| Interview mit Marc Hempel (OmU) |
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| Geschrieben von Christopher und Benjamin | ||||
| Dienstag, 25. März 2008 | ||||
Seite 2 von 2 Comicgate: You created Gregory more than ten years ago. How do you feel if you look at this character today? 
Marc Hempel: Actually, it's been nearly twenty years since I started work on the first book! Gregory is one of my "children," and a very special one... so he'll always be close to my heart.CG: Obviously, Gregory is a little kid, although his age and his background aren't mentioned at all, so he's like an anonymous human being. Was there any special reason for creating Gregory as he is or was a kid with a triangular head in a straitjacket just part of an attempt to push the madness as far as you can? MH: Gregory began life in the first version of "It's Spring!," as a taller, lankier adult (with a rounder head). This was in Honk!, a Fantagraphics humor magazine, ca. 1987. I liked the story and then-nameless character, but there were no plans to go beyond this one appearance. Well, I was drawn to the character enough to write more stories for him, and also to develop him visually. He became smaller, rounder, and cuter over time, as I felt he expressed smallness and powerlessness better in that form. 
CG: Was it your intention from the beginning to write complete chapters and stories about the rat Herman Vermin and nearly without Gregory or was the character still in progress?MH: Herman was created a few stories later, and was intended to be the cynical, acerbic counterpoint to Gregory's innocence. For the fun of it, I decided to make book two an all-Herman project (or mostly, anyway) ... but he's mainly there to function as Gregory's sidekick. CG: To me, it seems that in some episodes you were more interested in Herman Vermin, and in the outside world, respectively, than in Gregory. How important is Gregory for the stories, anyway? MH: Well, by the time I got to the later stories, my ideas for a simple, non-verbal character were running out ... so I became more interested in Herman and Wendell, who could actually interact ... and in writing stories about family conflicts and more complex relationships. There's a good chance that, had I ever done a fifth book, Gregory himself may not have even appeared! Thusly, after drawing The Sandman, I moved on to my next "family" of characters, in Tug & Buster.  CG: There is a story you colored exclusively for the second German book in which Gregory discovers the world outside the asylum. Are you content with the result? Do you think coloring all stories of Gregory would had worked for you and the readers?MH: This is how the story "Out" was intended to appear--so, yes, I was quite happy with the results. Back in 1993, DC Comics wouldn't foot the bill for the color printing (after initially agreeing to do so), so a somewhat pointless black and white line version appeared instead. While it was still readable, the planned partial coloring was the main point of the story--there to underscore the differences in Gregory's subjective perception of the outside world versus xobjective reality. Well, it took fourteen years, but "Out" finally works the way it's supposed to (for lucky German readers, anyway). A full color Gregory? I don't see the point, as it wouldn't make the material any funnier or more poignant. And there's not much color to Gregory's drab little world, anyway ... so, to me, it would just be gratuitous visual information. Also, arguably, this type of humor tends to work better in a simpler, black and white treatment.  CG: I've read Gregory is in some way autobiographical. How did the isolation and the misunderstanding of the character agree with your own child-experience? Which parts of you can be found in the books?MH: I had a traumatic childhood which resulted in me becoming very withdrawn and mistrusting of people. And I've struggled with low self-esteem and feelings of powerlessness ever since. Gregory (both the book and character) is an expression of those feelings ... of fear of the outside world, and of the inner joy that makes life worth living even under the worst of circumstances.  CG: How are the reactions on Gregory in the United States?MH: The first Gregory book received a lot of rave reviews--and healthy sales as well (two printings totalling 25,000 copies). It was also nominated for a few Harvey and Eisner Awards. The subsequent volumes didn't do quite as well in terms of sales ... but overall the reaction has been extremely positive in the ensuing years, which of course is very gratifying. I mean, how many comics from 1989 are fondly remembered, or even remembered at all? CG: Is there any kind of project you know that is like Gregory? Not necessarily a comic... MH: Hmm ... Gregory is unique, mainly because I'm unique. I'm sure there are other creators who have expressed their inner realities via parables and symbolism ... but nothing comes to mind that resembles Gregory in any significant way. My influences include comic strips like Peanuts, Pogo, and Barnaby ... so you can see elements of Gregory in those earlier works, though (arguably) without the intensely personal focus. RELATED LINKS: cross-cult.de (publisher of the German version of Gregory, including example pages for book 1 and 2) Marc Hempel on MySpace Marc Hempel's biography Bibliography picture of Marc Hempel (c) José Villarrubia at insightstudiosgroup.com image sources: cross-cult.de Gregory is © Marc Hempel, and Cross Cult (German version)
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