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toptwothreefilms.com > Films > Matthew Forsythe Interview
Matthew Forsythe
June 3, 2005
A discussion related to Adventures Into Digital Comics.
"I do a small comic strip called, 'ojingogo' on my web-site. It's about a girl and a squid. I aim to have it published (independently or otherwise) by June of 2005. I'm also working on a couple new strips at the moment, including a short story for Kazu Kibuishi's Flight anthology."
We wanted to know what Matthew likes to explore in comics. "I'm excited about the stuff comics can offer that other media can't. There's a lot of fun to be had exploring ways of communicating sounds, speech, actions, and emotions on a purely visual level."
Comics are mainly distributed in specialty stores in the US. Some people complain that they are not as good ambassadors as they could be. "I don't know anything about the traditional distribution model but I will say this: I'm a little scared of the people who hang out in most comic shops. So I'm not surprised if young girls aren't frequenting these stores with their business. On the flip-side, I'm thrilled to see all the attention manga is getting from a wide audience in bookstores. Also, I just got back from a year in Korea where comics are everywhere: video stores have more comics than DVDs for rent; there are also 'manhua-bongs' (comic-rooms like opium dens) where, for a small fee, people of all ages literally lie around and read comics. If we want lots of different people reading comics it seems logical that we should distribute them in lots of different ways."
In the film, Scott McCloud says there are more golfers in this country than comic book readers. By right, we should be able to sell comics about golf, but it’s not happening. "Funnily enough, I think there are comics that deal with golf in Korea. There are also two very popular titles that deal with a basketball team and a baseball team. And like Scott says, why not? Comics, like other media, should be diverse enough to allow their audiences to grow with them. If someone grows out of listening to punk music, they don't stop listening to music entirely. They move on to a different genre that more closely reflects their interests. In Korea, if a kid grows out of reading superhero comics, they'll simply move on to sports or romance comics or both. Here, if a kid tires of the superhero formula, they're forced to give up comics entirely because there's little else on the shelf."
In the film, Joe Casey says that the pamphlet format has become a stigma associated with kids comics. Nowadays, would you say that printed comics are for kids, for grown-ups or for everyone? "There are a lot of great comics that certainly aren't (or shouldn't be) marketed towards kids. It's funny because my local library actually has a great graphic novel collection. They've got very mature stuff by Spiegelman, Tomine, Clowes, and Chester Brown -- and it's all in the "YP" (Young People) section, sitting beside the Sweet Valley High and highschool-who-dunnit books. I brought this up with the management -- I mean, there's some stuff in David Boring that perhaps shouldn't be read by twelve-year-olds -- and they said they just didn't know where else to put it."
Because of the current distribution channels, it is difficult for kids to buy comics if there is no specialty store in town. "The huge benefit of webcomics is that they allow creators and readers to take bigger risks. It costs me next to nothing to produce my comics and readers don't have to spend a cent to read them. Compare this with a mass-distributed 22-page pamphlet, which costs thousands to produce and four bucks (Canadian) to buy and there's suddenly a lot at stake in that little story. Webcomics are stress-free for both parties!"
In the film, artists like Patrick Farley and Cat Garza say they make webcomics because publishers would not touch their work, because it’s too offensive, different, etc. We wanted to know if Matthew thought that the Internet could be the next logical step of the comic book. "Webcomics don't necessarily need to be the next step to anything. They certainly do add a fresh dimension to comics and if they allow more creators a venue for their stuff, then all the better. I also have one thing to add. Some people attribute the marked decline in comic sales to the rise in electronic gaming. They argue that the digital age has brought with it lower attention-spans and comics are having difficulty competing in this climate. But if we look at Korea and Japan today (indeed most of Asia) video games and comics are thriving along-side each other like nowhere else in the world. The only real difference there is that they offer a much wider variety of comics."
Do you think that the tactile experience of holding a book in your hands is necessary to the comic book reading experience? "This area of discussion reminds me of that scene in 'The Search for Spock' where Jim is reading Shakespeare in book format. The message was, "In the future, we may be teleporting from place to place and drinking blue martinis, but books will never go out of fashion." And I tend to agree with Kirk on this one. As far as music is concerned, I think the artifact is dying, but books are so much more important to the act of reading -- especially books, comics, or articles more than a few pages in length. It's definitely not about portability, because I used to carry around e-books on my palm-pilot and I even tried to read them on the subway. But it just sucks! I mean, have you ever tried to read a 300 page .pdf? It's excruciating!"
When Patrick Farley created Delta Thrives he realized the after a few feet some browsers stopped reading the code of his webcomic. We wanted to know if Matthew had found other limitations. "Scrolling is no more a limitation than turning the page. In fact, artists like Sammy Harkham have even used scrolling as a means of subtly animating the flow of their web comics. I've experimented with this a little, but I don't think I've been very successful. The only real restriction for me and webcomics is that most computer monitors are hard on my eyes after a while and head-aches are more frequent."
Do you think that the Internet will end up being viable for webcomics artists? "Webcomics are definitely a new proving ground for graphic novels and compilations. Derek Kirk Kim, for example, produced all his comics online, offered them for free digitally, and then released them to great success in print. The Flight anthologies are another example of comics that are cheaply and effectively edited and refined online, before being distributed in print and, with any luck, it's the avenue I hope to take with my comics."
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