MattBrady
12-09-2003, 04:55 PM
<img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absentfriends.jpg" width="175" height="263" border="0" hspace="1" align="right">In February, Slave Labor will unearth a bit of the past of Phil Elliott and Paul Grist with the publication of <b>Absent Friends</b>, a 40-page collection of short stories the two had published in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Newsarama caught up with Elliott for some more information.
What makes <b>Absent Friends</b> so special for the creators is that it’s the first time all the stories have been brought together in one place. As originally published, the stories were, asll, as Elliott said, “all over the map.”
“The first piece that Paul and I did together was for <i>Escape</i> magazine, here in the UK,” Elliott said. “That was the story, ‘Absent Friends’ that opens the book. I originally tried drawing this myself, getting no further than the first page, but after seeing Paul's self-published comic, <b>Short Stories</b>, felt that maybe he could handle drawing the story. One thing led to another and we collaborated on quite a few stories, with me providing the scripts. I think our best scoop was getting a short piece in <b>Taboo</b>, which, bless Steve Bissette, is one of my most hated comic books ever.”
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page1_t.jpg" width="175" height="269" border="0" hspace="1" align="left" alt="page 1"></a>The stories mostly come from the mid to late ‘80s, and, while they aren’t exactly autobiographical in nature, they are still quite personal to Elliott – who actually found himself drawn into “Absent Friends.”
”Most of my stories draw from personal experiences - the most obvious example in <b>Absent Friends</b>, at least to anyone who knows me, and my past, is ‘Stagestruck,’ which relates to my time drawing for the UK comic anthology of the early 1990's, <i>Escape</i> magazine,” Elliott said. “The others also take their cue from personal experiences, thoughts and traumas, though none are strictly autobiographical, in the same way that the likes of Eddie Campbell – who was an early mentor of mine - or Harvey Pekar's work can be.”
Given the time difference, Grist’s art isn’t exactly the same as it is in his more recent <b>Jack Staff</b> work, or even in <b>Kane</b>. “For my part, I do feel that these stories show a different side of Paul's drawing that maybe he can't express in other comics,” Elliott said. “There's still the same excellent graphic eye and superior composition, but there's a finer, delicate, almost hesitate line that hangs in the air, and...well, that's why I gave these stories to Paul in the first place.”
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page2_t.jpg" width="175" height="269" border="0" hspace="1" align="right" alt="page 2"></a>While Grist’s penciling work can currently be seen in <b>Jack Staff</b>, Elliott’s color work can be found in the series as well. Elliott’s other current work can be seen in SLG’s <b>Tupelo</b>, and <b>Pool Tales</b> at serializer.net. Or – if you’re talking about his non-comic work, well, there’s the mud-washing.
“The powers-to-be decree that I should have to do some 'proper' work for a living and for the past year that has been as a Lab Technician - that's the official title, testing soil samples for a large UK buildings insurance company. All sorts of 'bizarre' tests are carried out to determine what may have caused houses to subside, one of which involves washing the soil. There is a method here ... using different graded sieves we can specifically grade the soil - silt, clay, sand, gravel, stones, roots etc, etc. This information, combined with other tests, should assist a surveyor in deciding what caused the subsidence and what course of action may be taken to prevent any possible future occurrence.
”Ahh! Is it significant that I wrote more about washing mud than I did about my own work?”
What makes <b>Absent Friends</b> so special for the creators is that it’s the first time all the stories have been brought together in one place. As originally published, the stories were, asll, as Elliott said, “all over the map.”
“The first piece that Paul and I did together was for <i>Escape</i> magazine, here in the UK,” Elliott said. “That was the story, ‘Absent Friends’ that opens the book. I originally tried drawing this myself, getting no further than the first page, but after seeing Paul's self-published comic, <b>Short Stories</b>, felt that maybe he could handle drawing the story. One thing led to another and we collaborated on quite a few stories, with me providing the scripts. I think our best scoop was getting a short piece in <b>Taboo</b>, which, bless Steve Bissette, is one of my most hated comic books ever.”
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page1_t.jpg" width="175" height="269" border="0" hspace="1" align="left" alt="page 1"></a>The stories mostly come from the mid to late ‘80s, and, while they aren’t exactly autobiographical in nature, they are still quite personal to Elliott – who actually found himself drawn into “Absent Friends.”
”Most of my stories draw from personal experiences - the most obvious example in <b>Absent Friends</b>, at least to anyone who knows me, and my past, is ‘Stagestruck,’ which relates to my time drawing for the UK comic anthology of the early 1990's, <i>Escape</i> magazine,” Elliott said. “The others also take their cue from personal experiences, thoughts and traumas, though none are strictly autobiographical, in the same way that the likes of Eddie Campbell – who was an early mentor of mine - or Harvey Pekar's work can be.”
Given the time difference, Grist’s art isn’t exactly the same as it is in his more recent <b>Jack Staff</b> work, or even in <b>Kane</b>. “For my part, I do feel that these stories show a different side of Paul's drawing that maybe he can't express in other comics,” Elliott said. “There's still the same excellent graphic eye and superior composition, but there's a finer, delicate, almost hesitate line that hangs in the air, and...well, that's why I gave these stories to Paul in the first place.”
<a href="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.newsarama.com/Other_Publishers/absent-int_page2_t.jpg" width="175" height="269" border="0" hspace="1" align="right" alt="page 2"></a>While Grist’s penciling work can currently be seen in <b>Jack Staff</b>, Elliott’s color work can be found in the series as well. Elliott’s other current work can be seen in SLG’s <b>Tupelo</b>, and <b>Pool Tales</b> at serializer.net. Or – if you’re talking about his non-comic work, well, there’s the mud-washing.
“The powers-to-be decree that I should have to do some 'proper' work for a living and for the past year that has been as a Lab Technician - that's the official title, testing soil samples for a large UK buildings insurance company. All sorts of 'bizarre' tests are carried out to determine what may have caused houses to subside, one of which involves washing the soil. There is a method here ... using different graded sieves we can specifically grade the soil - silt, clay, sand, gravel, stones, roots etc, etc. This information, combined with other tests, should assist a surveyor in deciding what caused the subsidence and what course of action may be taken to prevent any possible future occurrence.
”Ahh! Is it significant that I wrote more about washing mud than I did about my own work?”