Toronto Comic Jam: I can’t say enough about how much your drawings have upped the ante since you’ve started coming to the Cameron House. How did you hear about the Comic Jam?

Robb Mirsky: Oh, thanks! That might be a bit of an overstatement, but I’ll take it! I first heard about the jam around 2003 when I was attend-ing OCAD in Toronto. I think I saw a poster for it somewhere. I was making comics at the time, but I didn’t know a single other person who was mak-ing them, or even really reading com-ics for the most part. I said to myself I was gonna go check it out, but I never did… Shyness, got the best of me, and I never went…. About 9 years lat-er, I was just getting back into making comics (after a long hiatus of attempt-ing to be a musician) and saw the same poster (vintage now) at The Beguiling. I finally just sucked it up and went, and thankfully the info didn’t change after a decade!

TCJ: You’re style is really unique and stands out from the page.

Who were the drawing influences that inspired you to start making comics?

RM: I remember making comics since a really young age. I found some newspaper strips that I submitted to The Toronto Star when I was probably around 9 or 10, rejected of course! But it was a good exercise none the less. I always read the weekend paper for Calvin & Hobbes and The Far Side, and read Tin Tin, Asterix and Archie com-ics as a kid. Superheroes weren’t really my thing. I think when I stumbled on underground comix (like Crumb and co. in the 60’s, and Peter Bagge and those guys in the 80’s) it really made me realize that comics didn’t just have to be superhero stories or newspa-per strips. I could make wacky stories about whatever I wanted.

These days I’m really inspired by stuff by Noah Van Sciver, Simon Han-selmann, Anya Davidson, and Box Brown, to name a few.

TCJ: Not only are you known for making trippy band posters but the love of music is a common theme in your comics. What music do you like to listen to while you draw? What’s on your current playlist?

RM: I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts lately, mainly comic ones, talking about projects and processes and those sort of things. I al-ways listen to a lot of mu-sic too though. A song is constantly running through my head. Lately, there’s a lot of Ariel Pink, Brian Jonestown Mas-sacre, Priests, Jay Reatard, Fugazi… And I’ve been feeling nostalgic as of late and been listening to a lot of punk bands that I grew up with. My mu-sic can be all over the place at

The Best of the WorstSpotlight on Robb Mirsky

If you’ve ever read at a Jam Book since 2012, you’ve surely noticed Robb Mirsky’s art. His frantic style and energetic lines are so eye-catching that other Jammers line up to work on his pages. Mirsky won the TCJ’s

logo contest and was recently named one of the top 10 local concert poster artists by BlogT.O. but he’s always humble when pressed to talk about himself.

Recently becoming a father hasn’t stopped him from making comics. If anything, Mirsky seems to be even more productive if the “Hourly Comic Challenge” he shared with us is any indication. The new role as parent may have seeped into his comics but don’t worry; being a dad hasn’t smoothed out any of Robb Mirsky’s jag-ged edges.

times. I also try to listen to a lot of lo-cal stuff and independent stuff like my friends, Eiyn Sof, Dog is Blue and my brother’s band Elsa.

TCJ: I’ve noticed that your comics feature a lot of… umm, “alternative recreational activities”. Do you ever worry about how much you reveal about your personal life in your com-ics? What do your folks think about your art?

RM: Ehh, I don’t think too much about that kind of stuff. I don’t re-ally consider myself an autobio comic maker, but I put a lot of myself in my stories. Gotta draw from what you know I guess!

And my parents are totally supportive of my art. I’m sure they’d like to see me working in something that I can make decent money and live off of, but they’ve always been really cool with everything. As long as it makes me

happy they are happy, I think. Hell, my dad retweets my

weirdo comix to his net-work all the time. He’s like my biggest fan!

TCJ: Your fist child has also become a part of your comics. Besides the obvious demands on your time, how else have you noticed parent-hood affecting the content of your art?

RM: Well, he was really only in the ‘Hourly Comic Challenge’ I par-

ticipated in. But I think for the most part be-coming a dad

actually in-

spired me to start writing a little crazi-er. I wasn’t doing a lot of comics about “alternative recreational activities” per say, until this point. Maybe cuz I had to slow down my real life a bunch…

I also feel like I’ve been more prolific since he’s been born. My social life has been scaled back a lot, so I’m home more, and that means more comics!!!

TCJ: When your child’s old enough to start reading, what comics would you show him first to inspire his appre-ciation for art? Peter Bagge or Michael DeForge?

RM: Ummmm… I dunno about ei-ther of those guys! I mean, DeForge’s characters are usually pretty simple and easy to digest, but as soon as my kid reads them, I’m sure he’d have nightmares! And the Peter Bagge stuff I gravitate towards is probably not good for young ones, but there’s a lot of great stuff out there. Comics are just exploding now, and I’ve never seen so many around that aren’t just dumb superhero stories. There’s even a comic shop dedicated to kids stuff in this city (Little Island Comics). I don’t think I’ll have a problem finding him some goodies!

TCJ: You know I’m a fan of your work. Besides the recent Chilly Tales anthology, where can I find more of your stuff in print?

RM: I have stacks of some mini’s and stuff lying around my house… I should have a new one for TCAF this year. I like handing out comics to other creators and comic fans. It’s way better than trying to direct someone to your website with a business card.

Just give them a comic! It’s hard to ig-nore it when it’s already in your hand!

Working on getting a proper website and an online store to sell print things. I still believe in print, and think it’s real-ly important to keep it up. The online world is amazing and vast, but there’s something about actually getting to hold a tangible item that I find really exciting.

TCJ: You’ve been so prolific with your art online of late but what’s next for you?

RM: I tend not to plan things out so much. I like my stuff a lot more when I plan and think very little about it. The Comic Jam definitely helped in shed-ding all the over-thinking that used to consume me. I would never get anything done! So, I have some short stories written in my sketchbook, but aside from that, just working on ran-dom comics, maybe compile a bunch of it in a couple years? And, of course, keep posting online.

Hire Robb Mirsky to make pictures for you! Band posters, comics, al-bum covers, whatever else (his de-sign is on the side of a food truck)! Just send him an email and you can chat about your project.

contact murskee@gmail.com

wordpress blog robbmirsky.com

tumblr robbmirsky.tumblr.com

instagram mirsktoons

twitter @robbmirsky

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

The Comic Book Lounge’s iconic couch enabled fans to connect with local

comic pros, celebrities and af-ficianados. Comic creators like Kalman Andrasofszky, Ray Fox, Jeff Lemire, Francis Manapul, Ramón Pérez, Marcus To, Cary Nord, Scott Chantler, Jim Zub-kavich and many more have all sat on the couch. Even Cerebus’ Gerhard pressed his buttocks against that couch. The Montreal Comic Jam’s Sal-good Sam signed copies of Dream Life there. Local hero Ty Templeton wore a groove in those cushions.

So many artists may have farted on the Comic Book Lounge’s couch, that it reeks of history. Before the Lounge closes it’s doors for good, owner Kevin A. Boyd took some time to sit on the couch and reflect.

Kevin knew what he was get-ting into when he opened the comic shop three years ago. “Certainly I was aware of the hardships and troubles and the pros and cons that go with running a comic book shop. So I certainly didn’t go in blind”. Originally when Dragon Lady Comics was closing back in 2012, Kevin approached local dealers and vendors about keeping it alive in spirit by opening a smaller shop a few doors down in Sean Menard’s Toronto Cartoonist’s Work-shop on College Street.

Kevin ended up taking on most of the responsibilities

himself and the Comic Book Lounge was born. He says, “somehow it just ended up being something that I in-herited” but really, he did it on out of love. Now that the Comic Book Lounge is clos-ing, Kevin ensures that his small group of comic regulars with subscriptions will still get their comics either by person-al appointment or by delivery for as long as the Lounge is able to so. “We want to make sure our customers are happy and kept in comics”, even if it means making employee Mike Bothello bicycle around town.

“We’re closing not because we want to close” assures Kev-in. It’s been a tough personal year for Kevin and now that Temple of Toys who shared the Lounge’s space is closing, Kevin felt it was time to take a step back. His focus for now will be exhibiting as the Com-ic Lounge at conventions and refocusing his energies into the Shuster Awards.

Did I forget to mention that? Not only has Kevin been jug-gling owning and operating the Lounge these past three years while working at the University Health Network by day, he’s also the executive di-rector of the Canadian Comic Book Creator Awards Associa-tion; the not-for-profit orga-nization that administers the Joe Shuster Awards.

“I jokingly call it the ‘Cuh-Cuck-Buh-Caaah’ every so often”.

Despite it’s clumsy acronym, Kevin Goyd and the CCBCAA are an important part of Com-ics Culture across Canada.

Some people will still debate how Canadian the co-cre-ator of Superman really is let alone why these Canadian comic awards are named af-ter him. Much like the Genie and Juno Awards, the Shus-ter’s celebrate those who call themselves Canadian with affection and pride. The Joe Shuster Awards and what they represent are important to Canadian comics creators and fans alike. They do that even if they achieve success internationally.

“I think that’s a misconception about the Shuster’s; that we’re mainstream only.” They aren’t? Oh, sorry Kevin. “If you look at the books that are nominated, it’s a pretty wide cross-section from mainstream to alterna-tive. And given our past win-ners I’d say that we’re not really mainstream (comics) focused, we’re mainstream in-clusive. I like to be as inclusive as possible.”

Oh yeah; the TCJ’s own Matt Daley won a Gene Day Award for self publishing along with Cory McCallum back in 2013 for their work The Pig Sleep.

Since 2005, The Joe Shuster Awards have been celebrat-

Kevin BoydOn the Couch

ing Canadians making com-ics whether they do super-hero stories or more personal work. Kevin Boyd’s not just a comic retailer but like many of us he’s fan. He even tried to make his own comics back when he was in High School (it’s unknown if Hope Nichol-son will one day try to archive those comics for future gen-erations).

It’s that same love and com-mitment to Canadian comics that made Kevin Boyd pay out of his own pocket to keep the Shuster’s running last year. When it was announced this last March that the Shuster’s were in trouble, past recipients of the Harry Kremer Canadian Retailer Award stepped up to help sponsor and show their support for Canadian com-ics. So the Shuster’s are once again secure for the foresee-able future. I don’t know what award would be applicable to Kevin A. Boyd, so this article will have to do until then.

For now, you can expect to see more of Kevin at conventions this summer either exhibiting as the Comic Book Lounge or as a representative of the CCB-CAA. The 2015 Shuster nomi-nations will be announced at the Niagara Comic Con in early June. “I won’t be fading into the woodwork. I’ll be at almost every major conven-tion in the area. I’ll certainly go to TCAF, just as a fan”. And that’s what Kevin A. Boyd is at his heart; just another comics fan sitting on a couch talking about his loves.

Celebrate the Comic Lounge’s last day, Wednesday April 29th. They’ll be hosting a signing with artist Leonard Kirk (Fantastic Four) in the late afternoon, fol-lowed by their FINAL INDUSTRY NIGHT & CLOSING PARTY that will run late, until 11PM that day.

On Thursday, April 30th, they’ll be moving the last items out, the end of an era.

587A COLLEGE ST.TORONTO, ON 647-345-1035

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

www.warrensloper.com27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34