Episode 556 – Patrick McDonnell

Virtual Memories Show 556:<br /> Patrick McDonnell “I feel like I was The Watcher; I was witnessing — without interfering — this book happen. . . . The Watcher is the changeless witness to the changeful mind.” What’s it like to put out books with Jack Kirby and the Dalai Lama in the same year? Legendary cartoonist & artist Patrick McDonnell rejoins the show to talk about his amazing new books THE SUPER HERO’S JOURNEY (Abrams ComicArts), his collaboration with the Dalai Lama, HEART TO HEART: A Conversation on Love and Hope for Our Precious Planet (Harper One), and more! We get into the secret origin of The Super Hero’s Journey, the joy of getting to play with the comic-book characters of his youth and remix 1960s panels & pages with his own art & story, how he made a spiritual book disguised as a Marvel comic, and why the best art is when your mind is not involved. We also talk about the making of Heart To Heart, Patrick’s combination of minimal (but gorgeous) art with the Dalai Lama’s words to tell a story of ecological survival, getting to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharmshala (& finding some bliss), and the struggle of drawing a cartoon version of His Holiness and his small nose. Plus we discuss the approaching 30th anniversary of his MUTTS comic-strip and how Patrick keeps finding inspiration & fun in making it, how making books and paintings allows him to flex and play with his art, the ways making a comic strip parallels making haiku, the experience of showing his paintings at a big exhibition at OSU in 2021, and how purposefulness suffuses Patrick’s art & life. Give it a listen! And go read The Super Hero’s Journey and Heart To Heart! (And go listen to our 2017 conversation!) “I just did the Baltimore Comic-Con, and everyone who bought a book got not only my signature, but I also did a little drawing. And that was one of the happiest days of my life, just sitting at a table drawing Marvel superheroes all day.”