EARTH PRIME TIME: INTERVIEW WITH PETER BAGGE (PART TWO)

We continue our talk with underground comics legend Peter Bagge (Hate) at Earth Prime Time to talk about his latest: Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story fromDrawn and Quarterly. Peter’s biographical hardcover graphic novel takes a look at one of feminism’s most controversial and important icons. Sanger’s (September 14, 1879 – September 6, 1966) life’s work was devoted to legalizing birth control and played a part in forming what is known today as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Peter’s book tour stops at Brookline Booksmith on Monday, October 21.
Interview part 1 HERE.

DIGBOSTON: You could say she was a loudmouth. She wrote columns in newspapers, she was a socialist. There’s so much to her.
Peter Bagge: She lived a long life, she was in her 30′s when she became very active in politics in general and more specifically in birth control.

Her politics, as is the case with most people, evolved over time.

You know that adage, if you are young and not a liberal, you don’t have a heart, if you are old and you aren’t conservative, you don’t have a brain. That would describe her. It’s not like she did some 180.

Some people would say to me, did you know she voted Republican? Technically yes, that was true, she was more supportive by the 1950s of Republicans, but that was only because the only people that would support birth control were the Republicans. By then, the Democrats, a huge part of their constituency were blue-collar Catholics.

Yet one more irony, the one person in Washington who was the most upfront about legal access to birth control was a senator from Connecticut, Prescott Bush, George W. Bush’s grandfather—who lost re-election for sticking his neck out for birth control.

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]

Costumes

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EARTH PRIME TIME: INTERVIEW WITH PETER BAGGE (PART ONE)

Underground comics legend Peter Bagge (Hate) joins Earth Prime Time to talk about his latest work, including Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story from Drawn and Quarterly. Peter’s biographical hardcover graphic novel takes a look at one of feminism’s most controversial and important icons. Sanger’s (September 14, 1879 – September 6, 1966) life’s work was devoted to legalizing birth control and played a part in forming what is known today as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Peter’s book tour stops at Brookline Booksmith on Monday, October 21 at 7pm.

DigBoston: The most obvious question, and the one you are probably getting a lot, is why Margaret Sanger?
Peter Bagge: I wish I had a short snappy answer to that question! For a while now I’ve been doing nonfiction pieces, mainly for a publication called Reason magazine.

Short journalistic comic strips, most recently I’ve been doing short biographical strips. It felt like it was starting to build up to the possibility of doing a book-length one. I ran a bunch of names by this one particular publisher who I thought would be interested, and they were the ones who published it, Drawn and Quarterly.

One of the names I ran past was Margaret Sanger. What was interesting was the other subjects I had in mind were all literary figures for the most part. I was very interested in women writers from the mid 20th century, from between the two wars. The reason I was interested in them, besides liking their work, was that they lived very autonomous, independent lives. Though these women weren’t the least bit masculine, they lived their lives as if they were men.

They didn’t let their gender hinder them from doing anything. And that made me wonder about birth control. I also couldn’t help but notice these women didn’t get pregnant, they weren’t saddled with a bunch of kids.

I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of birth control did they use, what was available if they were using anything.

Peter Bagge - Self-Portrait / Author Photo (Drawn and Quarterly)

While researching that, I kept getting taken to Margaret Sanger. I kept running across incredible contradictory things that people would say about Sanger.

[READ MORE AT DIGBOSTON.COM]

Costumes

80sTees.com, Inc.

EARTH PRIME TIME: DASH SHAW SCREENING + SIGNING AT HUB COMICS

Dash Shaw is an uncanny force in the comic book art world, using multimedia for his process and expanding his definition of comics from webcomics and the page to animation. Fantagraphics will be releasing his latest work, New School, this month. Dash was able to talk to us in the middle of his book tour after returning from MoCCA (Museum of Comic & Cartoon Art) Arts Fest this weekend, where he was featured as a special guest. Dash signs books and screens animation at Hub Comics this weekend on Saturday at 7pm.

 
DIGBOSTON: Dash, thanks for taking the time. How was this weekend for you?

DASH SHAW: Great. We had 3 New Stories and New Jobs.

“Yes, very qualified” — New Jobs - Dash Shaw

Your comic book work is not easy to define to a reader who hasn’t read it, but your fingerprints are unique. Do you consider your work to be more fine art than illustration?

I make comics. I don’t have any interest in showing work in galleries. I didn’t grow up looking at art in galleries. I looked at drawings in books. There are super talented other cartoonists who are also interested in showing in galleries, but I’m not. I don’t even like the term “art comics” because it implies that the art is more important than the story.

[READ MORE at DIGBOSTON.COM]

DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for December 19, 2012

COMICS

The New 52 has been hinting at reintroducing Jack Kirby’s Fourth World since Justice League #4. Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang drop the second son of Darkseid, Orion, into Wonder Woman #15 likely picking up some new readers on the Amazonian title. … Silly, superfluous and searching for a sense of purpose is Michael Kupperman’s Tales Designed to Thrizzle Vol. 2 is available from Fantagraphics today featuring never before published materials the likes of “The Odd Couple of Draculas” and “Skull Groin”. …Batwoman #15 from the venerable J.H. Williams III guest stars Wonder Woman as the ladies return to Gotham to take down Medusa. … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

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