IFOA 2010: "In Graphic Detail"

Round Table: "In Graphic Detail" (feat. Charles Burns, Dylan Horrocks and Seth)

International Festival of Authors (Brigantine Room). Saturday, October 23, 2010.

Rather than just rows of chairs as I remember in the past, the Brigantine Room was set up salon-style, with small round candle-lit tables filling most of the room. That created a nice atmosphere (though the setup also might get a bit awkward in a packed room, where people would be struggling to position themselves so their backs aren't facing the stage). As it turned out, there was a decent crowd, but not a full house for this one. The event was a round table discussion featuring three noteworthy graphic novelists: local artist Seth (as nattily meticulous-looking as one of his creations, slightly dandyish in a suit and argyle socks); American Charles Burns (looking more like a high school teacher or someone similar that you'd run into at Costco); and Dylan Horrocks from New Zealand (sitting in the middle, he also split the difference sartorially, looking perhaps like a young professor in a sweater and sneakers combo).¹

The discussion was hosted by CBC's Bob Mackowycz, who did a good job of not over-injecting himself into the discussion — he pushed things along as necessary, but as often as not the three artists prodded each other with questions, keeping the whole thing flowing like an actual conversation. The discussion started by talking about the creative process — all three agreed that the meticulous nature of their craft required scheduled regularity more than bursts of inspired passion (cartooning is "more plodding" than painting, as Seth commented).

The conversation turned to the differences between commercial work and their own art, and Burns and Seth agreed on the usefulness of "busywork" to fill the time and keep the work routine going in creatively fallow periods, while Horrocks' experiences were coloured by a spell of commercial work he did (writing for Batgirl, of all things) that eliminated any lingering romantic notions he held about working in "the industry".

There was an interesting discussion on the necessity and limits of plot, Horrocks calling it, "the least interesting part of the story".² Seth added that while plot is conflict-based, the stories with little conflict are most interesting. While our culture has a limited notion of storytelling, obsessed with incidents and conflicts instead of situations or places, all three of these artists' works are strongly situation-based, with strong sense of place.

Meanwhile, there was talk on the possibilities of working in other media (all three would find it awkward, although Burns has done some work in animation) and the possibilities of adaptations — Horrocks, for one, would welcome an adaptation of Hicksville that wouldn't be beholden to the exactness of his book's plot. Burns talked a bit about the possible adaptation of Black Hole and his realization that for him it would have to be a hands-off process — the book is his work, a movie would be something else.

There was also a fascinating discussion on the value of scarcity for imagination — like reading comics in foreign languages as a child and coming up with one's own dialogue to fit the visual language. Burns recalled reading Tintin as a kid and seeing the listing of other books on the back cover, ones you couldn't always find in your local store and that in some way existed only in your own imagination. This resonated strongly with me, reminding me of my own childhood. It's something that is increasingly disappearing in our online age, and one wonders if easy access to seemingly everything will have an adverse impact of the generation who are growing up now.

There was a lot of other ground covered in the hour of discussion and short Q&A session. Being familiar with these artists' works, it was easy to see how their personalities are woven into their art. An engaging time.

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¹ For those unfamiliar with these artists and perhaps looking for somewhere to start, I'd recommend Seth's Clyde Fans, Horrocks' Hicksville and Burns' Black Hole, all of which are available through the Toronto Public Library.

² Horrocks would later comments that he was looking for novels with a similar unconcernedness with plot, preferring a less-structured daydream-drift — something like "Moomins with sex," he said, half-jokingly.