Broken Frontier

This is an Inter-Review—a review and an interview in one! Today we look at Chumble Spuzz #2: Pigeon-Man and Death Sings the Blues, the second graphic novel-sized “issue”  featuring those two The Maxx-inspired crazies, Gunther and Klem, and written and drawn by the great Ethan Nicolle (with a large dollop of help this time from his brother Isaiah).

In PART ONE, we chatted about the brutally fast production schedule for the book, and the overall feel in comparison to Chumble Spuzz #1: Kill the Devil and Salmonella.  Now we look at the new stories in detail.

Broken Frontier Review : “Pigeon Man” is the headlining yarn of Chumble Spuzz #2, clocking in at 109 of the book’s 150 pages. The foudational concept began as a character that Ethan introduced inside a one-panel “Far Side”-style syndicated strip, but then Pigeon Man remained, reigning inside Ethan's imagination, and the result of this percolating fascination is a story about an old man raised by pigeons, who flaps his arms, coos, and pecks at refuse of every kind, while hunched over and naked as a jaybird. When Gunther turns over the Pigeon Man to “Frok’s Feral Human Zoo” for a cash reward (in order to buy a PB&J sandwich-making Robot), his roomie Clem, in classic head-first fashion, uncovers that the zoo is really a front for an man-i-mal underground fighting ring, and so a rescue mission is swiftly planned and attempted. Not a terribly successful one, though. Featuring just about every kind of feral human imaginable, including those entirely out of the realm of possibility, Nicolle puts out a stunningly action-packed extravaganza that doesn’t let up from the poo jokes or bloody carnage for a single page (which is impressive given the page count).

The Pigeon Man himself makes a great focus for the epic, though the further the story goes the more outrageous Nicolle gets with his man-i-mal creations, one-upping himself again and again, even when that doesn’t seem any longer possible. However, none top the awesome hilarity of Pigeon Man; the old pecker winds up being the most naturally comical and entertaining, and Nicolle’s handle on pigeon-mentality is frankly awesome to behold. The very best part, going beyond Pigeon Man, is Gunther and his PBJ Robot. Riffing on Iron Giant and nearly every other robot/AI story out there, Nicolle presents a subplot that’s as heart-warming as it is laugh-out-load in its elements. The fact that he dovetails the PBJ Robot and the Pigeon Man plots into one pitch-perfect and rousing action finale is testament to his growing prowess as a storyteller.

BROKEN FRONTIER: “Pigeon Man” was obviously a character near and dear to you, and one you pulled out all the stops to finally showcase in CS #2. Are you happy with the final result? Will we ever see Pigeon Man again for an encore?

ETHAN NICOLLE: I still want to see him animated. I want to hire a raspy voiced old man who does a pigeon impression, and animate my character to it. I always felt the character would be twice as funny animated, but I did my best with the limitations of panel-to-panel storytelling. The thing I loved about Pigeon Man is that he never does anything but act like a pigeon. He never makes a moral decision or anything, but Klem keeps trying to humanize him thinking Pigeon Man will come around. He always just ends up pecking at a pile of poop or something.

BF: Moving to my love of the PBJ Robot—what was most central inspiration for this? Do you long for such a robot in real life? If you could choose a robot to fix one particular culinary dish on demand, what would it be?

EN : It actually was born out of necessity. I needed Gunther and Klem to discover the Pigeon Man, so I needed them to feed the birds old moldy bread. So I needed a reason for Gunther to discover that he had old, moldy bread—so I had him making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I decided that even a PB&J sandwich was too complex for Gunther to create, I decided he would need a robot to do it for him. To me, a robot that constantly asks people "Would you like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?" is hilariously stupid.

BF Review: Next up is “Death Sings the Blues”, a 27-page backup tale featuring blues singer Blind Willie Phillips and how he came to wear the hand of Death himself! Told in caption-box, fairy-tale style narrative, Nicolle admits in CS #2’s introduction, that “a ton more happens in this 27 page story than in the 109 page ‘Pigeon Man’ story”. Truer words: it’s difficult to summarize the plot, due to the utter deluge of minor events that construct its core event, which is this: "What if Death committed suicide?" Guitar-strummin' blues challenges, Hitler-level evil zombie Sea Monkeys (yeah, you read that right), Gunther winds up in Purgatory with an enfeebled uncle, and don't get me started on undead Jesus.

Death dying isn't the most never-before-heard concept, but Nicolle has a lot to say on the subject and, in inimitable him fashion, the simple plot point gets buried under an outlandish number of bizarre and enviously original ideas. The narrative allows the story to fit inside its allotted page count, and while not as rambunctious as Nicolle’s usual style, it wields a fitting campfire tone, allowing it to sound akin to those folk tales which it largely steals from. And as usual, the poo jokes are ever-present, the Sea Monkey subplot inspired (the Nicolles have got a talent for the subplots!), and the overall effect an unforgettable reading experience, with little to compare it to though lots to say it holds up against.

BF: Are you a Blues fan? A Death Metal fan? Where would you say your music loyalties lie?

EN: I grew up liking Punk/Grunge... the usual stuff my generation listened to. I started listening to Blues in high school. I started to really gain a love for Taj Mahal, Robert Johnson, and other Blues artists. Two of my favorites are Blind Willie Johnson and Washington Phillips—which is where I got my Blues man's name. I have some love for Metal, but ever since I quit playing Rock music, I've softened up. I think my favorite genre of music has been Bluegrass, Gospel and Country.  I like Classical as well.  In fact, I think the only genre I can honestly say I just can't get into is Rap.  

BF: And I noticed a lot of lyrics and seeming nods to an actual figure of “Blind Willie Phillips”? A nod to your aforementioned Blind Willie Johnson? Are all the lyrics in the book your own or from classic Blues songs?

EN: All the lyrics are from real Blues songs, including songs from Blind Willie Johnson. That comic was sort of my nod to that genre. The old, old Blues music that was recorded right at the time recording was invented.

BF: So while we know the origins of “Pigeon Man”, what was the inspiration for “Death Sings the Blues”?

EN: It all started with the simple question... "what if Death killed himself?".  I just built onto that and came up with quite a frenzied tale. I like how it all ties together, and I like how it has its own flavor.   don't think I would do many other stories like it, but for what it is, I'm very happy with it.

ISAIAH NICOLLE: It's generally hard for people to find humor in death. For me the hardest thing about trying to write this story was making something hilarious that’s very not funny. But luckily, we both have grown up with the ability to find humor and make people laugh about things no one else would find funny and usually get a laugh out of people.  It's gotten us into trouble on more than one occasion. But no major regrets.

BF: Finally, the art in the story is far more packed and detailed here than in “Pigeon Man”. From fonts to crazy layouts: was it all just to fit it in, or did you want a particular look for the story?

EN: I decided, since the story would be told differently (all in narration), I would try to do the story with no panels. So each page is sort of a collage-style layout.

BF Review : Final verdict: Chumble Spuzz #2 is another unparalleled feat of creativity and comedy in the comics field. There are books equally as unique and flavorful, but none in the precise way that Ethan Nicolle’s imagination demands. The final effect of this book is somewhat different than its first outing, but I wasn't disappointed in the least, and my expectations were high, so the book was in a precarious pickle of a place to begin with. Ethan’s brother Isaiah helped with the writing of this one, and that may have made a difference in spots, but at its center, CS #2 is a true-blue and worthy successor to CS #1, which is to this very day one of the best comics on anyone’s shelves, and I’m talking inside a global market here. “Pigeon Man” and “Death Sings the Blues” are two more essential comic book stories that simply must be read if you wish to call yourself "literate" in the comics field. So read them, and man, if you haven’t read CS #1 yet, and now you get to read them both, together, in, like, one sitting? Wow. I think my brain would fall into my stomach due to the sheer weight of excess input.

BF: So how was it writing with your brother? Can you tell us any specific contributions on his part, and would the man himself like to step forward and give us the skinny?

EN: We had fun. Mostly what we did was brainstorm together a lot. In fact, what I wrote the story off of was a ton of notes and brainstorms we'd worked up a while back when I was down in Coos Bay where he lives. 

IN: It's always fun trying to think of the most idiotic things that will make you laugh so hard you pee a little. And it's really easy when I'm doing that with someone who’s just as twisted and mental as I am. When we first started writing together we were afraid that certain things would only be funny to us. I can think of many past times when we'd be watching a movie or show with a group of people, and things would be happening that would only make me and Ethan laugh. Everyone else would just have this awkward look on their faces as we busted our guts to what they felt were some of the stupidest things they'd ever heard.

BF: So what’s next for the two of you? More Chumble? Something else?

EN: We're working on some other stuff.  Chumble Spuzz will be on hold for now. At the  moment we're working up an animated show pitch that we hope to show around. Not for Chumble Spuzz, but for something new.  Chumble Spuzz has opened the door for us to be able to do that, though I can't imagine anyone turning CS into a show. Except, maybe, Adult Swim. Which would be freaking awesome.

IN: I agree, CS on adult swim would be our original dream for it coming true. But what we're working on now has got some awesome potential and I really hope it turns out. 

BF: In parting, I’ve always wanted to ask - who are your biggest comic book influences? And is there anyone you’d be a neurotic fanboy to get the chance to work with?

EN:  Well, if they aren't obvious... Doug TenNapel, Sam Kieth, Eric Powell, Eastman and Laird, John Kricfalusi, Gary Larson, Bill Watterson... to name a few. I don't know that it would be a dream to work with any of them, but I'd love to have a beer with any of them.  Doug I already have, so that's one down, seven to go.

IN: Eastman and Laird, Genndy Tartakovsky, Rob Schrab, Doug TenNapel (of course!) Jhonen Vasquez, and mostly my big brudder, Ethan himself.

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Chumble Spuzz #2  will be out in July, though you can order it now from the SLG site  (click on that last link).

For those interested, Volume 1 (featuring stories “Kill the Devil” and “Salmonella”) can be purchased from the SLG site (go HERE). Once there, you’ll also find a video trailer of the first book and a link to download the first chapter for absolutely free in PDF format. Ah, you know what, screw it, here’s the free preview link HERE  (30 pages, baby!).

And be sure to check out Ethan’s Myspace page  and the official Chumble Spuzz Myspace page  to drop a line and keep track of what this magic man is up to!