Normally I’m not into comics, but Peter Kuper’s work really speaks to me. I first ran across his stuff
when I went to buy Watchmen (by Alan Moore) and ended up getting Kuper’s amazing wordless
novel ‘The System’ instead. I eventually did buy Watchmen (it’s a really cool book), but I also
began to notice Kuper’s work popping up in everywhere, such as in Mad, The Progressive, and
Newsweek. He is the co-founder of the political comix magazine World war 3 Illustrated, has a
nationally syndicated comic strip called ‘Eye Of The Beholder’, has art featured in many mainstream
magazines, and has published many cool books. Without further ado, here is my interview with
cartoonist
Peter Kuper
Why did you start drawing comics?
I've always loved them since about age 7, and there wasn't much else I'd wanted to do for a living.
How did you come to take over the drawing of Spy vs. Spy?
Mad contacted me and asked me to try out for it. They had seen a number of wordless strips I had
done including The System. I didn't originally think it was something I wanted to do, but when I sat
down to draw it I realized how much it had influenced me and drawing the Spies felt completely
natural.
‘Eye Of The Beholder’ and ‘The System’ contain no dialogue and very little text at all. why is
this?
I am very interested it the idea of images as language. It is a way to communicate with any culture
without the barrier of language. I also find that by removing word balloons I remove one of the
things that people associate with comics, and so people who normally don't consider themselves
comic readers can take it in without the bias that comes with the form. A lot of people have told me
they show my work to friends who would otherwise never give a comicbook a second glance and
they find they really enjoy the experience of reading pictures. Lastly since I do a lot of illustrations
for mainstream magazines I am used to the idea of pictures that tell a story without words, and I like
the beauty of images uncluttered with word balloons. It also doesn't hurt that editors don't have
words to nit-pick about!
Could you explain the term “visual haiku”? Or would an explanation subvert the whole
purpose of creating “visual haiku”? Did you coin term yourself, or did some marketing guy?
Some marketing guy did. But the meaning as it applies to my EYE strips is: a little tale done in five
panels without words.
Do you feel that comics are a harder medium to get exposure of, then say, if you were in a
band or something?
It all depends which band and which comics.
Why did you choose Kafka’s short stories, and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle as
works that you wanted to adapt to comic form?
I picked work that had value to me that would sustain my interest over the length of the project. The
Kafka stories were incredibly visual with a lot of room for interpretation. I also found you get a lot
less flack from dead guys.
Much of your work deals with political and social issues. Do you consider yourself a political
artist? Do you feel that all art is/should be inherently political?
I think you should do what moves you. I do this kind of work because I feel passionate about this
kind of subject matter. I'm capable of doing pretty pictures of horses, but it usually feels like poison
to me (unless I'm traveling and just drawing in my sketch book--then I love it). I just have the desire
to do art that relates to my experience, and my experience is that we are living on the brink of a lot
of serious shit in a world that is
increasingly run by a bunch of money grubbing lunatics. I also don't want to have to look my
daughter in the eye in ten years and say I ignored the world which she is now going to inherit.
How do you primarily define yourself as: artist, writer, or activist?
Cartoonist (with an attitude 'problem').
Why did you and Seth Tobocman start World War 3 Illustrated?
We were creating work in comics with the kind of content that wasn't finding any mainstream
outlets. There was also a lot of work by other artists that we dug that also couldn't find a home, so
rather than wait for the scene to change, having previously published fanzines, we decided just to do
it ourselves. In the bigger picture it also made sense to do something like this since we were saying
society should change, a good start was creating a group that could work together toward a mutual
goal (we are about to celebrate our 20th year of publication).But I don't want to make it sound like
we were all together with a master plan, mostly we did it issue to issue and figured things out as we
went.
I know that many people other than the two of you have drawn for World War 3
Illustrated over the years, but do you guys still play a primary editorial role in the magazine?
There is a rotating group of six or more editors. Seth has edited the last issue and is working on the
latest one--he is very involved. I have been in an advisory capacity and as a contributing artist for the
last few years since I had a child--I had to back off somewhere so WW3 and teaching (I taught a
class on comics at the school of visual arts for 9 years) got the back seat.
I read a review of the Eye of The Beholder book, and the reviewer, Richard von Busack,
attacked your images of homeless people, saying:
“Kuper's generic wistful gray-faced, bearded man--even necessarily
made an archetype for clearer understanding of this dialogue-free
comic--made me feel as if I'd seen a racial stereotype.”
What do you have to say to this?
The image I draw is based on a homeless guy I used to see in my old neighborhood.
Forgive this ignorant question, but what exactly is INX? And what's your role in INX?
INX is a group of illustrators who create drawings on political topics of each week that are then
syndicated (by United Feature) to about 30 papers nation wide to be used on their editorial pages as
they see fit. I draw and art direct (call artists and assign topics) every other week.
What works and artists have inspired your work? Not just comics, I mean books, zines,
music, film, paintings, anything.
German expressionism, XTC, ‘primative' art; African masks e.g. and about a million other things.
Living in New York City and traveling all over the world have had a huge affect too.
Sonic Youth and Jasper Johns have both appeared on The Simpsons. Wouldn’t the next
logical step would be a guest appearance by Peter Kuper? Have the Fox people approached
you?
No, but I have been asked to write a Symposia's Treehouse of horror story for the [Simpsons]
comicbook, and I am working on an animation project based on my autobio comics that will be
shopped around to networks shortly.
That’s about it. Are there any final words of advice that you’d like to give to young comic
artists/ zinesters/ and activists?
Don't be discouraged by all the people that will tell you it is not possible to do what you are doing,
and don't fool yourself into believing it will be simple or easy. Doing what you want is a ton of work
that always takes a certain amount of perspiration.
The most difficult thing sometimes can be figuring out exactly what it is you truly want to do. A
good place to start is to figure out what you're passionate about and then try to make that the driving
force of your work.
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