Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Conversation begins at 10:40
Artist & illustrator Maurice Vellekoop (https://www.mauricevellekoop.com) joins the show to celebrate his amazing new graphic memoir, I'M SO GLAD WE HAD THIS TIME TOGETHER (Pantheon, bookshop.org/a/4669/9780307908735). We talk about the midlife crisis that led to the memoir (and the subsequent crisis that almost made him give up), the joy and pain of putting his life on the page, his process of self-discovery as a gay man and an artist, and why his mother hoped she wouldn't live to see the book come out. We get into his (editor) partner's sigh that told him the first draft needed a drastic rewrite, the role sublimation has played in his art & sex life, his accidental technique for drawing himself crying, how the AIDS crisis did & didn't affect his life, his decision on how to depict sex in the book, the incredible color palettes he uses throughout the work, and the realization that he had a 500-page book on his hands. We also discuss life on Toronto Island and what it was like during lockdown, why he'd like to try stage design (just once), his Pride tradition, why publishing a book of erotica (bookshop.org/a/4669/9781931160681) was a great stepping-stone for making a memoir, and more! Follow Maurice on instagram.com/mauricevellekoop • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-596-maurice-vellekoop • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod or paypal.me/vmspod and via our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
Conversation begins at 10:40
Artist & illustrator Maurice Vellekoop (https://www.mauricevellekoop.com) joins the show to celebrate his amazing new graphic memoir, I'M SO GLAD WE HAD THIS TIME TOGETHER (Pantheon, bookshop.org/a/4669/9780307908735). We talk about the midlife crisis that led to the memoir (and the subsequent crisis that almost made him give up), the joy and pain of putting his life on the page, his process of self-discovery as a gay man and an artist, and why his mother hoped she wouldn't live to see the book come out. We get into his (editor) partner's sigh that told him the first draft needed a drastic rewrite, the role sublimation has played in his art & sex life, his accidental technique for drawing himself crying, how the AIDS crisis did & didn't affect his life, his decision on how to depict sex in the book, the incredible color palettes he uses throughout the work, and the realization that he had a 500-page book on his hands. We also discuss life on Toronto Island and what it was like during lockdown, why he'd like to try stage design (just once), his Pride tradition, why publishing a book of erotica (bookshop.org/a/4669/9781931160681) was a great stepping-stone for making a memoir, and more! Follow Maurice on instagram.com/mauricevellekoop • More info at chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-596-maurice-vellekoop • Support The Virtual Memories Show via patreon.com/vmspod or paypal.me/vmspod and via our e-newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod



![Virtual Memories 536 - Ho Che Anderson
Conversation begins at 5:30
With GODHEAD Vol. 2 (Fantagraphics, https://bookshop.org/a/4669/9781683966715), Ho Che Anderson has fulfilled a graphic novel science fiction adventure 20 years in the making. He rejoins the show so we can talk about how GODHEAD changed over the years, where the idea of a device that lets users commune with God came from (and how it kinda sorta mirrored his grandmothers war for his soul), and what the process of making this book taught him about writing and comics storytelling. We get into why he loves science fiction on the screen, his experiences writing for film, prose & comics, the experience he had at Marvel with a Luke Cage miniseries that got cancelled at the last minute, and our Frank Miller experiences & some of the visual cues of RONIN in GODHEAD. We also discuss the need for religion, his fascination with the ocean, finding himself as a screenwriter (even with overlong drafts), why he donated his pages & materials from his MLK biography to the Billy Ireland library, his notion of legacy, and a lot more. Follow Ho Che on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/hocheanderson69/) & go listen to our 2019 conversation (http://chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-346-ho-che-anderson) • More info at https://chimeraobscura.com/vm/episode-536-ho-che-anderson • Support The Virtual Memories Show via https://patreon.com.vmspod and via our newsletter, https://buttondown.email/vmspod
[reposted from an earlier version, after the cartoonist & artist Nina Bunjevac complained about a dumb quip that I made, which has been removed] Virtual Memories 536 - Ho Che Anderson](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K2trurILDsM/mqdefault.jpg)






