Interview: Mack White [Staple! Independent Media Expo Preview]

http://www.mackwhite.com

Graphic novelist and Texas native Mack White is well-known for his signature style that pairs traditional pulp comic sensibilities with subject matter that often draws comparisons to dark masters like Robert Anton Wilson. He began self-publishing comics in the '80s, and has been featured in a wide range of anthologies including Zero Zero, The Bush Junta (which he co-edited with Gary Groth) and the touring art show Comics on the Verge. His forthcoming release, the graphic novel Texas Tales Illustrated, explores unique stories from the Texas Revolution and will be published by Texas Christian University Press this April. When he's not illustrating, White is co-host of the political podcast PsiOp Radio, and is also acting in the locally-produced film Bozoland.

Mack will be appearing at the seventh annual Staple! Independent Media Expo, an interactive book fair and conference promoting comics, art, animation and self-published literature taking place March 5-6, 2011 at The Marchesa Hall and Theater.

Which came first: your interest in Texas and Western history, or your illustration work? Do they often inform each other?

Both interests started about the same time, when I was three years old. My oldest surviving drawing, done when I was three, is a picture of Davy Crockett. And now, years later, I find myself drawing Davy Crockett in Texas Tales. But those two interests haven’t always been intertwined. Most of my comics work has been about subjects other than Texas or the Old West. I always wanted to do a comic about the Alamo, but not until now was the timing right. It was literally the fulfillment of a childhood dream to work on Texas Tales—which, I should add, was co-created with author Mike Kearby.

What draws you to the subjects you write and draw about?

It has to be something I’m interested in—and not just mildly interested. I have to be obsessed with it, or passionate. I’m passionate about the Alamo, for instance—and passionate about the Kennedy assassination, another subject I’ve written and drawn about. Sometimes it’s just an idea I’m obsessed with, or an image. Once, I saw an old photo of a woman with the Lord’s Last Supper tattooed on her back and couldn’t get it out of my mind—the possibilities it suggested. This obsession led to the story “Cindy the Tattooed Sunday School Teacher.” I have a great many obsessions and am developing new ones all the time, so there’s no shortage of story ideas.

How do you decide whose perspective to tell the story from?

It’s not a conscious decision, but something that flows naturally out of the development of a story. I usually imagine the story from the viewpoint of one character, then write the story first-person in that character’s voice. It’s a process of imagining I’m someone else—like acting, which I’ve become interested in lately.

You're currently working on a film project. Do you have any interest in developing your own projects for the screen?

Yes, that’s something I’d like to explore. I’m having fun with this Bozoland film, and would like to do more acting. But, even better would be to make my own film. Now that I’m hanging out with film people, seeing how it’s all done, the process doesn’t seem so daunting. Yes, I’m thinking about it.

Are there any current events or historic graphic novelists who inspire your work?

Jack Jackson, the underground comics legend and distinguished Texas historian, is not only a huge influence, he was a good friend of mine. I used to visit him in his studio when he was working on Indian Lover and The Alamo—it was exciting and a privilege to watch those books come to life. Jack may be gone, but he is a living presence to me every time I open a copy of Comanche Moon or any of his books. Texas Tales is very different from Jack’s approach to the Alamo and Texas Revolution, but there’s no doubt about his influence. It’s huge.

Are there any historical stories that you've always dreamed of telling?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, Texas Tales was the fulfillment of a childhood dream. But there are plenty more dreams where that came from, plenty more stories I want to tell, fictional as well as historical—or a combination of both. I have an idea for a work of historical fiction I’d like to do, something set in the Old West, always a source of endless fascination.