I’m Vin, a trans comics guy from the rust belt, and I made Mise en Place for Filthy Figments. When I’m not working, I can be found in goth clubs and mosh pits all over the midwest.
How long have you been creating comics?
It’s cheesy to say “as long as I can remember”, but it’s true. I read my dad’s Calvin and Hobbes books as a kid and the rest isn’t worth telling. My first forays into serious self publishing were ten page mini comics about cowboys and DIY punk zines that got passed out at house shows.
What do you enjoy drawing most?
If you’re only familiar with me through Mise en Place, I’m sure a lot of my answers might surprise you. Westerns and medieval tales about knights both have me in a chokehold. I’m attracted to stories that feature morally ambivalent characters who are convinced they’re doing the right thing by dealing out justice through violence. I’m very into the dissection of militarism, vigilantism, and the reasons people justify extreme measures.
And I can’t help myself. I love a romance.
I also get bored super easily, so I’m always looking for new techniques and materials, like watercolor, glitter, highlighters, paper cut outs, anything I think will look cool for the project.
What are some of your biggest inspirations in your work?
I understood comics as a thing someone can make a career out of in 2015 when I read True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, which was illustrated by Becky Cloonan. It’s so in your face colorful and sexy, mysterious and blood-soaked, super shiny. I think it altered my brain chemistry as a baby punk teen. It was like a sleek Tank Girl (also a great comic.)
I’m a brush-inking boy at heart, so most of my comics inspirations come from people who are disgustingly good with a brush, Becky Cloonan being one of them, as well as Rosemary Valero-O’Connell and Leslie Hung. I used to print out their pages in blue-line and ink them as an exercise.
What do you like about erotica and/or drawing erotic comics?
A lot of my fine art and writing touchstones come from artists who deal widely with themes of fascism, fetishism, and the links between power, desire, and the more metaphorical bondage of life. Fascinating Fascism by Susan Sontag, My Body by Nancy Grossman, Why are People Into That? By Tina Horn. There was a period not too long ago where I was fixated on the militaristic and overtly fascist links to modern fetish iconography, and I’ll still blab to anyone who will listen. So not only is drawing erotica all day super fun and freeing (you should try it), but it scratches an itch in my brain that views it as a character study from a very specific lens. Why are people into that? And can’t anything be erotic to someone out there?
What was your favorite project you’ve worked on for Filthy Figments thus far?
I’ve only done Mise en Place so far, but it was really fun to work on. I remember submitting it with not much hope or confidence, and being totally shocked when my story was picked. It’s very different from what I usually make, which is to say it’s pretty soft and cooking-manga inspired with no life-or-death stakes or magical creatures loose in the city. Maybe next time I’ll do something more along those lines.
Recommend a few of your favorite Filthy Figments comics from the archive. Tells us WHY you love them.
Please read Heel Turn by Nero, I’m compelling you with my psychic powers. Anyone who also sees the inherent eroticism of pro-wrestling is a genius to me. Also really hot big and buff trans men.
You should also read Saintbride by Vesta Z. Beautiful, flowing artwork, and a delightful and mysterious magical world that balances a tense, foreboding grief with lightheartedness. All while being hot?!
Any personal projects you’d like to plug?
Pick up a late backer copy of How to Touch Grass if you can!
I’m always working on at least four things at once, all in varying stages of completion, none of them done. Stay tuned for clown-girl burlesque dancer erotica, biblically accurate imaginary friends, warrior-priests who want to kill god, undead gunslingers… And somehow more.
Where else can readers find you online?
I post about once a quarter on instagram @garbagepatch ! I’ll post updates there on what I’ve got cooking.
