Cartoonist Kayfabe on Swamp Thing
Despite being the bedrock for multiple multi-billion dollar industries (movies, TV, merchandise, video games, and much more), comic books themselves are often overlooked and reduced to little more than scrapyards of IP for studios to harvest. Luckily there are those acolytes of the medium that proselytize its unique abilities to tell stories unlike any other media. Two such disciples of sequential art are Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg whose show, Cartoonist Kayfabe, delves into past comic book issues and creators. They deep dive into specific comics that showcase innovative and iconic approaches from small press releases to those bigger name titles, while also interviewing comic writers/artists both contemporary and past. Piskor and Rugg are able to traipse between these different venues and styles based on their own backgrounds, coming up through indie titles while working with Marvel on their excellent Grand Design projects.
One of their most recent installments looks at Swamp Thing issues 35 and 36, written by Alan Moore and drawn by Steve Bissette. The 1985 two parter involves a very specific supporting character/villain known as NukeFace in another installment that addresses environmental topics and identity questions as Moore did often throughout his run. The pair of comic maestros dissect the layouts and artistic techniques by all involved as well as looking at the ads and other parts of the throwback piece of literature.
It’s a fun and educational video that blends the lowbrow visceral response to these graphic stories with the highbrow art theory and storytelling methods that makes it suitable for audiences of all types. Their joy for the medium is infectious and you can’t help but want to revisit comics after hearing them dissect these issues and find new elements to celebrate.
If you enjoy the video, please follow the channel on YouTube and follow on Twitter. You can also follow Piskor on Twitter and support him on Patreon and also follow Rugg on Twitter as well and support his Patreon, too.