It’s a question that’s often asked of comics creators: Why make comics? Why not make some other form of art? It’s a hard question to answer definitively, but on March 2 at the Artist Spotlight panel at the MSU Comics Forum, creators Nick Bertozzi, Josh Neufeld and Jerzy Drozd offered several compelling reasons. Despite the college classroom setting, it was an intimate and warm conversation about the nature of art and inspiration.

Moderator Jay Jacot started out asking each a specific question, but all three mostly amounted to how they initially define their work. Drozd talked about loving kids’ cartoons from the ’70s and ’80s where they were all about “giant monsters and lessons learned.” Neufeld found inspiration in the work of Joe Sacco and found his calling through that.

Bertozzi’s answer was a bit more abstract, as he talked about trying to get to the heart of the stories his students were wanting to tell, throwing out jokey examples like “Astro Battles” and “Earl of the Rings.” He said that having ideas were great, but it was more the formula of storytelling that kept drawing him back to comics, and that those creations were what kept him wanting to be an artist.

There was a lot of discussion of the beauty of lines — all spoke about chasing that perfect line. Bertozzi said that early experiences with Disney and Tintin do things to our brain chemistry — there’s this connection that immediately sucks us in — and attempting to recreate that is what keeps him going.

Likewise, Neufeld said he’s always trying to take lines away when inking, to get closer to his vision. During the years, he’s tried to draw like everyone from Frank Miller to R. Crumb to Charles Schulz and it’s only been recently he’s been “halfway to feeling confident” about having his own style.

Drozd had a little bit of a different approach, though. He said through teaching children about how to make comics, he’s tried to distill his work into a simple description — “really cute things doing awesome action scenes.” He love that comics show movement and energy even though they’re comprised of static images. That’s what he likes to try to achieve in his own work.

Jacot then opened up a line of questioning that concerned about how these creators search for and find their inspiration. Bertozzi said he loves asking people questions when he first meets them, although he had to back off a bit after a while since it often got “a little too deep a little too quick.” Mostly, though, he is always overwhelmed with wanting to know all there is to know and the small details about people’s lives and their environments either directly or indirectly inform his characters’ voice and attitudes.

Neufeld, as a comics journalist, draws more directly from real-life situations. He did say that while he didn’t feel like he did anything brave by volunteering with the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina, that experience made him want to know more. He said it’s just natural to be interested in the world and the human condition.

Drozd said if people are curious enough, they’ll get the skills they need to do what they want. He said he’s always asking himself what’s next? What else does he need to learn? He’s always following the things he’s interested in and seeing where they take him and what they tell him about people. Ultimately, he said “curiosity trumps talent.”

Both Neufeld and Bertozzi seemed to agree there. All three talked about how even as much as Alex Ross is considered a master with his realistic style, many more of their students relate to Randall Monroe’s XKCD, despite its stick-figure style.

And that seemed to be the point of why each of these creators are making comics. Comics can be an immediate way to tell stories they need to tell. In the end, it’s not about talent or style. It’s about the desire to share and connect with people.

Lewis & Clark
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It’s called Lewis & Clark (First Second, 2011), but Nick Bertozzi‘s historic graphic novel is about Meriwether Lewis.

That’s not a complaint. The journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark covers more than two years and nearly 8,000 miles. It’s a big story. But by reducing it down to a story that is, at its core, about just one man, Bertozzi is able to make an epic adventure extremely intimate.

Lewis isn’t always the most likeable of heroes — while he’s without a doubt charming, he’s also too often grumpy and impatient. Even when the more reasonable and sensible Clark tries to keep him in check, it’s Lewis’ passionate pursuit of adventure that drives the story

Bertozzi’s art skirts between playful and realistic. Since at its core, this tale is about the people involved, communicates his character’s emotions through strong, simple lines, showing joy and anger wordlessly. He’s equally skilled at portraying the sweeping landscapes that our adventurers encounter throughout the Louisiana Purchase.

I think page layout and the way panels interact with each other is something that’s often overlooked when it comes to comics (even though it’s essential), but in this regard, Lewis & Clark is incredible. Bertozzi’s pages are beautiful to look at as whole — sometimes they are full of tiny boxes, sometimes they sweep across two pages. Other times, he dispenses with formal borders and just utilizes white space to separate scenes. Depending on the page, the story moves from action to contemplative rapidly and that keeps things unexpected and exciting.

Overall, it is a fast-paced story, though — almost too much so. Bertozzi does pack in quite a bit in a relatively short book. While he was clear that his intention was not for this to be a definitive history, there is a sense that Lewis & Clark could’ve been twice as long and still not included everything.

It’s not giving too much away to discuss the end since this is history, but I loved how Bertozzi handles Lewis’ letdown after his adventure. Real life ceases to be as exciting and he remains haunted by his experiences. Still, even when it ended in tragedy, Lewis gave us all a great gift — he gave us knowledge of what was to become the rest of the United States.

Despite being (more or less) a Virginian (we love our history here, to a fault), I wasn’t actually too familiar with Lewis & Clark’s story (the Lewis & Clark scholar in the family is my mother, who I will be passing this book to shortly) and as much as I loved it, Nick Bertozzi’s Lewis & Clark ultimately made me want to know more. I don’t think there’s any better recommendation for it than that.

At the Nick Bertozzi and Jason Little signing yesterday at Big Planet Comics in Bethesda, that’s what I thought of — that sense of community. The actual purpose of being there — buying Bertozzi’s Lewis & Clark and getting it signed — only took a few minutes. (Due to not having much money, I was only able to buy that. I do want Little’s Motel Art Improvement Service but since my mom expressed interest in reading Lewis & Clark, that one won out. Little and I did exchange buttons, though.)

And while I couldn’t fault the people who got their book signed and left, I thought it was a great excuse to spend a couple of hours in a comic book store. I saw friends, met a few people and finally met Jim Dougan in person. And in the time I wasn’t talking, I enjoyed looking at comics (that I can’t afford right now). I hadn’t been in a comic book store in a while due to the aforementioned “not having much money” bit so I had fun picking up and looking at quite a number of books I had yet to see in person.

To me, that’s what events like this should be about: Giving people a reason to hang out with each other.

Whether someone is reading them or making them, comics can make people feel a little isolated. Reading, drawing and writing usually take place when people are on their own. It’s also not uncommon to feel like you’re the only person you know who likes comics or feel like you can’t discuss them in the way you want with friends or coworkers (I don’t particularly have this problem with my friends, but I know my social circle is probably a bit different from most people’s).

I like comic book stores (the good ones, anyway). I like the feeling of interaction, of feeling like I’m a part of something. Yeah, online shopping is great and social media is a great way for us to keep up with each other, but it’s not the same thing.

Which is a really long way of saying: Yesterday afternoon was the fun of the best kind. And now I have Lewis & Clark to read and enjoy. All in all, that I came away with a comic after having fun feels like a good bonus.

(I forgot I had my camera with me — it’d been a long day — but Mike Rhode of ComicsDC took some photos, one of which I borrowed for this post.)