Colin Houston, San Antonio Current:
“As My Stupid Life progressed, Clem’s comics gradually became longer and dealt with more serious subject matter, such as his struggles with illness, mental health issues and money troubles. That culminated in Clem’s launch of As You Were in 2013, a punk zine featuring work by himself and other cartoonists. His contributions to the mag were drastically different from his prior work, transitioning from short strips to pages-long entries that were more serious in tone.
What’s evident throughout the progression of comics collected in My Stupid Life is that Clem’s art style is ever evolving. The panels comprising San Antonio Rock City are relatively simple, but as the book progresses, the backgrounds and character designs become more fleshed out.
The progression was intentional. Clem made serious efforts to improve his art and even reached out to peers for feedback.
“An influence who I reached out to was [graphic novelist] Evan Dorkin, whose art I really love,” he said. “The most important thing I think he told me, or my biggest takeaway, was to just draw backgrounds.'”
Read the full interview on the San Antonio Current‘s website here!
