Elijah J. Brubaker

I finished up Billy Gohl yesterday after work. I imagine there’s going to be plenty of corrections to make and all the usual bullshit of trying to draw a cover and figure out what kind of introduction to include and stuff like that but all the heavy lifting is done. I told myself when Billy Gohl is done, I’m taking a break. Not a vacation or anything, not a break from comics but a break from the drawing part of things. I tend to use comics as a crutch. When I’m drawing I can convince myself I’m doing the good work and that I’m still a cartoonist. The hang comes when it hits me, no one has actually read one of my comics in almost a year.

So, I’m dedicating myself to other kinds of work right now. I need to print up some of these older projects. I need to see Reich finished and get on the ball with my minicomic Blue Moon. I need to find something to do with Billy Gohl but mostly i need to get some of these back-burner projects shaped up. I have a ton of half-baked ideas and false starts kicking around in my studio. You poor fuckers have been staring at Steel helmet for months and even though I do have about thirty pages of the thing finished I think I need to figure out where it’s going before I can progress.

I feel self conscious that I’m always informing everyone of my plans without ever showing anyone what I actually work on. I guess I just want everyone to know that I am working even though that work is still being moulded and formed. Comics are a long, uphill battle that take a long time. It takes especially long when you’re me. I could play the victim in this and pretend that my dayjob gets in the way or that personal affairs are trying but the reality is, I live and breathe comics. I work long hours at the drawing table every day with little results. I lack talent and I’m unorganized. There’s a perfect storm of ineptitude raging in my skull. The only thing I really have going for me is the knowledge that I need to improve and a desire to work.

The beginning of the month will see me in a new home, new surroundings. It takes me a long time to get adjusted to things and I expect much of my time will be spent trying to exist with room mates. I do intend to get these books published in some form or another though. That will be 2012 for me. I will be writing and trying to expand my body of work but mostly, I’ll be getting some books made. Wish me luck.

E

You guys should all check out the stuff Renee French draws. She’s the mack.

for the last few years I’ve had one project going or another. You folks out there haven’t really been privy to what’s been going on with me because Reich has been shut down for a while and I’ve only put a few weird pages up here on the site and a single minicomic in 2011. I have been drawing a lot and working on the fun stuff. I love drawing comics and that’s about all I love about comics. I don’t like publishing or selling the things. I don’t even like scanning them. I’m lazy that way.

The year is coming to a close and with it some truly momentous events happened in my life. I quit the security of my dayjob so I could  finish drawing my first major project, Reich. My friend and publisher Dylan died. I finished two other smaller projects that now sit in my basement awaiting the day that I can muster the energy to print them up.

so That’s the plan at the moment. I’m taking a break from comics in a way. To you, it may seem the opposite as I’m planning to actually get some books made and put them in the hands of people who want to read them. I have no projects planned after I finish up Billy Gohl. I’ll probably still work out some knots in other back-burner projects but I won’t be sitting in my basement for hours on end pumping ink onto a page.

Reich will most likely start up again soon and Blue Moon 6 is sitting in my hard drive waiting to be printed. those are things you can expect in the near future. Beyond that it’s time to focus on my personal life a little more, start making money again, get back into shape, that sort of thing. I’ve got a tooth that should have been pulled out about ten years ago. We’ll see what the future holds but right now, it’s high time I start living like a real person again, whatever that means.

Thanks for llistening.

E

I’m sure you all know that December is traditionally, Bronson Month here in the states. I just want to make sure you’re having a good time and watching as many Charles Bronson movies as possible.