Few creators in the world of underground comics during the 2000s were as prolific as Minneapolis native and current San Antonio resident Mitch Clem.
After releasing his popular fictional webcomic about the Minneapolis punk scene, Nothing Nice to Say, as a graphic novel in 2018, Clem is back with a new book: the collection My Stupid Life, published by San Francisco-based press Silver Sprocket.
Marking an exit from the fiction that characterized Nothing Nice to Say, the new book compiles Clem's autobiographical work from 2006 to 2013, including his webcomic series San Antonio Rock City and My Stupid Life. It also includes some of his contributions to the punk magazine Razorcake and the As You Were comic series.
My Stupid Life is available now.
From comedic strips joking about his personal life to more sobering stories recounting the toll being on the punk scene can take, the book documents major changes and progressions in both Clem's art style and his personal life during that time.
Clem's jump into autobiographical comics came shortly after his move from Minnesota to San Antonio in early 2006. His webcomic San Antonio Rock City focused on his adjustment to a new city and punk scene with his then-girlfriend Victoria.
The transition from fiction to autobiographical work came with new challenges. Namely, that he was writing about real people who could take offense to their depiction in his work.
"There's this safety in writing fiction that you don't have with nonfiction," said Clem, 40. "Even if you write some super personal shit, but you project it onto a fictional character, there's this safe buffer there."
My Stupid Life
Clem wrapped up San Antonio Rock City in 2007 around the time he ended his relationship with Victoria. A year later, his desire to write comics returned, leading to the launch of My Stupid Life, the namesake of his new book.
This new series featured a tonal shift, including a more consistent look and grounding in style. Clem partly attributes that to changes in his life, including meeting his current partner Amanda.
"I would say the major difference in my life at that point was dating Amanda, who I would go on to marry and have a kid with and everything," he said. "So I did find myself uniquely in a very good place."
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."
Moving Forward
While the new book is the highlight of this year for Clem, he is also looking ahead to future artistic endeavors.
For one, he's roughly 250 pages into writing a graphic novel, which has an unofficial accompanying soundtrack featuring bands including groundbreaking Minneapolis punk trio Hüsker Dü.
"It's probably the fifth or sixth graphic novel that I started, and every other book just didn't happen for whatever reason," Clem said. "There is another graphic novel before this that I completely wrote, and then the second it was written I was like, 'I can't look at this anymore.' ... So this one is me finally, like, 'I'm going to finish this goddamn book. It's going to happen.'"
Beyond graphic novels, Clem expressed a desire to continue Turnstile Comix, a biographical comic series about bands whose music he enjoys. The origins of that series date back to 2010. He's also open to writing autobiographical works again.
"I would if I could justify telling any personal stories for sure," he said. "There's like a hump to get over of being like, 'Well, this is not a unique experience ... everybody does this or feels this way.' But I guess maybe that can be beneficial."
Whatever the future may hold, Clem finds it hard to see one without a place in it for art as an outlet.
"I definitely liked the idea that people would be able to project their own similar experiences [on the comic]," he said. "I oftentimes appreciate when art can make you feel less alone."
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