You can learn a lot about writer/artist David Heatley by reading his acclaimed graphic memoir MY BRAIN IS HANGING UPSIDE DOWN. And you can learn a little more about him by reading his chat with BOOKGASM, on why he didn’t censor himself, what his family thinks of the work, and what he plans to do next.
BOOKGASM: I’m assuming you’ve been drawing all your life. But when did the switch flip that you looked around and thought, “Geez, I need to turn my own life into comics!”
HEATLEY: Reading other autobiographical cartoonists, especially Julie Doucet, is what set me on this path. And studying personal diaristic filmmakers in college like Scott Stark, Joe Gibbons, Stan Brakhage and Marjorie Keller. After honing in on my favorite artists — Spiegelman, Ware, Panter, Clowes, Burns, etc. — I could see that what made for great comics was great writing. I experimented with fiction early on, and the results were embarassing. I had no chops as a writer and only marginally more as a draftsman.
Then it dawned on me that I’d been keeping a journal for over 10 years. I had a backlog of material that was already written. I started by drawing my own dreams. When they were published, I could see that they’d be much more interesting in the context of reading about my waking life. That led to doing more strictly autobiographical comics, which led to MY BRAIN.
BOOKGASM: Other than that it’s imminently readable, the thing that most sticks out about your work — and that I really admire — is its honesty. It appears you haven’t censored any details about your life, even though most of us would be ashamed to admit such things in public, much less on paper for total strangers to see. Why?
HEATLEY: I’m something of an exhibitionist by nature and always have been. Beyond that, I feel a detachment from my story these days. I don’t need to conceal or protect it from anyone. I’ve lived that part. It’s over. If it can be helpful or entertaining to my readers, I feel I’ve done my job.
BOOKGASM: In completing this memoir, did you learn anything going over the events of your life that you hadn’t realized already?
HEATLEY: The “Portrait of My Mom” strip was the most transforming to work on. The memories I focused on were mostly ones that still had an emotional charge or some kind of resentment attached to them. I found that once I shrunk my mom down to less than an inch and controlled her movements and the things she said, her power begin to shrink in my own mind. And once she became the protagonist in these stories, I found her sympathetic. Suddenly it was clear that no one had done anything wrong in these anecdotes. They were perfect as is.
In “Black History,” I began the strip with a clear framework, but no clear ending in mind. I was working on these memories about summer camp, doing some terrible hazing to some of the campers in my care, some of whom were black. And also remembering being bullied and beat up by black friends growing up. In the midst of all that, I got slapped in the face by a black woman on the train. I kind of knew that had to be my ending. It was a total shock.
BOOKGASM: How have the members of your family reacted to your comics? Ever had one of them or a friend be unhappy about their inclusion?
HEATLEY: Anybody I’m still friends with is happy to be included. I haven’t heard from any exes and don’t really plan to. All of that happened over 10 years ago and I think it’s water under the bridge. My dad doesn’t love everything about him in the book for obvious reasons, but it doesn’t stop him from bringing the book everywhere he goes and bragging about me. It’s incredibly sweet.
I’ve mostly kept my brothers out of the narrative. I feel like I’m stuck with my parents and they shaped me and my story, so including them is fair game. But I respect my brothers’ privacy and wouldn’t want to embarrass them. They didn’t ask for this.
BOOKGASM: Do you already have a speech worked up for when your kids eventually read the book and start asking questions?
HEATLEY: I doubt they’ll even be interested until they’re in their late 20s. I could be wrong. But I think it’s my job to be interested in them and to nurture their own growth and artistic expression. I had a lot of backwards parenting growing up, where I was asked to inappropriately love and nurture my parents. I don’t want them to have to pay undue attention to me, so I try not to grab the spotlight too much. I know if one of my parents wrote a book like this, I’d be excited to read it. But it wasn’t until fairly recently that I’ve begun to see them as human beings. And it wasn’t until I had my own kids that I could fully sympathize with them.
BOOKGASM: Do you have any interest or plans in pursuing a fictional project? I guess the dreams you depict could be considered that, but then again, they actually happened to you. What about something entirely removed from your real life?
HEATLEY: My next book for Pantheon is called OVERPECK, and it’s more or less a traditional graphic novel. The characters all came to me in my dreams, so there’s some link to autobiography. And the town is based heavily on the neighborhood I lived in between kindergarten and second grade. Some of the things in the book really happened, but there’s also elements of fantasy and magic.
For now, I feel pretty done telling my real story. The idea was to create an exhaustive account of these years leading up to adulthood so I wouldn’t have to retell any of it. We’ll see if that sticks.
BOOKGASM: What do you get out of doing your own comics that you don’t in your freelance illustration jobs? And what do you get out of making music that you don’t get from drawing altogether?
HEATLEY: Freelance jobs are a chance to hone my craft and experiment with new techniques, since the content is usually the most uninteresting part for me. I wind up using all the tricks I learn on those jobs later in my own comics. Music is very satisfying and immediate to create. There’s a physical release that happens when I sing and play guitar that never happens in comics.
Drawing is much more contemplative and meditative, like working on a long scroll up in a monastery somewhere. The discipline involved in making a book is enormous, and the change that takes place when you finish is profound. I like having all three in my life and bouncing to one or the other, based on what I’m needing on a given day.
BOOKGASM: When we expect another book out of you?
HEATLEY: OVERPECK should be out by 2010, fingers crossed. I don’t think it’ll be five years per book now that I’ve got the formal elements of my process down. But I could be wrong. I want to continue with music projects and I’m working on a film treatment for MY BRAIN, so that could slow everything else down. I’m not in control of any of this. I’m along for the ride. —Rod Lott
OTHER RECENT BOOKGASM AUTHOR INTERVIEWS:
• Q&A with HALLOWEEN AND OTHER SEASONS’ Al Sarrantonio
• Q&A with LONDON HORROR COMIC’s John-Paul Kamath
• Q&A with VAMPIRE ZERO’s David Wellington
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• MY BRAIN IS HANGING UPSIDE DOWN by David Heatley
