Interview - DC McNamara

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Conducted in January 2008
Interview with DC McNamara

I first saw DC McNamara's work in an anthology comix put out by Dan Taylor's Weird Muse Productions called Symphony in Ink. Soon after, I located him on the web and discovered his collection of self-published mini comix. In January, I contacted him via email and invited him to answer a few questions.

How did you get started drawing comix?
I started drawing minicomics when I was in college working a student job as a janitor. I was a "float", filling in for the union custodians in different buildings every day. I drew pro-union propaganda comics and minis illustrating proper chemical handling (with special attention to the possibly gruesome results for careless staff). I had full access to the office equipment at night, so I printed them at will and distributed them in the custodial closets as I made my rounds. I imagined at the time that they all loved finding these comics (Kustodial Komix), but when I submitted a strip about giant living toilet paper rolls to the Facilities newsletter, it was rejected and I stopped doing them.

What were the comics that inspired your interest in cartooning?
I drew the Kustodial Komix after finding some of Steve Willis' Morty Dog minis in my local comic store. I was immediately inspired by the low production value and the crazy brief stories. It broadened my interest from looking for superheroes with great backstories to looking for comics about real people and politics. My best friend at the time encouraged me to buy more black and white comics because they were often better. Though I continued to amass a sizeable Daredevil collection, I also got turned onto Zap, Wimmen's Comix, Anarchy, Weirdo, and a lot of real minis like Matt Feazell and Brad Foster's stuff. Steve Willis was the one artist I consistently checked for. Seeing his stuff was cathartic for me.

Which cartoonists influence your work?
Reading Chester Brown and Julie Doucet and other indie artists has always motivated me to draw, but I don't think I have stylistic influences because I'm not that good! I've tried emulating good comic artists in the past, but find it frustrating, especially when I just want to get a story onto paper and print it. I put a lot of time into a couple of comics, where people read them and said, "I don't get it." But everyone's favorites seem to be the scribbled conversations that take 10 minutes to complete, like "Everything is Totally the Best".

Are there any cartoonists whose work you regularly follow?
I don't buy anything regularly, but last year I bought a lot of Tom Gauld and Simone Lia. I framed a couple of Tom's minis. I buy Cori Doerrfeld's kids books at MOCCA every year, too.

What other influences (music, media, etc.) come through in your work?
Work and riding the subway. Lots of my stuff is about applying corporate culture to areas where it doesn't belong, or showing painful situations at work. I love drawing discomfort. I like writing conversations where people are totally disconnected.

You use the term "Comix" rather than "Comics". What's the distinction?
I don't know. There were a lot of great "comix" that I read before I started printing my own. Maybe it lowers expectations of what you're getting for your 50 cents! 'X' is a fun letter to draw, too.

You have two series of mini comix: Mox Nix and Bigfoot Comix. What's the difference between them and where did the titles come from?
I drew my first Bigfoot on work time, when I moved into the corporate world. I was a high performer, so I wasn't closely monitored, and spent long lunches drawing at a coffee shop far from the office. I chose the name based on a character I drew whose feet were bigger than his body, but he only made it into one comic, and I realized I didn't want to develop characters. So the Bigfoot series is just full of disjointed stories, gags, sketches, etc.

I worked with a military guy who used the phrase 'mox nix' a lot--"it means nothing". The phrase seemed appropriate for comics about corporate work, where everything seems to take on elevated importance. So the Mox Nix series has more quickly drawn skits from my work life (or imagined work life).

Your most recent comix are set up with two front covers like the old Ace doubles. You start on one side, read half way through, then flip it over and start on the second half. Why did you design them this way?
I love drawing covers. So sometimes I'll draw a couple covers for an issue, and I'll just use them both.

All of your work seems to be solo efforts. Is that by choice or circumstance? Do you have any interest in working with another writer or artist?
I typically draw to get away from people. I like not to be bothered when I'm doing it. However, I do enjoy comic jams, and used to draw with the International Cartoonist Conspiracy in Minneapolis, a very active group with some incredible talent. I'm not that good at drawing comics, honestly, so I like to add panels to somebody else's story so I learn some techniques over a beer. Now that I'm in New York I like to draw with the House of Twelve. Super nice people, several of them working professionally as comic artists. I'm the one saying, "how come my cat's legs look like they're on backwards?" and then 3 people will show me how to draw a cat.

You run an online Co-op for mini comix. How did you get started doing that?
I used to trade through the mail with other artists. After a while you amass a list of people and send out to the same folks every time you print something new. I wanted to come up with an easy, low-cost way to trade with more people at once and connect up mini comics artists.

How does it work?
People will send me 10 copies of a new mini they just printed. I'll stick their stack at one end of the table, then go backwards and take a copy of each of the last 10 traders' minis, and stick them all in an envelope to mail to the new trader. I pay the return postage because I have a decent job.

If a mini comix publisher wants to join, what should they do?
If you send me 10 copies of your latest mini, you will soon receive 10 different minis in the mail from 10 other creators. The next 10 people who send in a stack will get one of yours in their return stack. You've just joined! No money changes hands or anything. It's totally lowbrow. Send 'em to me, I send them back.

Getting back to cartooning, tell me about your creative process for producing a cartoon.
I take notes in a little notebook and sometimes I translate into panel-by-panel dialogue before I draw. Usually I just rush to my notebook and draw it before I lose the idea. This doesn't help my comics... I don't really have a style, I can't draw hands, my characters don't look like the same people from one panel to another, etc. But I don't like to practice, so I'm doomed not to get any better. I like to draw a comic and then print it right away. Every drawing is production ready! It's a great method if you don't care about improving or selling comics (which I don't!).

You told me once that you preferred to keep your comix life and your career separate. Does your comix life create any unusual challenges or conflicts for you?
My colleagues might recognize some of the conversations, or might perceive the comics as revealing a Dilbert-like cynicism, but in reality I like the corporate world. It's so overhyped that compared to being a teacher or social worker, it's relatively easy work for good pay. So at work I'm a very positive person, but I find a lot to laugh about that my colleagues wouldn't find funny. I've drawn some comics that I haven't printed simply because my friends are characters and the stories wouldn't go over well. My good friends, however, appreciate the uncomfortable humor of drawing a comic about me sleeping with their wives.

Graphic novels are very popular these days. Have you ever considered creating one yourself?
Nope. Too lazy. I get bored working on a 16-page mini! If I were a better, faster artist I might.

What current projects or ideas are you exploring?
I'm working on an uncomfortable conversation between colleagues in an elevator, and a comic about an oblivious optimist riding the subway.

DC McNamara's self-published Bigfoot Comix can be ordered from his website.

DC McNamara Zinography

2008 Midnight Fiction Desk Calendar (Sept. 2007, Midnight Fiction) February comic by DC McNamara

Symphony In Ink #1 (May 2006, Weird Muse Productions) Review
Bigfoot Comix #10 (2006, Lutefisk Sushi)

Bigfoot Comix #9 (2005, Bigfoot Comix) Review
Mox Nix #3 (2005, Bigfoot Comix) Review
You're Not Creepy At All (2005, Bigfoot Comix) Review
Weird Illustrated (2005, Rubber Chicken Funnies) "Lunch" comix.

Bigfoot Comix #1-8 (2004, Bigfoot Comix) Review #1-5, review #6-9
Mox Nix #1 & 2 (2004, Bigfoot Comix) Review #1 & 3, review #2
Liberator (2004)
Pencil Pie (2004, Bigfoot Comix) 16-page micro-mini comic.

Many thanks to DC McNamara for this interview and permission to use his comix to illustrate it.
-RK

The Michael Roden Benefit Portfolio