Interview with Yak the Ripper

Yak the Ripper is an Ohio based underground cartoonist and illustrator. He is the author of such non mainstream comix as Shithouse Seven and Superb Villain. Having had the distinction of having much of his artwork banned from deviantART and having an entire Yahoo Group erased, Yak now has his own piece of cyberspace, newyakcity.com, where no one can censor his views. Here's an interview with the man, the myth, the legend, Yak the Ripper.

Darrell: How long have you been drawing Superb Villain comics?
Yak the Mutherfuckin Ripper: I’ve been working on Superb Villain since sometime in 03, I believe.

Darrell: Is Superb Villain based on any one person or persons?
Yak: Sure, he’s a very loose…and I mean LOOSE representation of me…maybe my aggression. He began showing up in some of my earlier pinups. The Candye Kane in Koncert joint comes to mind, with this head sticking out from under the curtain. It was supposed to be a toon of me….but my chin isn’t really prominent like that. It was an idea I was working on in my subconscious I suppose.

Darrell: When you started drawing Superb Villain, what did you intend to do with the comics? Were they originally intended for the Internet or for regular publication? Or were they just comics you just had to draw whether people read them or not?
Yak: The beginning was all a learning process. I was mature enough to realize that, and also that it would get better. The first 10 or so strips were….Jesus…very hard to process. I couldn’t believe that I was that bad of an artist, and that my jokes were so lame. I did understand that I would get better…that this is a craft and thus must be mastered.
I don’t recall what I intended to do with them…still don’t really. Their drawn on copy machine paper…so I knew that they weren’t going to be published….at the same time, I was burnt out on pinups and I wanted to continue contributing online…so that was basically the only avenue that was easily available.
They will always be commix I have to draw. If people read them, great…that’s fantastic…it’s what I want in my heart of hearts…but if nobody really pays attention….it wont change the fact that I have to put these down.

Darrell: Superb Villain isn’t about furry animals, funny roommates or actual super heroes…despite all that do you think there’s an audience for it?
Yak: Right…there’s not really a built in audience for this type of strip. My strip is and will always be forever changing. At first sequential challenges you, but as you get more comfortable with your voice in it, you begin challenging it back. How does the audience respond? Do they care? Will they even pay attention? I hope so. I think there’s an audience, I’m betting my career on it actually.

Darrell: Two part question: Why was the original spelling vill-ian and why is it now vill-ain? And why did you wait til after I already advertised “superb vill-ian” on all the forums I could think of, lol.
Yak: You say Villian, I say Villain..lets call the whole thing off. No. Actually, it was a goof. The very first strip, with Superb on his island, in a castle, with a butler…it was called “Superb Villian #1”. Later that week, I found out I misspelled it, but thought fuckit, this is a strip that goes against the rules…this is my strip and I can spell shit how I want too. As time progressed I liked how I spelled it and even justified the spelling by noting that “I” stands for individual and comes before “A” which is authority. LOL. But…I felt like it looked ignorant and I was dealing with enough ignorance inside the strip to contribute to it spelling wise.
I didn’t tell you Darrell, because I didn’t really care….and I still don’t. I just got to thinking..”hey, this is going to look weird with two spellings”. It was a goof on my behalf, and I apologize sincerely for it! So quit breaking my balls already!

Darrell: You work has been compared numerous times to Crumb. Is that a good thing or are you tired of the comparison?
Yak: The first time I can remember, I was chatting with this lady who remembered Crumbs commix, and she said it reminded her very much of Crumb. I was like “dynamite!”…totally geeked, you understand? I mean….this was my idol, this was the God! Now….heh…I feel like, well fuck…I don’t want to be a Crumb clone! You always carry a little of those you study inside you, so now the trick is overwhelming their influence with your own voice.
It makes me feel uncomfortable in the fact that I’m only about half the artist that Crumb is. It’s debatable whether or not Crumb is actually one of his generation’s greatest artists. In my book he most certainly is, but a lot of people who argue. I have a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG way to go to even feel comfortable being in the same category as Robert Crumb.

Darrell: When you were doing the Yahoo Group thing, you had two distinct groups, one for your porn model pin ups and the other for your superb villain strip…did it piss you off that more people were (and perhaps still are) more interested in the pin up drawings than your comics?
Yak: Yes and no. The pinup work I do today is a different beast. There’s A LOT more time pumped into pinups from this year compared with the pinups from a few years ago. I could crank 2 or three out a week if I really tried. My pinups today take 15 hours plus. The Nadine I did was well over 16 hours, so no….I have a lot of pride in those drawings.
On the other hand, doing a strip is from ME. It’s all from inside me and from conception to delivery it’s a long thought out process. It doesn’t make me mad that there’s not a lot of interest….worried? Yup. Sad? You bet. But never anger. It’s self-satisfying, and again…I think someday it will be discovered and make a lot of people happy.

Darrell: What about feedback? Does the lack of feedback (so far) bother you?
Yak: Yup. I’d be a liar if it didn’t. Any kind of feedback is important to an artist…shit..even a thanks or a hello or a fuck you and your Bush hating ways. I mean….something. It gets cold as a muthafucka online, as you know.

Darrell: What future plans do you have for Superb Villain? Will he take his cap off in front of a live audience and reveal his real identity?
Yak: The future looks very bright. This is a story. It is made up of different chapters; we’re only in about the second chapter right now. The plan is to make it much more engaging and much more of a total story. Things will happen in one strip that have ramifications years down the line. I wish to make this strip much more cohesive. All the characters will have a chance to shine. I can’t tell you to much , that would spoil it! I will say that who the Superb Villain is…is not concrete.
Will he take off the hat? DUM DEE DUM! I actually had a strip for that….too lame to even attempt though. So…who knows…..maybe maybe not.

Darrell: What have been your experiences with selling your art or trying or make a living with your artwork?
Yak: I’ve never made a dime. I was offered a gallery at a place here in town for 500 bucks. I wasn’t ready. Maybe someday. It’s not about the money. I’d like to make some cheese off this so I can do this more, but…I’ll continue on regardless. Any artist who brags about the loot is a buster…that’s my opinion. Maybe I’m a hater. So what? Ha ha ha ha.