Kevin Mutch Interview

ABSTRACT

This interview presents a conversation with Canadian cartoonist Kevin Mutch about his graphic novel, The Rough Pearl, which addresses issues surrounding the intersection of class and race privilege in the ‘precariat’ creative communities in and around New York City. The Rough Pearl is a sequel to Mutch’s earlier graphic novel, Fantastic Life, which was set in Canada and won a Xeric award in 2010. Prestige, status and cultural capital in relation to art worlds are thematically central to both graphic novels. This interview discusses these topics as well as representations of race, ethnicity, gender, and identity in comics; historical exclusion of comics from ‘high culture’ and comics drawing inspiration from ‘low culture’; intersections of markets, technology and audiences; and marketing of art and popular culture. This interview was undertaken throughout April-May 2020.

KEYWORDS:

• Kevin Mutch
• graphic novels
• symbolic capital
• visual art
• representation

Author’s note

Kevin Mutch can be visited online at http://kevinmutch.com/ and The Moon Prince can be accessed at http://www.themoonprince.com/

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jeffery Klaehn

Jeffery Klaehn holds a PhD in Communication from the University of Amsterdam and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Strathclyde. His interviews with comic creators have been published with the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, Studies in Comics, ImageTexT: Interdisciplinary Comics Studies, the International Journal of Comic Art and The Comics Journal. His research interests include social theory, media, power, public communication, comics, art, pop culture, the creative industries, writing, storytelling, and digital games. He has edited and co-edited seven books and his work has been published with the European Journal of Communication, International Communication Gazette, Sociology Compass, Journalism Studies, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, Synaesthesia: Communication Across Cultures, Media Theory, New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, First Person Scholar, and other journals.