Today on the site, Annie Mok interviews Tillie Walden.
ANNIE MOK: So The End of Summer is getting re-released?
TILLIE WALDEN: It went out of print and it’s getting a bigger edition.
MOK: With extra material?
WALDEN: There’s gonna be a little prequel strip. We’re gonna redo the design of the book, redo the covers. I can see the prequel strip on my desk right there.
MOK: What’s it like to revisit this story, which is this fairy tale, Little Nemo-esque story—there’s a big cat in it named “Nemo.” What’s it like to come back to this world?
WALDEN: It’s surprisingly enjoyable! I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to re-engage with the story because once you finish something, you tend to put it away and lock it up. I thought that it would be gone from me. But sitting down and re-drawing the backgrounds and the characters, I was like, “Oh yeah, that’s why I did this book, it’s really fun!” It makes me want to draw old characters and look back at other things. I can only do it to a certain extent. I can do this short prequel strip, but I don’t have a sequel in me.
MOK: I always wonder about that stuff, I’ve never done that, except for my memoir comics which are sequel-y. Thinking of stuff like Hellboy and Peanuts, I wonder about a connection to characters over a long period of time.
WALDEN: I always wonder about people who work on something for like, ten years. I haven’t even done comics long enough for that to be a thing for me yet. It seems like a crazy ride.
MOK: How long have you been making comics?
WALDEN: I’ve been making comics for three, four years. Three years seriously, there was an extra year for my senior year of high school where I was just kind of learning.
Elsewhere:
Well, tonight in NYC you can come visit me at my exhibition of Hairy Who artist Suellen Rocca's 1965-1969 paintings and drawings at Matthew Marks Gallery. AND you should go see the excellent new Ben Jones exhibition at The Hole. Ben, always one step ahead, has basically re-configured what comics can be in a gallery setting.
The Comics Workbook Composition Contest winners were announced.
Bill Griffith talks on Gromophoney Baloney.
Seth Tobocman does a Reddit AMA.
Tom Spurgeon reviews Cometbus 57.
Finally, here's a new bit on Glen Baxter at the NYRB.
