Joe Matt

Joe Matt (born September 3, 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American cartoonist. He started drawing comics in 1987 and is best known for his autobiographical work, "Peepshow". In addition to his cartooning career, he is known for his large collection of vintage "Gasoline Alley" comic strips. Matt lived (illegally) in Canada from 1988 to 2002. He currently lives in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. [Matt, J. (2007). "Spent". Drawn and Quarterly.]

"Peepshow"

He is the author of the autobiographical comic "Peepshow", in which he examines his inadequate social skills, his addiction to pornography and the lingering effects of his Catholic upbringing.

His work is published by Canadian publishing house Drawn and Quarterly.

Joe Matt's work on "Peepshow" is part of the autobiographical comics genre, kickstarted by the confessional stories of Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb. As with these artists, Joe Matt's work frequently involves soliloquies "to camera". "Peepshow" is part of a self-referential universe that includes Matt's contemporaries Chester Brown and Seth, all of whom have included each other in their books and none of whom have appreciated the label.

In 2004, it was reported that HBO was developing an animated series based on "The Poor Bastard" that would be produced by Matt and David X. Cohen [http://icv2.com/articles/home/4783.html] . Joe Matt has later stated, "Yes, HBO was interested in making a series based on "The Poor Bastard", but they came to their senses and changed their mind. Please feel sorry for me and buy the book when it comes back into print in January 2007."

The most recent issue of Peepshow, #14, went on sale November 1, 2006. A collection featuring Peepshow #11-14 titled SPENT was released in June 2007. Matt has stated that "I'll soon be writing / drawing about L.A. for a book that most likely will not be released as single issues, but rather a self-contained book."

Colorist

Though "Peepshow" has developed a solid fan base, Matt has served as a colorist for other comics to make ends meet, most notably on superhero comics, a genre which Matt himself dislikes. Among his credits as a colorist are the "Batman / Grendel - Limited Series", "Fish Police", "Moebius: The Exotics" and "Jonny Quest".

Awards

He has received recognition for his work in the comics industry. For Peepshow, he has been nominated for four Harvey Awards: for Best New Talent in 1990 and for the Award for Humor in 1991, 1992, and 1993.

Also, despite his view on coloring as a task that merely "pays the bills," Matt was nominated for a 1989 Harvey Award for his coloring work on the Batman/Grendel series [http://users.rcn.com/aardy/comics/awards/harvey89.shtml] .

Selected works:

*"Peepshow # 1", February 1992 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 2", May 1992 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 3", November 1992 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 4", April 1993 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 5", October 1993 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 6", April 1994 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 7", March 1995 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 8", July 1995 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 9", April 1996 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 10", July 1997 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 11", June 1998 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 12", April 2000 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 13", February 2002 (Drawn & Quarterly)
*"Peepshow # 14", October 2006 (Drawn & Quarterly)

Four collections of Joe Matt's comics have been published as books, as well as a "jam" sketchbook:

*"Peepshow - The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt", 1992 (Kitchen Sink)/1999 (Drawn & Quarterly), a collection of mostly one-page strips, usually dealing with a single subject, originally published between 1987 and 1991.

*"The Poor Bastard", 1996 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects stories published in "Peepshow" numbers #1 to #6. This book chronicles Joe's relationship and breakup with then-girlfriend Trish.

*"Joe Matt's "Jam" Sketchbook ", 1998, Collaborations with Chris Ware, Seth, Chester Brown, Julie Doucet, Adrian Tomine, Max, Jason Lutes, Dave Sim, Will Eisner, Marc Bell, James Kochalka, Ivan Brunetti, Steven Weisman, etc., limited print.

*"Fair Weather", 2002 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects "Peepshow" numbers #7 to #10. In this book Matt chronicles an episode from his childhood in 1970s suburbia.

*"Spent", 2007 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects "Peepshow" numbers #11 to #14. In this book Matt chronicles a story arc that documents his obsessive “editing” of porn videos.

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/josephmatt Joe Matt's profile on MySpace.com]
* [http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/artBio.php?artist=a3e4e9bab51f0d Biography at Drawn and Quarterly]
* [http://www.tcj.com/2_archives/i_matt.html Interview from the Comics Journal]
* [http://www.twohandedman.com/Interviews/joematt.html Interview from the Two Handed Man]
* [http://www.mungbeing.com/issue_15.html?page=26&sub_id=867#867 Interview from MungBeing]
* [http://wma.weezernation.com/199707peep.html July 1st, 1997. Joe Matt, creator of Peepshow, and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer reveal their biggest influence]
* [http://users.rcn.com/aardy/comics/awards/ Comic Book Awards Almanac]
* [http://www.drawnandquarterly.com/ Drawn and Quarterly]
* [http://www.ifpthendirt.com/interviews Hand-written interview with Joe Matt] From ifpthendirt.