Mimi Pond: "MAD was our communist manifesto"
This episode of Gweek is brought to you by Bombfell, the glorious clothing service for men that sends handpicked outfits to your door. Go to bombfell.com/gweek to get $10 off your first purchase. And by Stamps.com — get a $110 sign-up bonus with the offer code GWEEK!
In the 1980s Mimi Pond was a cartoonist and illustrator for such publications as the National Lampoon, the Village Voice, The New York Times, Seventeen Magazine, Adweek, and too many more to mention, as well as writing and illustrating five humor books, beginning with the national best-seller, The Valley Girls’ Guide to Life. She wrote the first episode of the animated series, The Simpsons, and has written for other television shows as well.
With her husband, the artist Wayne White, she moved to Los Angeles in 1990 and since then has continued to write and to draw cartoons for numerous national magazines.
In 2014, her graphic novel, Over Easy, a fictionalized account of her post-art school waitressing career in Oakland, California in the late 1970s, was published by Drawn & Quarterly and has been on the New York Times Best Seller List.
Dean and I enjoyed chatting with Mimi. Her are a few things she talked about:
Graphic novels: I have been enjoying a number of graphic novels recently. My favorite artists include Vanessa Davis, Miriam Katin, Joe Ollman, Joyce Farmer, Seth, Rutu Modan, Esther Pearl Watson, Leela Corman, Lauren Weinstein, Judith Vanistendael, Derf Backderf. I prefer things that have real storylines, real narratives. There’s so much stuff out there that may be well-executed from a technical standpoint, or really perfect-looking, but when there’s a real dearth of good writing, it just adds up to a big fat nothing. Also it’s kind of unnerving when things are too perfect. I prefer the drawing to look a little funky, like the artist got their boogers and their blood on it while they were drawing. Mad Magazine, both the Bantam paperback re-issues of the EC originals, and 1960s Mad Magazine were like our bible, our communist manifesto in my house while I was growing up. I will just straight up tell you I have no interest in anything superhero, or action-adventure, or science-fiction related. I just don’t care about that stuff! I resent being made to feel like because of some comics tradition I should school myself and APPRECIATE the artistry of all the “great” superhero comics artists. I mean, I do appreciate it, but at the same time, especially growing up as a girl, there was ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN IT FOR ME. The girls very rarely got to be in on the action, they were just there to get in trouble and then get saved. That’s boring. And even with characters like Wonder Woman, who goes around saving the world...I’m not interested in saving the world. I’m interested in complex characters and human relationships and moral ambiguity.
Books: I could go on and on. I love to read biographies and autobiographies from high to low. Like, everything from a bio of Edith Wharton (brilliant author! horrible anti-semite!) to Zsa-Zsa Gabor’s One Life is Not Enough - (big fat liar). I read ‘em all. In terms of fiction, I love (like I said) Edith Wharton, Nabokov, Patricia Highsmith. I love narratives where the hero or heroine is really kind of horrible, but the author MAKES you cheer them on anyway. I love that kind of complexity.
GET GWEEK: RSS |
On iTunes | Download episode | Stitcher
That time Charlton Comics published a trans sci-fi story in 1953

Back in September, a rare print edition of Space Adventures #7—originally published by the new-defunct Charlton Comics in 1953—sold for $1,800. The comic book speculator market isn’t normally the kind of cash cow that the 90s thought it was going to be. Unless you’ve got one of those very rare early superhero origin comics—or you […]
READ THE REST
Interview with the real Joker

Above, a 1966 interview with the best of all Jokers, the inimitable Cesar Romero who camped it up for the Batman TV series (1966-1968) and subsequent theatrical film. Romero famously refused to shave his trademark mustache for the role so they just slathered the white greasepaint right over his whiskers. (Interview with Romero starts […]
READ THE REST
Watch the soap opera inspiration for Harley Quinn

In 1987, Arleen Sorkin played a bizarre dream jester on the classic soap opera Days of our Lives. Watch above. Several years later, that curious character became the inspiration for Harley Quinn on Batman: The Animated Series. Naturally, Sorkin voiced Ms. Quinn. From Vulture: In 1987, Sorkin was a regular on the soap opera Days […]
READ THE REST
Become a bona fide data professional with this SQL training

We’re living in the age of Big Data. As the driving force behind everything from Google’s famed algorithms to self-driving cars, massive sets of complex data can be found at the heart of some of today’s most exciting and important technologies. The Ultimate SQL Bootcamp Certification Bundle will give you the skills and tools you […]
READ THE REST
14 gift deals to jump on before Green Monday arrives

So you missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday? Well, there’s one more holiday milestone coming up: Green Monday, on Dec. 16. It’s one of the busiest online shopping days for the simple reason that it will be 10 days before Christmas, which is when last-minute shoppers start to stress. Our advice? Don’t wait for that […]
READ THE REST
This sleep mask is like a weighted blanket for your eyes

Weighted blankets are officially a thing. And if you’ve ever tried one, you know there’s a reason for the fuss. Parents have known for generations that swaddling a baby has a profound calming effect, and the gentle pressure that blanket weights provide can have the same effect on restless sleepers. Pretty much all parts of […]