Comic Artist Patrick Kyle Has a New Weekly Strip on VICE

Today we premiered Patrick Kyle's first weekly comic on VICE, so I decided to check in and see how he's doing. It turns out that the way he is doing is feeling incredibly irritated with me. Although Patrick's role as our Tuesday cartoonist is new, he's been doing comics both for VICE and himself for many years now. He is part of the talented and forward-thinking collective Wowee Zonk, along with Ginette Lapalme, Chris Kuzma, and a few newer people who come in and out of their anthologies. He's also made an amazing book called Black Mass that I loved and another beautiful book called Distance Mover that I didn't love. Other people did, though, and my opinion isn't comic book law, so go check it out and see what you think.

Patrick's comics are strange and often very beautiful. He takes joy in mixing high concepts and high/low humor that makes for an accessible but somehow inexplicable form of comic booking. I've been a pretty big fan for a pretty long time. We did this weird little interview and I think it's funny, but I also suspect that he can't stand me. Maybe you'll side with him.

VICE: Hi, Patrick. How has your year been?
Patrick Kyle: Good. Koyama Press released my second graphic novel, Distance Mover, in September. Following that, I went on a month-long book tour with Michael DeForge and Simon Hanselmann to promote our books throughout the United States. I also drew and self-released three issues of my series New Comics.

How was the tour? Simon was supposed to do a tour diary but I think he got distracted.
The tour was good. Everyone was very hospitable and the events well attended. I had never been to the west coast so that was a nice experience. Simon was too busy smooching books.

Did you smooch any books?
No. I did not smooch any books.

What's the strangest thing you've ever smooched?
Maybe a dog.

Are you excited to do a weekly comic on the site?
Sure.

Have you attempted something like this before?
Yes. I also do a on-and-off web comic called Special Friend that I post on my Tumblr. I haven't updated it as much recently, but it's sometimes daily.

What comics have affected you the most?
Marc Bell, Mark Beyer, Chester Brown, the comics my friends are making, and reading Beano as a kid.

Is Beano also popular in Canada? I thought it was just an English thing.
My grandmother mailed me the Beano every week from Northern Ireland.

Tell me more about the comic you're doing for VICE.
I draw them and then I color them on Photoshop. Then they're posted on the VICE website, where people can post rude comments about them through Facebook.

Do you want to talk at all about the subject of your comics?
This particular comic is the continuation of a comic about a vigilante that previously appeared onVICE.

Post-modern superheros are pretty well-tread territory. What do you think you bring to this table?
I try to treat every territory equally when I'm at a table.

Are you a fan of The Tick?
I avoid ticks for fear of Lyme disease and other ailments.

Do you like The Watchmen?
I checked the collected edition of The Watchmen out of the library once maybe ten years ago. I did read it.

Are there common traits among Canadian cartoonists that you've noticed?
We all live in Canada.

Are there any other common things besides location?
You'd have to ask an anthropologist.

Did you go to art school?
Yes.

Have I interviewed you before?
You've interviewed me twice before—possibly three times.

How did those interviews go? Did I ask good questions?
Better than this.

How do you like our interview so far?
You could have done a little more research.

How?
www.google.com

Is Googling your name just going to take me back to the previous interviews we've done?
It might. You could try adding "VICE Magazine" or "Nick Gazin" to your search. I know search engines are a pretty new and confusing technology for everyone, but I think we'll all get the hang of them eventually.

Well, that's the interview. Stay tuned to VICE for a new Patrick Kyle every Tuesday for the next few months. And check out his website here.