How I Make Comics is basically about anything but how Kim Deitch makes comics!
The book is made up of random, some loosely-connected, stories, with of course Waldo making his usual appearance, none of which were that interesting to read or gelled together into a memorable narrative, let alone explore Deitch’s creative process in any meaningful way.
The stories are about: when young Kim Deitch met young Donald Trump at a taping of Howdy Doody in 1952 (whether true or not who knows); the fictional origin story of Little Orphan Annie; a lonely elephant formerly of Ringling Brothers Circus; a 40 year old Siamese cat that can mysteriously kill people with a glance; a pastiche on Golden Age superheroes called The Avenging Angel (featuring the questionably-named “Midgetville”); sentient, reincarnated rats; a 1930s artist who once drew a mural on a rich person’s wall; and a girl who falls in love with sci-fi and meets a young Ray Bradbury.
Deitch loves breaking the fourth wall and often inserts himself, and his wife Pam and their cats, into his comics, and he does so here. It’s in these parts that we learn that he uses model sheets, and draws on a piece of plexiglass. Fascinating. You’re not gonna believe this either but his drawing process? First design, then pencils, layouts, and finally inks. You mean how pretty much every comics artist does it?! Yuh huh.
The above information appears in a few pages in between the stories, so we technically do learn a bit about how Deitch makes comics, but a few pages out of nearly 200 - when you’ve called the book How I Make Comics! - is a tad misleading. It’s just a bad title.
He also writes a short essay at the end called Why I Make Comics - turns out it’s because it’s very “doable” for him. Woah. He does it cos he can. Just as insightful and deep as his production process then. The story of the girl who loves reading and discovers sci-fi is apparently about his mother, if that’s interesting to anyone.
Instantly forgettable, poorly conceived stories aside, I remain a huge fan of Deitch’s artwork which is unique and effortlessly eye-catching. He’s still a master illustrator and every page of this book is full of his recognisable, intricate and detailed artwork, beautifully drawn and imaginatively laid out. I wasn’t taken with any of the stories here but it’s still a gorgeous book to look at and the imagery alone kept me turning the pages.
Which isn’t to say that Deitch is a bad writer - he’s written some fine comics over the years like Shadowland, The Search for Smilin’ Ed! and Deitch’s Pictorama, all of which I’d recommend over this one - but How I Make Comics definitely doesn’t feature his best storytelling. This one will really only appeal to fans of this creator’s artistic style, and even to those I would say not to expect anything like Deitch’s best books, let alone something substantial about his creative process.
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