Mitch Clem

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It has been suggested that Nothing Nice to Say and San Antonio Rock City be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)
Mitch Clem
Mitch Clem at work
Born September 15, 1982
Minneapolis, Minn.
Occupation Cartoonist
Spouse Victoria (girlfriend)

Mitch Clem (b. September 15, 1982) is an American cartoonist best known for his web comics Nothing Nice To Say and San Antonio Rock City.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Clem was born in Minneapolis, on September 15, 1982. He moved around through various locations in Minnesota, including Coon Rapids, Brooklyn Park, Andover, Melrose, Duluth, and St. Cloud. He says that this is a result of his "rampant inability to sit still for more than six months at a time," which has also lead him to not stay with one job for any length of time.[1]

Clem became interested in comic strips as child, reading the newspaper strips. He cites Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side as the most influential on him in those days.[1]

In the later part of elementary school, he began developing an interest in superhero comics Batman and the Flash. In high school, his interest in comic books grew to include what he calls "really weird indie books," The Tick, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Sandman, Milk & Cheese, and the crime works of Brian Michael Bendis. He had no interest in superheroes at that time, until he read Watchmen, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Daredevil: Guardian Devil. Even then, his interest in superheroes was still mild until a friend who lent him a large stack of comics converted him. He now says he reads Flash, Green Arrow, Punisher, Spider-Man, X-Men, and "enough others to make sleeping with women incredibly difficult."[1]

[edit] Career

On February 25, 2002, Clem first published the strip for which he is best known, Nothing Nice To Say, which follows Blake, who is often viewed as a representation of Clem, and his roommate Fletcher.[2]

While living in Minnesota, Clem started working on a superhero web comic called Barrett's Lament with his friend Matt Lind. Lind was the same friend who converted him to superheroes in the first place. The series ran between February and May of 2004, lasting 19 issues before stopped, never completing the first story arc, "Lo, There Shall Come a Robot." Lind explained on the site that Mitch was no longer involved after having moved to Texas.[3]

Clem continued to work on Nothing Nice while living in San Antonio. On August 14, 2004, Clem published what he intended to be the last strip for Nothing Nice.[4] On January 31, 2005, he brought the strip back but changed it from its original color format to black and white to save time and because he found it "boring."[5]

While he was on hiatus from Nothing Nice, Clem guest authored the web comic Joe and Monkey, created by Zach Miller for November 7, 2004.[6] He later guest authored the strip from January 3 to January 31, 2005, claiming that he lost a bet to Miller.[7] Clem would return to guest author Joe and Monkey two more times, once by himself[8] and once in collaboration with Penny Arcade writer Jerry Holkins[9].

While working on Nothing Nice, Clem also teamed up with fellow web comic artist Joe Dunn, of Joe Loves Crappy Movies. Together they worked on the short series The Coffee Achievers, which totaled nine chapters. Achievers ran from February 1, 2005 to February 10, 2006.[10]

Clem asked readers on his LiveJournal blog on May 25, 2005, if anyone would be interested in buying a collection of Nothing Nice.[11] The following day on that blog he announced that he would be compiling a black and white book consisting of all the strips before the comeback. However, due to numerous technical difficulties he would have redraw the entire series for the book.[12]Then on June 1, Clem re-announced his plan to produce a book under his latest strip of Nothing Nice, adding that Young American Comics would publish it.[13] Clem originally expected to have the book done within two months; however, on his blog entry for January 16, 2006, he announced that it was coming along very slowly. He mentioned possibly releasing the second volume first.[14]

Also on January 16, 2006, Clem started doing Nothing Nice in color again for a few strips, although most continue to be in black and white.[15]

On January 22, 2006, Clem published his first issue of his autobiographical strip San Antonio Rock City, which centered on him on and his girlfriend Victoria. Since then, Rock City has become his main focus.[16]

Clem also began a new strip called Kittens! The Comic on September 6, 2006. The strip has no dialogue and features a small kitten being curious and playful about the world around it.[17] Kittens ran every Wednesday for six weeks, when on October 19, 2006, Clem announced in his blog that Kittens was on a break for the week, would return the following week and that "surprises are in store for all."[18] To date yet, there have been no more issues.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Clem, Mitch; Lind, Matt. "About". Barrett's Lament. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  2. ^ Clem, Mitch (2002-02-25). "Evolution of a 90’s Punk". Nothing Nice To Say. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  3. ^ Lind, Matt (2005-05-15). "Blah!". Barrett's Lament. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  4. ^ Clem, Mitch (2004-08-14). "The End". Nothing Nice To Say. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  5. ^ Clem, Mitch (2005-01-31). "Back... AGAIN!". Nothing Nice To Say. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  6. ^ Clem, Mitch; Miller, Zach (2004-11-07). "Guest Strip by Mitch Clem". Joe and Monkey. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  7. ^ Clem, Mitch; Miller, Zach (2005-01-03). "A New Era Dawns". Joe and Monkey. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  8. ^ Clem, Mitch; Miller, Zach (2005-03-19). "Guest Strip by Mitch Clem". Joe and Monkey. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  9. ^ Holkins, Jerry; Clem, Mitch; Miller, Zach (2005-07-06). "Guest Strip by Jerry Holkins and Mitch Clem". Joe and Monkey. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  10. ^ Clem, Mitch; Dunn, Joe (2006-02-10). The Coffee Achievers. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  11. ^ Clem, Mitch (2005-05-25). "Curious...". What's so bad about being a punk rock faggot hippy, anyway?. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  12. ^ Clem, Mitch (2005-05-26). "Special Edition". What's so bad about being a punk rock faggot hippy, anyway?. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  13. ^ Clem, Mitch (2005-06-01). "George Lucas Must Die!". Nothing Nice To Say. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  14. ^ Clem, Mitch (2005-05-26). "Book". What's so bad about being a punk rock faggot hippy, anyway?. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  15. ^ Clem, Mitch (2006-01-16). "Cereal Punk". Nothing Nice To Say. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  16. ^ Clem, Mitch (2006-01-22). "Bartender". San Antonio Rock City. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  17. ^ Clem, Mitch (2006-09-06). Kittens! The Comic. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  18. ^ Clem, Mitch (2006-10-19). " Kittens is on a break". What's so bad about being a punk rock faggot hippy, anyway?. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.

[edit] External links

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