An Interview With Pierre Labbat

Thanks to Joel Stransky for conducting this interview for CBO.

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CBO:  Fist things first, Mr. Labbat; why did you start in comics?

Labbat:  after high school I began to find the need to express myself –as simple as that.  I needed an outlet for the creative side of me that study and work didn’t really allow for.  I wanted to find my voice.

CBO: Why comics, as opposed to any other “outlet”?

Labbat:Well....I tried poetry.  I wrote short stories. I wrote articles for local newspapers...but I wanted something more.  Comics is the one media where anything is possible -or was when I was young- it is a synthesis of fine art, motion pictures and literature...and like the best of these, is also a shared media -that is, it is a job which is not complete until it is seen by someone alien to it.  That is, until someone who has no interest in the work has seen it and appreciated it then it has no value.

Let me put it this way: great art effects people who have no interest in it, or  who are seeing it for the first time without expectation.  Da Vinci has this.  Mozart has this.  Puccini has this.  Pavarotti has this -and in the comic book world John Bolton has this.  Barry Windsor Smith has this.  Alex Raymond has this, as does Jack Kirby.  I AM comparing the disarate genres.

Comics may be a temporary genre -but as the Japanese say; wabisabi - the fact that it is fleeting, lends to the poignancy of the experience.  Beauty and impact is where you find it; whether in the words of  Shakespeare or Martin Luthor King -or scrawled on a broken wall in spray-paint or shouted out by a street poet praying for a buck.

CBO: I think I see...but--

Labbat: Yeah, sorry, I do get carried away.  Comics suited me.  I like drawing.  I like writing, but I don't like writing a lot...I find "pithy", laconic language suits me better -it allows for the reader to build thew image of the "comic strip"  by themselves in their own imaginations...what is unsaid is as important -if not more so- than what is plainly stated.   People should be allowed to write their own naratives as much as possible, on the slate of the story.

CBO: So reader participation is important?

Labbat: Vital.  This is a two way media.  That's why I prefer, in many cases, black and white to colour.  It allows the reader to interpret the images themselves, in their own mind, and is therefore a strong indicator to the reader that the mind needs to be used in creating the full story for the reader themselves.  This is not, and should never become, a passive medium.  We are not presenting "new facts" -we are presenting dialogue.  The beginnings of a conversation through words and pictures.

CBO: Tell me about your current work.

Labatt: Well, Joel, I decided to make a series of A4 colour prints, limited to 10 copies each, about the social issues I feel passionate about.  I've had these building up inside me for some time and I feel it is time to let them out.

CBO:  What issues are they?

Labbat: Social injustice in America. The brow beating and total defamation of the poor in Europe. he insanity of media mind control.

CBO: Big issues -but there are thers?

Labbat: Yes. And I will get to them in time.

CBO: Why colour A4 posters?

Labbat: To be honest -I don't know. Colour posters just seemed to suit the message I had. They allow for a slogan -pithy enough to make people think -an image, strong or provocative to make people remember -and a background photo; the 'Big Picture'.  Something for people to let slip into their subconcious.  It'll all help build the personal dialogue.

CBO: "Personal dialogue"....?

Labbat: Yes. Unless you -as a reasoning human being- have come to a conclusion within yourself about these issues, and honestly argued both sides...how can you even talk to someone else about them?

CBO: Well, thank you for your time, Mr. Labbat, and we hope to see some more work from you in the future.

Labbat: I hope so too -and remember: Strength does not have to be belligerent and loud!

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THS: This interview was initially posted as an exclusive on my various Yahoo groups.  The reactions were pretty quick:

 "Why does it sound like I'm reading a Russell Brand interview??"

"There are so many give-away clues in this interview that its quite clear WHO "Mr. Labbat' is!!"

Remember that when I introduced Stransky and Labbat to CBO last year I state "Labbat" was someone very well known but I pointed out that I had promised to keep his real name a secret for various reasons -but he MAY be changing his mind about that as the language is quite a giveaway!!