Joe Matt (born September 3, 1963) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, best known for his autobiographical work, ''

Peepshow A peep show or peepshow is a presentation of a live sex show or pornographic film which is viewed through a viewing slot. Several historical media provided voyeuristic entertainment through hidden erotic imagery. Before the development of the ci ...

''.

Early life

Matt was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He started drawing comics in 1987.

Career

In his autobiographical comic ''

'', Joe Matt examines his inadequate social skills, his addiction to

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

, his cantankerous relationship with his then-girlfriend Trish, and the lingering effects of his

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

upbringing. Matt began creating 'Peepshow' in 1987. In 1992, his 'Peepshow' strips were serialized by

Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hardcov ...

under the title 'Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt'. His work is now published by Canadian publishing house

Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic content, ...

. Joe Matt's work on ''Peepshow'' is part of the

autobiographical comics An autobiographical comic (also autobio, graphic memoir, or autobiocomic) is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It i ...

genre, kick-started by the confessional stories of

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical ''American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a ...

and

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American cartoonist and musician who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contem ...

. Along with these artists, Joe Matt's work frequently involves soliloquies "to camera". ''Peepshow'' is part of a self-referential universe that includes Matt's contemporaries

Chester Brown Chester William David Brown (born 16 May 1960) is a Canadian cartoonist. Brown has gone through several stylistic and thematic periods. He gained notice in alternative comics circles in the 1980s for the surreal, scatological '' Ed the Happy Cl ...

and

Seth Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...

, all of whom have included each other in their books. In 2004, it was reported that

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

was developing an animated series based on Matt's comic "The Poor Bastard," a collection of stories within ''Peepshow'' #1 to #6. The series would be produced by Matt and David X. Cohen. However, Joe Matt later stated, "Yes, HBO was interested in making a series based on ''The Poor Bastard'', but they came to their senses and changed their mind. Please feel sorry for me and buy the book when it comes back into print in January 2007." The most recent issue of Peepshow, #14, went on sale November 1, 2006. A collection featuring ''Peepshow'' #11-14 titled ''Spent'' was released in June 2007. Matt has stated that "I'll soon be writing / drawing about L.A. for a book that most likely will not be released as single issues, but rather a self-contained book".

Colorist

Though ''Peepshow'' has developed a solid fan base, Matt has served as a

colorist In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century this was done using brushes and dyes which were then used as guides to produce the printing plates. Since the late 20th century it is ...

for other comics to make ends meet, most notably on

superhero comics Superhero comics are one of the most common genres of American comic books. The genre rose to prominence in the 1930s and became extremely popular in the 1940s and has remained the dominant form of comic book in North America since the 1960s. Su ...

, a genre which Matt himself dislikes. Among his credits as a colorist are the ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

Grendel Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem '' Beowulf'' (700–1000). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with his mother and the dragon), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. Grendel is feared by a ...

Limited Series'', ''

Fish Police ''Fish Police'' is a comic book series by American cartoonist Steve Moncuse. The plot centers on law and crime in a fictional underwater metropolis with the protagonist, Inspector Gill, trying to solve various crimes, often Mafia-related, while a ...

'' and ''

Jonny Quest ''Jonny Quest'' is a science fiction-adventure media franchise that revolves around the titular boy named Jonny Quest, who accompanies his scientist father on extraordinary adventures. The franchise started with a 1964–1965 television serie ...

''.

Personal life

Matt lived (illegally) in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from 1988 to 2002. He currently lives in the

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Awards

Matt has received recognition for his work in the comics industry. For ''Peepshow'', he has been nominated for four

Harvey Awards The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

: for Best New Talent in 1990 and for the Award for Humor in 1991, 1992, and 1993. Also, despite his view on coloring as a task that merely "pays the bills", Matt was nominated for a 1989 Harvey Award for his coloring work on the Batman/Grendel series.

Bibliography

*''Peepshow'' #1–14 (

, February 1992October 2006) Four collections of Joe Matt's comics have been published as books, as well as a "jam" sketchbook: *''Peepshow - The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt'', 1992 (Kitchen Sink)/1999 (Drawn & Quarterly), a collection of mostly one-page strips, usually dealing with a single subject, originally published between 1987 and 1991. *''The Poor Bastard'', 1996 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects stories published in ''Peepshow'' #1–6. This book chronicles Matt's relationship and breakup with then-girlfriend Trish. *''Joe Matt's "Jam" Sketchbook '', 1998, Collaborations with

Chris Ware Franklin Christenson "Chris" Ware (born December 28, 1967) is an American cartoonist known for his ''Acme Novelty Library'' series (begun 1994) and the graphic novels ''Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth'' (2000), ''Building Stories'' (2012 ...

Julie Doucet Julie Doucet (born December 31, 1965)
is a Canadian

Adrian Tomine Adrian Tomine (; born May 31, 1974) is an American cartoonist. He is best known for his ongoing comic book series ''Optic Nerve'' and his illustrations in '' The New Yorker''. Early life Adrian Tomine was born May 31, 1974, in Sacramento, Cal ...

, Max,

Jason Lutes Jason Lutes (born December 7, 1967)
at Comic Creator is an American

Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, best known for his comic book ''Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political and philosophical b ...

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series ''The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...

, Marc Bell,

James Kochalka James Kochalka (born May 26, 1967, in Springfield, Vermont) is an American comic book artist, writer, animator, and rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal. Largely autobiographical, Kochalka's cartoo ...

Ivan Brunetti Ivan Brunetti (born October 3, 1967) is an Italian and American cartoonist and comics scholar based in Chicago, Illinois. Career Noted for combining blackly humorous taboo-laden subject matter with simplified and exaggerated cartoon drawing styl ...

, Steven Weisman, etc., limited print. *''Fair Weather'', 2002 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects ''Peepshow'' #7–10. In this book Matt chronicles an episode from his childhood in 1970s suburbia. *''Spent'', 2007 (Drawn & Quarterly), which collects ''Peepshow'' #11–14. In this book, Matt chronicles a story arc that documents his obsessive “editing” of porn videos.

References

Works cited

External links

Biography at Drawn & QuarterlyComic Book Awards Almanac
from ifpthendirt. {{DEFAULTSORT:Matt, Joe Alternative cartoonists Underground cartoonists American comics artists American comics writers American cartoonists 1963 births Living people Artists from Philadelphia People from Los Feliz, Los Angeles