by Mike RhodeSometime before COVID*, I was going to Baltimore Comic Con and a friend in Europe asked me to pick up some original art by Bob Fingerman** for him. I ended up buying more for myself than my buddy, as this was when Minimum Wage had just been collected, and I always enjoyed those scruffy urban not-quite-DINKS (you can see the six of mine scattered throughout this interview). Bob recently reached out to offer That’s Some Business You’re In and Printopia his two current books for review,*** and I asked him for an interview with my standard questions. (updated 2x 6/26/2025 to revise Recess Pieces information)
How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?
For quite a while it's been sort of a combination, but I do all of the drawing itself traditionally. Sometimes I ink, but generally I favor doing the finished art in hard colored pencil, almost always violet instead of black. I've been trying to figure out why? And I'm sure some psychologist would have a reason why I've locked into the color violet as my go-to, but yeah, that. And then I use the computer for color, so I digitally paint in conjunction with the line art.
When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?
They keep moving the goal post or criteria or whatever, but for the longest while I certainly identified as Gen X. And it seemed to work. And I'm from Queens, New York.
And I liked Queens a whole lot better when it was just known as the boring borough as opposed to the borough that spawned Satan.
Where are you living now? What neighborhood or area do you live in?
I live in Los Angeles, after a lifetime in New York that had kind of run its course.
What is your training and/or education in cartooning?
The truth is that even though I went to art school I am largely and primarily self-taught.
Which is not to say I didn't learn some important lessons from Harvey Kurtzman when I was attending SVA. But the irony is all the best lessons I learned from him were extracurricular, because he hired me to work on some stories for a book he was editing (NUTS!) when I was a student in his class, and as an editor he really taught me a lot of very useful things. I also learned from other comics artists when I began to meet them, when I was young. I remember Bill Wray may have been the first to introduce the concept of "establishing panel" into my visual vocabulary of storytelling. I mean, that was gold. But I think I've just learned a lot from doing it for as long as I have and from looking at really good work over the years and absorbing bits and bobs.
Who are your influences?
Oof, how much time do you have? Jules Feiffer, Gahan Wilson, Herge, Robert Crumb (and many of the underground comic artists), the “usual gang of idiots” in the classic years of MAD, most especially Jack Davis and Wally Wood. But also Don Martin, Sergio Aragones. And when Heavy Metal magazine debuted it tore the lid off my head and poured it in some of the most astonishing comics I've ever seen to this day; so Richard Corben, Moebius, Caza, Bilal, Tardi, Frank Margerin, Serge Clerc. Akira Toriyama – – his Doctor Slump definitely crept into my brain. Tove Jansson. Vaughn Bodē. Walt Kelly. The incredible Charles Rodrigues, of National Lampoon fame. I know there are more, but I guess that's enough for the time being. Oh, Charles Burns? Gary Panter! Mike Mignola!
If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change? Or rather, how are you hoping your career will develop?
Oh my God, regrets? That might take longer than the influences. I'm kind of kidding. But of course, along the road I think I've made some poor choices. I think I used to grab the low hanging fruit too much, so I did some work that I'm not all that proud of in the earlier part of my career. I mean, I guess it's all part of the journey, so regret really isn't particularly healthy or helpful. Better to learn from your mistakes than regret them. And it's not like I did anything that hurt anyone. And as for my career developing, even though I've been doing this professionally for four decades I hope there's always forward momentum and growth. I think my work is a lot better now than it used to be, and I still keep learning new things, so hopefully by the time my hand begins to atrophy I'll have really achieved some of how I picture stuff in my head to the letter. I still enjoy what I do. The business, maybe not as much, but the actual job of creating? Love it! And I'm very grateful for that!
What work are you best-known for?
What work are you most proud of?
I'm very proud of Minimum Wage, but I'm also proud of the two novels I got published (Bottomfeeder and Pariah), being in Heavy Metal magazine and MAD; the fact that I've managed to do work that had personal significance for as long as I have. And I'm very very proud of my latest graphic novel, Printopia! Might be my favorite book I've ever done.
What's Printopia about? Where can people find it?
Printopia is set at a printshop in Manhattan. Within the framing device of the girl who works there—a recurring and evolving character of mine I’ve featured before, Darla Vogel—are vignettes about the lives of the eccentric and varied customers that employ Printopia’s services. A couple of dudes that put out a fantasy-oriented zine; a writer of cozy mysteries, who has a dirty secret; a naïve woman that creates children’s books featuring dioramas using dead animals to illustrate her stories and many more. It’s also, alas, very relevant, as it goes into stuff happening in the real world, now, even though it’s set in 2018. It’s funny, poignant and delves into the creative mind, pitfalls and all. It’s from Cosmic Lion Productions, and I’d encourage folks to either put in an order at their local comic shop, or order directly from Cosmic Lion. ****
pages from Printopia
Let's switch to your autobiography, That’s Some Business You’re In. Why did you decide to write a memoir?
How did you come to be published by Zoop? They're crowdfunded, as opposed to being a traditional publisher, correct?
Yeah, they’re more a packager than publisher, but kind of function as a hybrid of both. I learned of them via a couple of creators I know that did projects via their platform, and I liked how they operate. After some good conversations with their principals, Eric and Jordan, doing That’s Some Business You’re In via Zoop seemed like a great idea.
It looks as thought the campaign was a success, raising 4x the initial request. Does that money come to you, stay with the publisher, or be split between you?
Does Zoop handle all the fulfillment for this book?
Yes, which is why I wanted to go with them as opposed to Kickstarter. I have no desire to do order fulfillment. It’s just not a way I want to spend my time. I’d rather focus on the creative aspect.
What would you like to do or work on in the future?
There’s a third book on the horizon: a vastly reworked edition of Recess Pieces called Recess Pieces Reanimated (due October 15, 2025). It’s not simply a repackaged reissue. In my patented OCD style, I have reworked, revised, rewritten, redrawn and “reanimated” this graphic novel. 26 all-new pages, a new finale, and about 40 pages reworked extensively. It looks and reads soooo much better! Very excited for this to be out there. Planning on developing it as a tabletop RPG, too!
I would love to do a sequel to Printopia, but that remains to be seen. I also am planning to do something completely different, which would be a kids’ graphic novel. I think it would be fun to do something upbeat, for a change of pace. Especially with the world being what it is, focusing on something positive would be nice. But also, I wrote this story years ago and it's just lived in my head, so I think it's time to finally put it out in the world as a comic for kids.
That doesn’t happen all that often, but when it does the best thing for me, unless I’m on deadline, is to just walk away from whatever for a while. Let my brain reset itself.
What do you think will be the future of your field?
No idea. I think it’s possible, even probable, that people will be reading comics for the rest of my lifetime, But in fewer numbers. I think people like the format. There are enough younger folks doing them that makes me think there is a future for the medium.
What cons do you attend?
I really don’t, much. Not anymore. The pandemic really shook me, and I already was iffy on cons, at the best of times. I kind of want to be active in them. I know it would help keep my name and work out there.
Any comments about attending them? We met at the Baltimore Comic Con years ago, and you mentioned enjoying that - why?
What comic books do you read regularly or recommend?
None, really. I generally “wait for trade,” like many consumers of comics. There are creators that when they have new work out, I must get it immediately, but their work is usually more in the OGN category. I love Noah Van Sciver’s work. He serialized Maple Terrace, and I got those as they were released, then bought it again in book form.
Do you have a local store?
Yeah, Secret Headquarters, in Atwater. I also get graphic novels and the like at Skylight Books’ annex. And Golden Apple.
Geez, it’s been a long time. Maybe twenty years? Maybe more? I loved the National Portrait Gallery. I’m trying to remember if that’s where I attended a great show of caricature art. Yeah, it was. Oh man, that was back in 1998. Okay, so yeah. It’s been a while. But it’s a very nice city, especially Georgetown.
Least favorite?
These days? Take a guess.
Do you have a website or blog?
Bobfingerman.com and my Instagram, bobfingerman. I also have a public Facebook page called Bob Fingerman – cartoonist & Author.
How has the COVID-19 outbreak affected you, personally and professionally?
It was pretty bleak for a while, there. Those two plus years of lockdown? Spraying groceries with alcohol when you got them home? It felt very almost hopeless. Like, “Is this how it’s going to be forever, now?” On the other hand, I got a lot done, creatively. Being a prisoner in my own home wasn’t too bad, really. And one advantage of having always worked at home in a solitary way kind of prepped me for lockdown. But I’m glad life feels pretty normal, again. Though I still get anxious around crowds, indoors. So, another impediment re attending cons. I was actually going to finally return to San Diego last year, but then I got Covid! It’s still out there. What a note to end on! Stay healthy, folks!
*Ok, it was 2013, according to my emails, so this interview is long overdue.
**Someone who can edit Wikipedia should update Bob's entry, based on this interview if nothing else.
***Still available if you're interested in writing about them for IJOCA. I've bought my own copies as I'm way behind on reviews.
****I tried to order Printopia from my local comics store - they can't get it because Diamond was stocking it, and nobody's getting anything from Diamond now. I then tried the publisher who was about to charge $20 shipping on a $25 book. So I bought it from Amazon for cover price, but against my usual instincts to support LCSs or indy publishers. YMMV.
