In America, there's a very long tradition of a comic strip that comes in newspapers, which is not true all over the world. To sell papers, they put color comics in. It's worked, up until now. Now these papers can't afford it. They always had minuscule ad budgets, and now the things which people probably read these papers for are gone.
Ben KatchorI've wasted the last five years of my life dealing in religious articles. People today find spiritual solace in ballroom dancing.
Ben KatchorI always lived in old buildings, and I thought about who lived here before. You'd have to be oblivious not to.
Ben KatchorI never wore a watch. I always depend on public clocks, and stores have clocks, but that is strange.
Ben KatchorA picture story just doesn't run like a film. It doesn't have 24 frames per second. It doesn't deal with this illusion of movement.
Ben KatchorWhat sort of attractions do you think lured our coreligionists out of the ghetto and into the mainstream of European culture? Was it the wit of Moliรจre, or the ingenious stage mechanisms of Pixรฉrรฉcourt? Or was it simply the opportunity to cast an eye, without shame, upon the living, unclad human form?
Ben KatchorThere's a real connection between the history of print in Europe and nationalism, and how those two things could be formed. I think they may both now be ending, for good and bad, but I think mainly for good. Either globalism was supposed to make people all realize this is one big business going on and we should know what's going on everywhere, or it makes people say, "I don't want to become part of this thing. I want to be incredibly different from you and I want to uphold my local behavior." Dress a certain way.
Ben Katchor