TALKING TO LEWIS TRONDHEIM

[MattBrady]

by Michael C Lorah

Lewis Trondheim has been one of Europe’s most prolific and revered cartoonists since his professional cartooning debut in the late 1980s. He won the 2006 Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, the biggest award in international comics. He also co-founded L’Assocation, one of Europe’s leading publisher and among the first companies to publish fellow cartoonists including Joann Sfar and Marjane Satrapi.

He’s published over 120 books, and each book of his that has made its way to American shores has met with strong acclaim, including Mister I, Mister O, and the Dungeon series. Spring of 2008 brings another wave of Trondheim’s distinct voice to U.S. comic shops, with Little Nothings: Curse of the Umbrella and Dungeon: Monstres vol. 1 from NBM, and Kaput and Zösky from First Second publishing.

We spoke to Lewis Trondheim about each book and his tremendous workload.

Newsarama: Let’s talk first about your upcoming American books, Lewis. In April, First Second is putting out an English edition of Kaput and Zösky, titled Universal Obliterators. Kaput and Zösky are massively inept universal conquerors, right?
Lewis Trondheim: That's right. They're two useless idiots. They're constantly trying to conquer planets but fail every time. For this kind of story with "meanie" characters to work, you need one of two things: either you pit them against someone meaner still, or you make them completely stupid. I did a bit of both.

NRAMA: You came up with this series as something that your children would be able to read?

LT: In fact, this began as a request from Mickey Mouse magazine in France for a special issue on aliens from outer space. They had asked me for one page, and I did that pretty easily. After that, since other magazines were requesting stories, I figured it would be smarter on my part to keep using the same characters instead of recreating a whole new universe each time (yes, I'm lazy). It was only later that my children read the stories.

NRAMA: Kaput and Zösky is drawn by Eric Cartier. How did he become involved with the series?

LT: After the cartoon version had run for one season on television, I figured it could be a good idea to keep my characters going on paper. But this time I no longer wanted to draw the story, because I couldn't spare the time. So I adapted some of the TV episodes for the comics medium. Eric Cartier then did all the visual storytelling.

NRAMA: Does the cartoon measure up to your expectations?

LT: Very much so. The voices are very good (which, surprisingly, is almost the main thing in a cartoon) and a lot of care went into the animation. It was a French and Canadian co-production where there was very good chemistry between the two teams.

NRAMA: Should fans of the cartoon expect something similar from the English translation of Kaput and Zösky’s comic adventures?

LT: I don't know. I never work for my fans or readers. I only ever work for myself (yup, not only am I lazy, I'm selfish too). If afterwards the public likes what I liked, it's an unexpected bonus.

NRAMA: Are there more Kaput and Zösky stories waiting for translation?

LT: No. I like going from one project to another and changing regularly. I could never have done the work of a Charles Schulz, spending a lifetime on Peanuts, as an example. I have to experiment.

NRAMA: Your collection of autobiographical sketches, Little Nothings, is also getting an English translation this spring, from NBM Publishing. It’s very different from your other books on the surface, yet like Kaput and Zösky or the Dungeon titles, it’s still a very warm, funny book. What inspired this book, and how do you feel it compares to your other work?

LT: At first, this was an autobiographical project that I was doing just for myself. I wanted to learn to do watercolors. I was looking around for subject matter and there it was right in front of me. So I started jotting down little one-page stories, so that I'd be constantly changing the color atmospherics.

After four months I figured I could put that material on a blog. And, after a year, that I could make a book out of it.

NRAMA: Are really as much a hypochondriac as you paint yourself to be?

LT: I am a bit. But my therapy is poking fun at myself, so I'm getting better.

NRAMA: I found it amusing that in Little Nothings you frequently fear you won’t be able to draw comics, which seems terribly ironic considering how hard you’ve worked to cut back your workload. How long ago were these strips drawn?

LT: I've been doing this work on a regular basis for three years. Having a blog keeps me going. It's like exercise—a regular and pleasant workout. But I haven't been drawing less as a result. It's true that I've been publishing fewer books, but they're longer.

NRAMA: Do you and Joann Sfar really have as much fun at shows like Angouleme as you appear to have in the book?

LT: Of course. The shows are opportunities to get back together with our colleagues and have fun. That's 95% of the reason why we go—and 4% is to catch up sleep, and 1% to meet the public.

NRAMA: Dungeon: Monstres vol. 1 is also coming out this spring, telling epic stories of characters who were minor players in the main Dungeon storyline. You work on the Dungeon series with Joann Sfar and Manu Larcenet. Who first came up with the concept for the series?

LT: There's only two of us working on all the Dungeon scripts – Joann and me. Then one of us draws it, or we hand it off to a buddy. But at the outset we hadn't planned to have such a sprawling series. If I'd known how it would turn out, I'd have said no to Joann when he came to suggest the first page of the first book.

NRAMA: Ha. I think a lot of people are glad you didn’t know what you were getting into! Do you have any particular division of labor when creating a new Dungeon book?

LT: At this point the hardest thing is finding the time to see each other and write together. Then, over a period of two weeks, we write two or three books. And since we no longer have the time to draw Dungeon, we find people to do the drawing for us. In France, that's a fairly new concept, whereas in the U.S. you've been doing that for decades. The only difference being that we own our universe and our characters, and that we cast a lot of illustrators against type.

NRAMA: After working on the main Dungeon saga, what keeps you coming back to the universe to tell all of these side-stories?

LT: The fact that Joann and I are nuts. He's bursting with ideas and so am I. And together we're far more than the sum of our parts. Together it's more like one plus one equals eight.

NRAMA: I find it very perverse that in America, the industry has spent most of the last three (or more) decades trying to prove that comics are for adults, yet you’re one of Europe’s leading lights and creating comics for children seems to be a real focus for you. Do you have a particular audience in mind when you’re creating a new series, or are you simply following a muse to wherever it leads?

LT: In France we have a tradition of comics for all ages that can be read by both children and adults, each with a different level of reading. That's how we've been able to keep an audience of keen lovers of comics, an audience that grows with the authors.

NRAMA: One consistent quality of your work is that no matter how humorous the series, there’s always some profoundness in each story. When creating comics for kids, how conscious are you of trying to balance the fun with some semblance of intelligence?

LT: I undoubtedly am. But I nevertheless try not to be moralizing, or at least not to overdo it. For the most part, if you're an author you have flaws, and those flaws will transpire in the story, which will lend an overall richness to the work. We're in a strange business because we mustn't treat our flaws, but rather pamper them. If you treat them too much you'll be cured and will no longer have anything to say, while if you push your flaws too far you can lose your footing.

NRAMA: It must seem slightly ironic that in 2005 you announced your “retirement” and determined to cut back the volume of material you were producing. Now, on American shores, it seems like you’re as prolific as ever! What have you heard about the reaction to your books in America?

LT: I never announced my retirement. I stepped back a little to see in which direction I wanted to go. I wanted to take my nose away from the grindstone for a bit and see what I really wanted to do. So it's true, now that I have 120 books under my belt, I expect the U.S. will have to cut down quite a few more trees before knowing whether I'm really quitting comics.



NRAMA: Considering the struggle to find an audience that many European comics creators face (thinking particularly of the unfortunate failure of Humanoids to have an impact here), do you feel any particular pride at the success you’ve had in America?

LT: I think there are endemic types of comics in different creative centers around the planet. Some of those endemic comics, like superheroes and manga, manage pretty well in export markets. The classic comics of the French-Belgian school have struggled more, because they've cut themselves off from their popular roots. But now we're witnessing a form of cross-border comics: comics and graphic novels that can be read by everyone, which are created by authors that are separating themselves from their comics references and going more towards literature. People like Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Seth, Jiro Taniguchi, Marjane Satrapi, Joann Sfar and many others have managed to win over an audience that had slowly turned away from a type of comics that had become too facile, too commercial. We're witnessing the appearance of an international movement of authors who have grasped this medium vigorously and are trying to return it to one of the freest and most creative places to be, in terms of artistic narration. Whoa—am I sounding too pompous, saying that?

Kaput and Zösky ships in April from First Second. Little Nothings is currently available, and Dungeon: Monstres vol. 1 arrives in shops in March, both from NBM.

[RichMelendez]

...for doing a piece on Mr. Trondheim!!! I know this article won't get as many hits as an interview with Millar, Turner or anybody else working on super hero and "mainstream" comics, but exposure to comics outside the norm is a great thing, and necessary for the medium to continue to grow. I hope to continue seeing interviews with creators from all sectors of the industry, whether or not they have a top 10 book.
-r-

[mugiwara]

Dungeon is one of the best heroic fantasy book I ever read.

At least 5 series of books happening at diverse ages of the dungeon world, with various art and tones, excellent characters, and parody of the classic concepts of heroic fantasy.

There is Dungeon Zenith, stories featuring the first adventures and the evolution of the duck Herbert and the... er... dragon Marvin. Humoristic but also kinda mature stories.

Donjon Parade, which takes place between Zenith #1 and #2 where the Dungeon is at his apogee. Lighthearted stories with Marvin and Herbert.

Donjon Potron Minet. The youth of the master of the Dungeon. Dark and realistic stories.

Donjon Crepuscule. Takes place in a kinda apocalyptic future, featuring an old Marvin, new characters and a dark Herbert who took over the world. Fun and dark at the same time.

Donjon Monsters. Various stories happening at different ages of the Dungeon. Each story is about one of the characters of the Dungeon world, and is drawn by differents artist.


A MUST READ!

[FnordSerious]

Yay Trondheim!
I have only read a tiny bit of his work, but what I have read is great fun. Looking forward to more translated material in the future!

[Patrocknroll]

WOW! I can't believe I'm reading an interview of Lewis Trondheim on Newsarama! Great initiative, guys! Living in France, I've read every Dungeon and "Lapinot" title that has come out, and I really count them as some of the very best stuff produced in comic books, sorry, "bandes dessinées", today.

To give an idea to those who don't know him, I guess you could say Trondheim has something of a Woody-Allenesque sensibility. Subtle & slightly self-deprecating humor.

Thanks again guys, and I hope this interview gets people to pick up his stuff when they want to take a break from the comics "mainstream".

[Mr. Chapel]

I really recommend everything from Lewis Trondgheim. His comics without any language as Mr. I and Mr. O are ingenious, his humor is unique. He seems to have more ideas in a day than other creators in a whole year.

Thank you Matt for the interview. Thank you Lewis for what you are.

[Sambo253]

I also wanted to stop by and say thanks for doing this interview.