, Brown is that rare creator confident enough to take the sort of risks in his storytelling that defy reader expectations. Not all those risks pay off – certainly the Earthbound portion of the story didn’t grip me as much as the Cliff sections that bookend it – but the medium is far richer for those few brave comic creators slinging the tangled inner workings of their heart and mind onto the page with abandon.
