Today we continue our interview series with creators speaking at the monthly Picture + Panel event in Boston, which brings together two comic creators to talk about a specific topic. Today, Tom Hart and Jesse Mechanic will talk about grief and the impact it has had on their work, and we’re fortunate to present a preview of that conversation. You can find more details on the event here.
Picture + Panel is a monthly conversation series produced in partnership by the Boston Comic Arts Foundation, Porter Square Books and the Boston Figurative Arts Center, Picture + Panel provides thought-provoking discussions for the unique form of expression that is the comics medium.
Tom Hart is a critically acclaimed Eisner-nominated cartoonist and the Executive Director of The Sequential Artists Workshop in Gainesville, Florida. He is the creator of Rosalie Lightning and the Hutch Owen series of graphic novels and books. The Collected Hutch Owen was nominated for best graphic novel in 2000 and has received a Xeric Grant. Tom has taught sequential art at the University of Florida and at NYC’s School of Visual Arts.
Jesse Mechanic is an opinion columnist, essayist and artist. He has published work in Mother Jones, In These Times, HuffPost, Truthout and other publications. Jesse enjoys woodworking, the television show Cheers and working diligently to dismantle the various oppressive systems that define our world. The Last Time We Spoke is his debut graphic novel.
Why did you start making comics about grief?
Jesse Mechanic: I have only made one thus far, but it was a story I felt the need to tell through this medium.
Tom Hart: When my young daughter passed away, making a story about it was the only thing to keep me sane and alive.
How is grief integrated into your work?
Tom Hart: I think grief, or, a sadness about *how things are* has always been in my work, and I see it now in my current work. I think, especially as I get older, grief will never leave me.
Jesse Mechanic: It’s a heavy, all-encompassing feeling, so whether or not I am aware of it, it is integrated into all of my work in one way or another
Do you have a favorite part about writing about grief?
Jesse Mechanic: I don’t know if I have a favorite part of the writing itself. It can be therapeutic, but it’s also quite difficult. But I do love speaking to others about loss and grief, and writing this book has generated so many incredible and inspiring conversations.
Tom Hart: Well, I think it’s the only real thing about the world, actually. We are born to die, which is grievous enough, but we also punish, slaughter and attack each other, making things even worse. Grief is a way of saying, yes, this is the way life is.
What misconceptions have you found people have about grief?
Tom Hart: The most common misconception is that it’s something that’s ever finished. It’s never finished. It’s something that accompanies you.
Are there other media about grief that have inspired your work?
Jesse Mechanic: The film Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Tom Hart: Carol Tyler’s work, Soldier’s Heart and also her new book The Ephemerata.
I think there’s a grief in Tove Jansson’s work
Kim Krans’ Blossoms and Bones is a transcendent book about grief
As for other media, I think all of Tarkovsky’s movies are about grief, and I admire them a great deal. Mike Leigh’s movies too.
If you could recommend one other graphic novel about grief to people who love your work, what would it be (and why)?
Tom Hart: Kim Krans’ Blossoms and Bones is one of the rawest, most honest graphic novels I’ve ever read. Starting with a blank page just a need to “draw the feeling,” she uncovers her own grief and presents it in a inventive, bold way involving cartoon characters, prayers, journal writing, rich pen drawings that are as alive as her grief. It’s a masterpiece.
Jesse Mechanic: I am not well-versed in graphic novels about grief, specifically, but I will say that Tom’s Hart’s Rosalie Lightning is an incredible book.