Good Dirty Fun With Jeremy Tinder: An Interview

Introduction and Interview by Claire Donato

Personified bunnies infiltrated my life when a friend of mine, Betsey, decided she loved all varieties of bunnies: dwarf, snarky, jovial, Bugs. When not collecting "It's Happy Bunny!" bumper stickers or frequenting PetSmart to fawn over malnourished bunnies, Betsey cared for the total personified bunny package: a stuffed bunny named "Muffy," who, between Christmas potlucks and pool parties, posed ever-stoically with a tea set while wearing one of many lacy, tiny frocks.

Before my introduction to Jeremy Tinder's personified bunnies (first in his Cry Yourself to Sleep and later in Black Ghost Apple Factory), I thought I had encountered every possible variety of personified bunny, thanks to Betsey. I was wrong. Jeremy Tinder's personified bunnies are an extra-special variety of personified bunnies: ennui-filled blowjob bunnies! Floppy eared, shut-eyed, bored—these bunnies are not getting off.

Because my inner, radical feminist loathes the concept of blowjobs, it would seem that a personified "blowjob bunny" would make me cringe. However, Jeremy Tinder pulls it off while keeping things clean and feminist-friendly, challenging conventional notions of blowjobs as sexy.  Read on to understand how and why—and look out for Jeremy's neat breakfast haiku.

5 (comic) books you would like to burn and why:

The first 5 issues of X-Force by Rob Liefeld.  These were some of the first comic books I ever bought, and they stunted my artistic growth drastically.  He would had the feet of his heroes in plumes of smoke (presumably because he didn’t know how to draw them), and every character had, like, a million teeth.  I used to study those comics and try to learn from them how to draw people.

You have been granted a free pass by a fairy godmother to steal whatever you’d like—size is not an issue—from any store without getting caught. What would you steal? 

I’d really like one of these cute little motorbikes they sell near my apartment.  I have no idea what they are or who makes them, but they look amazing.

While you’re off stealing, the aforementioned fairy godmother perches in a high place and reads Black Apple Ghost Factory. Because it resonates with her in a new way, she takes you to her favorite bar for a strong drink. What do you choose?

A gin and tonic.  I like the lime wedge.

Name your favorite beer and tell us why it’s your favorite. 

I like Pabst.  When I was a little kid I lived in a tiny town called Assumption, IL.  There was a bar there that had the blue ribbon logo on a sign outside, and I remember being really drawn to that design.  When I started drinking beer at the tender age of 25, PBR was the first I tried.  I liked it.

Additionally, write a gluttony-themed haiku about your favorite food:

           Maybe a coffee

           Waitress calls me “hon” or “dear”

           Scrambled eggs, bacon

A secret you kept as a ‘tween:

I bought goggles specifically to spy on girls at the local pool.  I would linger under the water looking at Ashley Ledbetter.  I was in love.

A photo of yourself as a ‘tween:

Your general thoughts on ‘tweens:

I know I was a mess as a tween.  In 6^th grade I grew six inches in six months.  (Oh wow, I never noticed that 666 occurrence before.)  Anyway, I feel like more and more tweens are just sort of tiny boomers.  They are a marketing force.  Videonow players.  I want more devices designed specifically to play episodes of Lizzie MacGuire.

It’s the holiday season. In the office where you work, you are forced (your job is on the line!) to participate in a non-denominational Secret Santa drawing.  Naturally, you end up drawing the name of a co-worker you despise. Who is this co-worker, and what do you end up buying this co-worker as a gift?

This one’s hard to answer.  Once I gave a roommate I wasn’t getting along with a machete.  I’m not sure why giving him a potential deadly weapon seemed like a good idea to me, but it did.  I think he liked it.  He still owes me $30 or $40 for utilities.

Speaking of co-workers, tell us about your worst job:

In my late teens I worked on the grounds of the Midwest headquarters for the Assembly of God church.  They hosted summer camps there.  I held a number of jobs at that place, from candy-salesman and climbing wall technician, to snowcone-maker and waterslide attendant.  One of the water slides was very steep.  All summer we would watch as young girls limped out of the lake, blood running down their legs.  We kept altering the rules, making them wear shorts, etc.  Nothing ever helped very much. 

Show us a sketch of your sexiest cartoon bunny:

How were you inspired to sex-up your cartoon bunnies? Do any particular reactions to your sexed-up bunnies by a(n) individual(s) stick out in your mind?

You know, it’s more about how completely un-sexed-up the bunnies are, but still be in a sexual situation.  If I were to draw bunny genitals, or even a bunny enjoying sex, I feel that crosses a line into bad, state fair T-shirt art.  At a more main-stream comic convention, while my back was turned, a little girl picked up a copy of Black Ghost Apple Factory.  I didn’t notice until I heard her telling her mother, “This is dirty.”

On a side note, I was contracted last year to make a series of drawings of a bunny having sex with other forest animals.  This was for an ad campaign for a hair gel company.  They never saw the light of day, which is good.  I was happy to have the work, but the drawings were embarrassing for me.

How do you feel about the New Yorker cartoon caption contest? Or, more generally speaking, how do you feel about the cartoons printed in the New Yorker?

Ooh!  I had a good New Yorker cartoon idea recently.  Here’s the set-up: a little WASPy kid is standing in front of her scowling, uptight, yuppie mother.  The girl is covered in dirt and grime from head to toe- think Pigpen from Peanuts.  The girl explains to her mother, “I’m not filthy, I’m undergoing de-bathification!” 

Terrible.

Jeremy Tinder lives and works in Chicago, IL. He teaches drawing and comics classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Evanston Art Center, and Marwen Foundation. Jeremy recieved a BFA from the University of Iowa in 2002, and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007. He has exhibited paintings and sculpture across the country; at Giant Robot, Gallery 1988, the DeVos Art Museum, Fifty50 Gallery, Western Exhibitions, and other spaces. He spends an hour or two each day reading and talking about videogames, but rarely plays them. He likes to drink coffee and listen to dry news programs on NPR while he draws and paints. To learn more, read a non-dirty interview with Jeremy at The Daily Cross Hatch: http://thedailycrosshatch.com/2007/04/09/interview-pt-1-of-2/

Claire Donato is the New Yinzer’s creative writing editor. She’s currently “finishing up” undergraduate “coursework” in English and Women’s Studies at the University of Pittsburgh (read: used book sales, knitting awkward beer cozies at home, and/or Real Doll rants with nutty, feminist friends).  With Jeff T. Johnson, Claire draws the comic I Think We Should See Other People (http://www.myspace.com/itwssop). She will move to California this winter, where she’ll bind issue #1, eat heirloom tomatoes, and intern for McSweeney’s—with love and thanks to her parents for all of their support!