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Brian Chippendale: The latest Lightning Bolt album was six years in the making, too. What the hell have I been doing? Looking back, I'm pretty sure bursts of Puke Force drawing coincide with bursts of Lightning Bolt touring—like, I remember drawing all the cafe bombing episodes right after a big tour. The period after LB tours is always a period of calm, because I'm flush with cash and I can work on whatever—and "work on whatever" kind of means work on things that make me no money.
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People are definitely reading a heavy warning about online activity in the book, and I think that's one regret I have. I love the Internet. [ Laughs] I've gotten so much practical use out of it: Selling prints, booking tours, saying hey to old friends—all that. But I do feel that even though I have an overt need for and warmth toward some social media, there is an undercurrent of energy on there that corrodes the soul.What do you mean by "corrodes the soul"?
I think it's the feeling that you're not alone anymore. That should be a positive thing, right? But I think aloneness is important. It's very important to get lost in your own head, not just get lost in the hive mind. As an artist, I need to venture inside to get at deeper meaning. Maybe new muscles for that are forming in younger people, new ways to go deep. I don't necessarily think we are going to lose a generation to the internet. It's an amazing tool. Pizza delivery drones, on the other hand? I'll definitely be throwing rocks at them… and ordering pizzas.
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For me, that's the answer. The last interview I did for the book really focused on a perceived sense of hopelessness and fear in the book, but I don't totally see it. In my comics, I follow the story, not necessarily the moral message. That doesn't mean the moral message isn't there, it just plays out in a different way. The violence is the loudest, but it's kind of peace that brings everything together.Like you say, the characters are rooted in a physical world. Community still plays a vital role in society, and it's as strong as ever. Not just online community, but physical, hand-to-hand community. We all still live in a solid world. We all still eat. So the hope is in that. Humans will never truly get sucked into a digital netherworld. Toilets will keep us grounded.Still, considering the gestation period and the fact that some of this material was posted as early as 2009, it's almost frighteningly prescient. There's a storyline about water privatization that could be about Flint, Michigan; there's a storyline that sounds like GamerGate…
It was upsetting to think that I was making political satire, but that its time was slipping away. Like, I had to get this book out now—that's what I've been thinking for three years. But, somehow, it feels like since maybe 2000, political issues don't get solved anymore, they just intensify. It's all rising. There's a big tsunami of bad shit that's been building for 15 years. Everything [in Puke Force] has stayed, in some way, relevant.
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This thing took shape over seven years, and one thing that has changed since I started it is my view on parenthood. I still have no kid or kids, but I'm open to it. I'm ready for it. I was terrified of the idea. But it's still a good thing to joke about, ready or not.
There is a Chippendale-verse. It's not the focus, but it's there. Like, there's a scene in Puke Force where a woman gives birth, and the doctor from If 'n Oof shows up with a soap box to give to her asshole husband. It's just a joke appearance, but I work it out well. Also, the gang from Atrophy Life, my Mothers News serial, show up for one diner scene. That was really because I was drawing a bunch of stuff for Atrophy Life, and I wasn't in Puke Force mode. I needed an episode to get me back in line, so I used them to do that. I like my Atrophy Life gang. As for Ninja, it's a direct prequel to Puke Force.Your snake-style layout remains unique in comics over a decade after your development of it. Is this a disappointment in some way, that others haven't followed your lead?
No, it's a horrible place to go with comics, doing the snake-style layout. I don't recommend it. [ Laughs] It's good no one else has gone down this dark path. I already loosened the rules: I used to make you go up the facing page, but now I treat each page as its own snake, not each page spread. Don't go there, kids.'Puke Force' is out now via Drawn + Quarterly. For more information visit the publishing house's website here.Follow Sean on Twitter.