So Buttons: Reading Some Comics Can Feel Like Checking Up on an Old Friend
Jonathan Baylis' long-running independent comic is always a pleasure.
When I started up this Substack, Jonathan Baylis contacted me and sent me some of the recent issues of his comics series. I’ve taken too long to get around to reading and writing about them, but better late than never…
So Buttons #11-13
Written by Jonathan Baylis
Art by too many talented artists to list
Published by Tinto Press/Alchemy Comix
Buy them from the creator
Comics have a rich history of autobiographical stories, which makes sense, since so many artists like to sketch the things they see around them. For artists who are used to telling stories through their work, simple sketches can turn into narratives ranging from short vignettes to lengthy, detailed memoirs. But interestingly, the guy who sits atop the pinnacle of comics autobiography wasn’t an artist at all.
Harvey Pekar couldn’t create much more than stick figures, but through his connections to the underground comics community, he paired up with a variety of artists to create stories about his life and the subjects that interested him. This resulted in the long-running series American Splendor, which was a beautiful example of the common man telling anyone who would listen about the concerns that affected him and giving a voice to people who were often ignored by society.
While there may be a few comics creators who operate in the same mode as Pekar, I would say that Jonathan Baylis is the closest thing we have to an heir to his legacy. He’s a writer who has developed connections throughout the comics community, getting artists from many different traditions to illustrate short autobiographical stories or other personal reflections. Each issue of his ongoing series features bits that range from memories of Baylis’ time working as an intern for various comics companies, moments from his regular life, or just stuff that interests him. It’s a one-man anthology in that everything springs directly from Baylis’ mind, but it’s also a multi-artist collaboration, since each story is illustrated by a different person in a way that’s meant to fit the specific type of story being told.
As with any anthology, there are different stories that may be of interest to different readers. I found some of them to be excellent examples of true-to-life storytelling, while there were others that didn’t necessarily connect with me. But with such varying art styles and ideas, each issue has something to enjoy, whether it’s Baylis considering the way he’s depicted in these comics (he has a standard appearance, usually featuring a duckbill hat and some scruffy facial hair), discussing movies he likes, or mentioning his meetings with notable figures ranging from comics artists to actors, musicians, or comedians. There’s also an interesting series of short strips highlighting people who share Baylis’ birthday of January 31, including Nolan Ryan, Carol Channing, Tallulah Bankhead, and Kerry Washington.
It’s also interesting to see how Baylis structures these issues and lets one story flow into the next. Issue #12 has a nice bit in which a less-than-flattering examination of birthday-mate John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) leads to another story about an encounter with Ian MacKaye of the band Fugazi, who tells Baylis about getting a bunch of punks to mosh during a performance by the band Fear on Saturday Night Live. I also enjoyed a series of movie-related stories in Issue #13, including Baylis getting to sit behind Harvey Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner during the premier of the American Splendor movie at the Sundance Film Festival, his film-school friendship with Eli Roth and his excitement at seeing Roth’s star turn in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, and his celebration of the amazing work that composer Ennio Morricone put together in Once Upon a Time in the West.
With autobiographical comics, it’s always interesting to see how personal creators get and how much of their lives they choose to share. Reading several of these comics in a row provides some updates on what Baylis and his loved ones have experienced over the past few years, with issues 11 and 12 in particular highlighting some of the problems that affected him during the Covid pandemic. A story about Baylis training at a boxing gym and doing some sparring is especially affecting as he equates a series of personal setbacks with being hit in the face repeatedly, while also emphasizing the importance of always getting back up and moving forward. As I mentioned in the subtitle above, reading this series is like checking in with an old friend and learning about what their life has been like since the last time you saw them.
Any discussion of this series will also need to note the various artists that Baylis works with. He manages to get a wide range of talent to illustrate his stories, providing many different styles that are used effectively to fit the types of stories being told. I especially liked B. Mure’s work on a story about Baylis being gratified to help a kid meet up with John Cleese while volunteering for the Make-a-Wish Foundation, husband-and-wife team Miss Lasko-Gross and Kevin Colden collaborating to illustrate a story about Baylis’ random encounter with a woman who needed directions to a hospital, and frequent Harvey Pekar collaborator Gary Dumm illustrating the story where Baylis got to meet the man in question.
I’m always glad to see what Baylis has been up to, and even if I don’t love every story in every issue of the series, there’s always plenty to enjoy, whether it’s his self-effacing humor, his stories about meeting notable figures, or his discussions of his passions (including a couple stories here that involve whiskey, which I wouldn’t normally care about but becomes a fun topic due to Baylis’ enthusiasm). He’s been plugging away at this labor of love for nearly 20 years now, and it seems like he won’t be stopping anytime soon. As he keeps relating fun stories and teaming up with good artists to do so, I’ll be glad to check in on him whenever I get the chance.