Discovering The Secret Origin of Guided By Voices

Over the last week I've been totally focused on the band history section of Pop Zeus, titled The Secret Origin of Guided By Voices (a very cool and comic booky conceit). In spite of being swamped at work and swamped with financial stress, I think the writing is just about done. What I have been struggling with is finding an art style for the section. There are not a whole lot of precedence for cartoon histories, outside of Larry Gonick's work. Any ideas out there for an appropriate style?

The evolution of this section of the Pop Zeus has been interesting. I started by gathering whatever cool interviews, article and band histories I already had saved in my computer. It was especially in the vintage mid-90's interviews that I was finding the funniest stories and best material, a lot of which seemed to have been forgotten in more recent band histories like Hunting Accidents. There are some hilarious scenes that I can't wait to illustrate! As I poured over the articles, I was also making a point to highlight the tales and quotes that would translate the best visually, avoiding using too many words to tell the story.


And I soon discovered that if I just used quotes from various band members to tell the story, it would add an unique element to the section- the first visual history of Guided By Voices, told in their own words!

I also realized that the most interesting and dramatic story arc of GBV's history was their early days. That arc would go from Bob as a kid writing songs, to the release of the brilliant but unrecognized early GBV albums, to the creation of Propeller and the bitter end of GBV, then to the dramatic phoenix-like rising from the ashes and triumphant show at the New Music Seminar in NYC. Birth, growth, death and rebirth!

The rest of the story of GBV would be too long and complicated to flesh out, I figure. And a lot of it is covered in the "My GBV Experience" 3-part section anyway.

That's all I know. Have a great weekend folks!