Lynda Barry cartoonist, novelist, playwright, teacher, environmental

activist, and all-around renaissance woman is revitalising the genre of the

instructional manual. Do you wish you could write? Barry ased readers
with !""#$s %hat &t &s, and then proceeded to elucidate and e'emplify the
creative process with a torrent of comic strips, prose, and collage that (urst
the (oundaries of the conventional how-to (oo.
&n (oth %hat &t &s and her ever-popular worshops on %riting the
)nthina(le, Barry promotes a fertile territory of ideas and memories that
she calls the image world. *er (oos, whether +ctional or instructional,
(rim with evidence of this realm. ,hey over-ow with .roustian une'pected
memories called forth at the mention of an old telephone num(er, with
perfectly sensi(le nonsense recited (y +ve-year-old children, with eldritch
creatures luring in the folds of a tissue or a stain in the ceiling, and with the
e'ploits and musings of her comic strip characters.
,hese deni/ens of Barry$s imagination populate her most recent (oo, .icture
,his, a follow-up and complement to %hat &t &s. *ere, the leads of her 0rnie
.oo comic strip, irrepressi(le 1arlys and introspective 2rna, 3oin forces with
the 4ear-5ighted 1oney and the 1editating 1oney, new Barry creations
who share the .oo girls$ temperaments. %ith this menagerie in tow, the
author acts as tour guide through the image world. %hy do we stop
drawing? she ass. %hy do we start? .icture ,his stands as a generous,
colourful, freewheeling response to those 6uestions.
,wo years ago, & interviewed Barry for this (log. During this year$s ,oronto
&nternational 7estival of 2uthors, we sat down again for more conversation
a(out the power of words and pictures.
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L;4D2 B288; @LonghandA is lie the original digital device. &t does wor, and
it also does something to memory. 5ince we spoe, &$ve gotten even more
fascinated with the relationship (etween the hands and the (rain. &t taes us
out of this idea of art as (eing, Do & lie it, do & don$t, and turns it into, Do &
lie having white (lood cells or not? & do. & loo at it as a health issue. & start
to loo at the research they$re doing a(out neurogenesis, a(out what gives
us more neurons who doesn$t want more of those?
%hen %hat &t &s came out, 2ma/on didn$t now how to categori/e it, so they
categori/ed it as science +ction, which was so (oss. &f & was going to write a
science +ction story, this is such a good one a culture that shames people
out of doing the very thing that will give them new neurons. &f you draw a
chicen on a piece of paper, there$s going to (e some interesting neural
activity (ut people are too scared to draw a chicen, even if they$re 3ust
gonna throw it away. %hat the hell is that? %hen did that happen?
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&t actually does. %ith functional 18&s now they can start to eep trac of
what$s going on in the (rain during certain activities. 7or instance, they put
(lues musicians in a functional 18& and gave them ey(oards and had a 3am.
,he part of their (rains that was getting the most (lood -ow and activity was
the part that gets the most -ow when people tal a(out themselves. & have a
musician friend who @heard that andA said, 1ay(e that$s why 3amming$s so
(oring.
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&t$s a conversation there$s a reciprocity to it. &t$s this une'pected, e'citing
thing, and &$ve found that & can show people how to do it, in any situation.
Lie on ,uesday, &$m teaching in a .hiladelphia prison (ac (y popular
re6uest. &$ve (een with my little 3ail(irds (efore. ,he same thing that put
those guys in prison maes them very good writers, which is no impulse
control. 4othing seems lie a (ad idea. &s this a (ad sentence? 5hould & ro(
this li6uor store? &t$s 3ust (alls out.
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&n the image world, you can ro( a li6uor store whenever you want. ,hat$s why
& have people smoing lie cra/y in .icture ,his. & wanted to tae advantage
of the (ad health thing that we all have in our head, a(out how (ad smoing
is. & really wanted to get at that idea Don$t lie not doing something is
(ad for you.
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2 lot of that came from this stac of maga/ines & ran into called ,he :rade
,eacher. ,hey used to mae it for elementary school teachers. & had issues
from the $G"s until the $H"sF the (ig advertisers were coal and as(estos
companies. ;ou could get free posters on the wonder of (ituminous coal all
coal, coal, coal. But the as(estos stuI was especially interesting, especially
once it was the $H"s and people new. &t used to come in a powder, and there
are these ads a(out how ids can mae 3ewellery as(estos 3ewellery,
as(estos pins for mom, as(estos playthings?
5o & thought, & want to do a (oo that$s sponsored (y something that$s so the
opposite of its su(3ect. 2lso, the fact of the matter is, almost any picture is
improved (y drawing a cigarette in it. & used to love to smoe when & was in
my twenties, (ut & can$t smoe anymore (ecause it was maing me sic. But &
love drawing @cigarettesA. & also lie the idea that Don$t has controlla(le
smoe that doesn$t e'ist it always goes where you want it to go.
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9r in maing them, in drawing the smoe. &t$s really 3ust moving in a
continuous line. &$m very curious a(out the fact that (ecause of computers, at
least in elementary schools in the )5, they$re not teaching handwriting
anymore. ,hey$re teaching printing, (ut not spending much time on it
longhand and cursive are gone. ,hat$s lie a nightmareJ. ,he science +ction
thing againD electricity$s gone, and all any(ody nows is how to type?
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,hat was an epiphany for me. ,hat and using a paint(rush @to write withA,
which is where another door opened. <hicen 2ttac, (y Bac is a ver(atim
story from this id & was sitting ne't to on an airplane. *is mom did what
moms do everywhere got on her little thum( device, or put her (uds in and
went to sleep. 2nyhow, she /oned out and & was drawing, (ecause &$ve
learned that if you$re drawing ids will tal to you. *e goes, ;ou$re drawing?
and & say, ;eah, &$m a cartoonist. 2nd he says, Draw something. 5o & draw
a little chicen and he goes, ;ou are? and & go, & now? 5o & play this game
with him, which any id nows how to play, where you mae a scri((le and
pass it to a friend, and they turn it into something and then mae a scri((le
and pass it (ac. &f you do this with a id you$ll get a story 6uic. 5o we do it
one, two, three times, and he goes, 9oh, & have a story and you can mae it
into a comic strip. 2nd & did. *is name was Bac, and (efore the story was
written, he said, ,he title is, K<hicen 2ttac, (y Bac.$ @,hen he told the
storyDA 9ne morning, the chicen was eaten (y a man. ,he man went to
wor. *is stomach started to feel funny. *e went to the port-a-let, and then
he went. ,he chicen came out. ,he man was surprised. ,he chicen was also
surprised. ,he chicen ran from the port-a-let to the construction site. ,hey
put the chicen in charge, and from then on, the chicen was (oss.
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%hen & tal a(out the (iological function don$t you feel (etter after hearing
that story? %hat is that? &t$s so satisfying, without even having to parse it
out. ,here$s foreshadowing, (ecause it says, 9ne morning, a chicen was
eaten (y a man. 2nd who goes through the transformation? ,he chicen
he gets eaten, shit out, and made (oss. &t has the arc, it has it all. 0verything
is in that story.
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&t$s e'actly the same. %atch a id with a piece of paper. ,here is no dou(t
that piece of paper is a place where things happen. ,hen there$s this point
where @that placeA turns into a thing, which mostly lets other people now if
you$re good or (ad. ,hat$s where the trou(le (egins. 9r rather, that$s where
the nutrients are taen away.
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2(solutely. 2nd ind of dreamy & wanted it to (e lie a maga/ine. ,here$s
no particular place to start. ,here is a through line, if you feel lie +nding it. &
ept thining a(out when you get your oil changed in your carD you$re in this
waiting room, which is the world$s shittiest waiting room, and you$re grateful
if there$s an old .eople maga/ine with ,om 5ellecF ,han :od, there$s
something to loo at. & ept imagining .icture ,his (eing there, and that it
would mae the time pass nicely. & didn$t want to have a drawing (oo where
& tell people how to draw, e'actly.
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<ollect (lue? Didn$t it mae you want to try it? Lie, Dang, & can do this? Let$s
move onto pin? & want to get people (ac to colouring, copying, and
tracing.
& told @my pu(lisherA <hris @9liverosA at Drawn M Euarterly that we couldn$t
use traditional copyright language (ecause & want people to (e a(le to copy
it. & want people to (e a(le to mae N"" copies of that chicen if they want to,
and & want them to (e a(le to cut out the paper dolls. & did a lot of the
paintings with my hus(and @>evin >awulaA. & found out & can draw anything
that$s +ve feet away, and he can draw forever into the distance, (ut he$s not
good at super-close stuI. ,here$s one of the 4ear-5ighted 1oney maing
spaghetti sauce, and &$ve had a couple of people email me and say, Lynda,
your drawing$s gotten so good, & can$t (elieve it, &$m so happy for you? 2nd &
@respondA, 1an, & told you, that part$s >evin$s. But how a(out those slippers
on the money? Loo at those slippers, those are good? &t was (eautiful to
wor together, (ecause again, this idea of a place. & would draw the
money and 3ust leave it in the itchen for him to wor on. %e$d hardly tal
a(out it. & would loo at those pictures and (e, :od, it loos so familiar? &t$s
our house?
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Because of the success of ,he 5impsons, this huge contri(ution to the history
of our inds of comics has 3ust (een pushed aside. %hen & @guest editedA
,he Best 2merican <omics, & included him, and there were +ghts a(out it?
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%e see ,he 5impsons, and it has twenty-si' writers and animators. But that
strip is 3ust 1att. ,here$s a couple other cartoonists who & feel never made it
into the history of how comics were done. ,here was a group right (efore
1att and & started who were in the =illage =oice Bules 7eiIer, 1ar 2lan
5tamaty, and 5tan 1ac, who did 8eal Life 7unnies. 2nd & +nally met him and
he doesn$t loo anything lie he draws himself, which & thought was hilarious.
,here$s all these people who were in the early 4ational Lampoon (ut now
it$s as if they do not e'istJ. %hen people say, ;ou$re one of the +rst women
cartoonists, & say, 4ooo, there was 5hary 7lennien and 1.>. Brown and
,rina 8o((ins.
@&nstead we hear a(outA the underground stuI, with all the guys with their
dics out which, right on, &$m all a(out it. & was on a panel with <hris %are
and >a/ and Dan <lowes, and we got to as each other 6uestions, and one of
the things & said was, it always (lows my mind why @maleA cartoonists always
have to draw themselves 3acing oI with a giant dic and then looing really
sad afterward. But then & went up to my room and drew myself with a giant
dic 3acing oI and looing sad afterwards and & totally understood.
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&t$s totally satisfying. & totally got it, once & did it. ,he imaginary dic.
& really do feel lie they$re my family, other cartoonists. & lied +nding out all
this stuI a(out these people, lie <hris %are, who thins his drawing is (ad?
2nd & thought, if he thins his drawing is (ad, then that might (e the natural
state of things.
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0'cept for those (lessed, (eautiful moments when it$s not happening.
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%hen you$re still in the place (efore it (ecomes a thing. 0'actly.