Mitch Clem

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Mitch Andrew Clem
Born September 15, 1982 (1982-09-15) (age 25)
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Occupation Cartoonist

Mitch Andrew Clem (b. September 15, 1982) is an American cartoonist best known for his web comics Nothing Nice To Say and San Antonio Rock City. [1]

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 led him to not stay with one job for any length of time.[2]

Clem became interested in comic strips as a child, reading the newspaper strips. He cites Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side as the most influential on him in those days.[2]

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. He now says he reads Flash, Green Arrow, Punisher, Spider-Man, X-Men, and "enough others to make sleeping with women incredibly difficult."[2]

[edit] Career

On February 25, 2002, Clem first published the strip for which he is best known, Nothing Nice To Say, which follows Minneapolis punks Blake and his roommate Fletcher.[3] [1]

Clem continued to work on Nothing Nice. 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]

Mitch and Victoria from San Antonio Rock City
Mitch and Victoria from San Antonio Rock City

On January 22, 2006, Clem published his first issue of his autobiographical strip San Antonio Rock City, which centered on him and his then-girlfriend Victoria after moving to San Antonio, TX from Minnesota. The strip generally followed a four-panel format arranged in a square with using the first for the title panel showing Clem and Victoria, parodying American Gothic. Occasionally there are a few six-strip comics. Rock City was his main focus for a while until he stopped it due to his split with girlfriend Victoria. [11]

Clem 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.[12] 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."[13] To date yet, there have been no more issues.

On January 16, 2008 Clem started his newest strip, My Stupid Life. As the name implies, the strip is autobiographical, reminiscent of San Antonio Rock City. The comic also co-stars his fiance, Amanda (Nation of Amanda).

Clem regularly makes flyers for shows, and his artwork is commissioned regularly for Razorcake magazine and the Kansas City Pitch. He has also made album covers for such bands as The Steinways, Shang-A-Lang, Sex Advice, O Pioneers!!!, Bomb the Music Industry, Something Fierce, the Monocles, and plenty others.

On June 25, 2007, Clem’s blog Rain of Bastards was selected by the editors of PC World magazine for their article "100 Blogs We Love," under the "Arts and Culture" section.[14]

Currently he is a cartoonist full time and lives in Kirby, Texas.

Dark Horse Comics is slated to publish an anthology of his Nothing Nice To Say comic strip in October, 2008.

[edit] References

  • Minnesota Public Radio (online), The world's first online punk cartoon, by Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio, March 14, 2003
  • PC World Magazine (online) 100 Blogs We Love, By the Editors of PC World, Monday, June 25, 2007 1:00 AM PDT (retrieved 11/8/07 6:03 pdt)
  • Stumblebum Studios, Interview with Mitch Clem, by Dave Sherrill (retrieved 11-7-07)
  • Rock Star Journalist, Mitch Clem interview, September 18th, 2006
  • Muse magazine, An Interview with Mitch Clem, 06/10/2003
  • comixtalk.com, Mitch Clem Has A Lot To Say, by Al Schroeder, March 2006 Issue

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Post, Tim. "The world's first online punk cartoon.", Minnesota Public Radio, March 14, 2003. Retrieved on 2007-10-31. 
  2. ^ a b c Clem, Mitch; Lind, Matt. "About". Barrett's Lament. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  3. ^ Clem, Mitch (2002-02-25). "Evolution of a 90’s Punk". Nothing Nice To Say. 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 (2006-01-22). "Bartender". San Antonio Rock City. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  12. ^ Clem, Mitch (2006-09-06). Kittens! The Comic. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "100 Blogs We Love". PC World (2005-05-15). Retrieved on 2007-07-08.

[edit] External links