Interview with Mitch Clem

I first met Mitch Clem at a comic book convention in Dallas. He'd driven five hours from his new hometown in San Antonio with his visiting pal Zach Miller (of the very funny joeandmonkey.com) and was sitting on the back row the artist area hocking his humble wares at ridiculously low prices. For only a buck you could get a handmade NN2S book AND a one inch button of pure punk rock street cred. You had to wonder about a guy who pays for a hotel, gas and a table fee to sell his merch so cheap.
I didn't have to wonder very long about Mitch though, because as soon as the convention was out we were at the after party, boozin' it up while Jim MahFood & Dave Crosland (from 40ozcomics.com) slapped inked on the walls of a dopey local sports bar. Turns out Mitch is a regular dude. He has a crap job, likes music and comics. He drinks like a fish, obsesses over service industry girls and doesn't mind drawing bunnies and kittens if you get him wasted enough, ya know, just like everybody else.

If you've never read Nothing Nice To Say then you are one of the few who have missed out on the continuing adventures of Blake and Fletcher, two Minnesota punk music enthusiasts, who's day to day ipseity includes arguing with lesbians, starting bands with an anthropomorphic gopher, and beating the holey hell out of Jerry Only. You know, the usual stuff.
The only real problem with Mitch is he doesn't have the common sense to refuse a Q & A with the hacks at Stumblebum Studios.

Here's the proof!

STUMBLEBUM STUDIOS:  How did you get started drawing Nothing Nice To Say?

MITCH CLEM:  I was working at a gas station and I got bored, so I started drawing some comics. Actually, first I had drawn a flyer for this show my friend and I booked in my basement with the Modern Machines, and the characters on the flyer were Blake and Fletcher. Except, at the time, they weren't Blake and Fletcher, they were just two guys on the flyer. Then, when I started writing all of these comics, I just took the two guys from the flyer, because I like how they had been designed, and NN2S was born.

Initially it was going to be a zine, then it was going to be a thing where I'd make flyers every week of a strip and mail them around to record stores to hang up. Eventually my friend Pat showed me Penny Arcade, and I realized I could publish my comics on the web and eliminate 99% of the overhead and reach an even wider audience.


SS - At what point did you realize that NN2S was becoming enormous?

MC - At the risk of sounding self-aggrandizing, the site blew up almost immediately. I think I just chose the right niche or something, exactly the right people who were looking for some good, free entertainment. Within like two months I was getting more hits than most comics that have been around for a long time.

This was, of course, all just a matter of numbers that my friend was telling me, none of which I really comprehended. I had no idea how much email it was normal to receive if you had a website, I had no idea what a big hit count was. I think it was when people started stopping me in public, like at record stores and shows, that I realized how big the strip had gotten. Or like when I'd write about some band or label and then someone from that band or label would write me and say thanks (or "fuck you", depending on what I said about them)


SS  - You mention a lot of bands and labels in your comics, do you ever hear anything from them?

MC - Oh snap, I just covered this. But yeah! I do. Sometimes, anyhow. I shouldn't name too many names at the risk of sounding like a douchebag. I can say that one of the funnier instances of this was recently; the new Randy album came out on Fat Wreck (a pretty big punk label)and I went on the site and said basically that someone from the label should sending me a copy. I was half-joking, but then I got an email from someone at the label. "What's your address, I'll send it out tomorrow" basically. That was awesome.


SS  - In addition to Nothing Nice To Say you also write The Coffee Achievers (illustrated by Joe Dunn) and are starting a new journal comic called San Antonio Rock City . How did these two new projects come about?

MC - The Coffee Achievers was originally just a NN2S story arc that got really, really big. Like, too big to be a part of NN2S. So I kinda took some liberties with the characters and settings under the banner of "alternate universe" and made it it's own thing. I think everyone knows the story from that point on: I drew it myself for a bit, then decided my art wasn't working out and so I asked Joe to be my artist. I had already been a big fan of his other comics and thought his art was astounding, so I was really excited to hear him eventually give in and say yes. Now that the TCA miniseries is almost up, Joe and I are working on a new site where we will continue our partnership with other miniseries, called Turnstile Comics.

Rock City, man, I don't even know. I wanted to do a journal comic forever, but not one of those boring "Panel one: I woke up; Panel two: I went to work; Panel three: I hung out with some friends" journal comics. Something along the lines of M@b's comic, or a less abstract overcompensating. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm deriving inspiration from any other comics so much as I'm just sort of taking stories from my day-to-day life that amuse me and sharing them with people. But yeah, I wanted to do that for a long time and now finally I decided there was no excuse not to anymore.


SS  - Where do you see your three comics going in the future?

MC - Just entertaining people for a long time, hopefully. There's a TCA book eventually, there's talk of a live-action movie adaptation (indie as all hell, don't get too excited). I have some ideas for animated series I really want to flesh out and get to some certain people. I'd like to get more gigs doing illustrations for magazines so I can quit my "real" job. Mostly, though, I'll be happy if I can just keep entertaining people and giving them some sort of pleasure every day. Both comedically and sexually. Unh.
 

Check out Nothing Nice To Say
Check out The Coffee Achievers
Check out San Antonio Rock City

 

And as always check out Dave's mindless pap at http://www.culturalvoid.net