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CONTINUED...
BV:I wanted to ask you about your hippy days, You said something about doing acid and I
was wandering how that effected your life and artwork?
HC: Tripping on psychedelics was a major learning experience for me and was a big part of
my life for several years. Then gradually I felt I had gotten most of what psychedelics
had to offer and shifted the emphasis to my art, where I could make use of the insights
and spiritual journeys that psychedelics had provided. The "creative high" takes
less of a toll on you physically and is more sustainable over years than highs that
involve chemicals. But despite all the anti-drug rhetoric that's around, I refuse to deny
the benefits I gained from that period of my life.
If you come across my book Early Barefootz, you'll find a long introduction that explains
the relationship between Don's and my psychedelic adventures and the comic strips that
grew out of them. There's also an essay expressing my current views about the dangers and
benefits of psychedelic experimentation. And they can be dangerous. (I compare them to
sky-diving.)
I stayed strictly away from any addictive drugs. I didn't want to have any outside fouce
controlling my life, whether it was heroin or the Army. And I wasn't much interested in
substances that did nothing beyond giving you a euphoric buzz, like speed. Any of these
drugs, including psychedlics, can really put your body through a wringer, like taking a
fifty-mile hike. For me, only the spiritual benefits offered by psychedelics justified the
temporary battering all of them inflict on your digestive tract.
I do urge real caution about putting stuff into your body. Most of my friends came through
the psychedelic years just fine and, in a few cases, were somewhat wiser for it. Others
might as well have just partied, for all the insights they got out of it. A few never got
their lives onto a productive track afterwards. Would they have had problems anyway, had
they never tripped? Who can know for sure? Did psychedelics push them over an edge they
wouldn't otherwise have approached? Possibly -- but again, you can't know. Consciousness
is a powerful force and should be explored only with respect, caution, and humility. At
least, that's the way I look at it.
BV: Let's talk about your fairly recent graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby. 
You originally thought it was going to take you 2 years to finish the book, yet it took
you 4 years, why the gross underestimation of time? Did something happen to put a hold on
it or did it just simply take longer to draw and write it then you thought it would?
HC: The latter, mainly. I had simply over-estimated my ability to will myself into drawing
faster. I learned that creativity can only be rushed so much before it rebels and insists
on moving at its own natural pace. When it became clear that the book was going to take so
long and eat up all of my savings in the process, I was forced to spend a certain amount
of time scrambling for money to keep it afloat. This (and the anxiety that accompanied it)
was a big distraction. But I knew I couldn't give up. I had to finish it, no matter what.
Now the book's been out for three years and I'm still $50,000 in debt. But I still don't
regret doing it, because it was the most fulfilling artistic experience of my life.
Sometimes you just have to absorb these difficult situations and then pick up the pieces
afterwards at whatever pace you can manage.
BV: I was curious about the process of how the book was put together, did you draw each
page on a board, or did you draw each individual frame on the pages on one board? Was it
hand drawn or did you use the computer to aid in the drawing?
HC: I had not begun working with computers (except for simple word processing) while I was
doing SRB. Each page in the book is a single drawing, not separate panels. I did it all by
hand. The originals are more than twice the size of the reproduced art -- roughly
17"x23", if memory serves.
BV: This was a very hard book to read for me. I'm a very sensitive person and it really
upset me to think that some of the characters in the book do exist and did exist. It
brought up old questions that seem to never leave me anyway but I usually can keep them at
bay most of the time (what is the purpose of life?) (who am I?)...
HC:Aha. I see your philosophical predilections are similar to mine.
BV: It also made me disgusted about being a human at times, to think that my own human
race has this kind of hate in them.I believe that we are all connected to this magnetic
field of life,of course that being so that means that I am part of this hate that exist. I
also like to think that we need hate and pain to know what love feels like, sort of like
that pulling that makes life interesting. I don't want for things to be perfect and I try
to accept pain and all the things that are bad in life, as a positive thing.
HC: It sounds like your spiritual moorings should hold you in good stead. They are humane
and generous toward other people and other living beings. Generosity and sensitivity are
really important in a world that's got so much brutality in it. Coming to terms with the
evil deeds that get committed in our world isn't easy. My view is that a lot of people go
through life with great, gaping wounds that lead them to strike out against others in ways
that are usually petty but are on some occasions monstrous. But there are other people who
find ways to have a positive influence in the world. One reason I wrote Stuck Rubber Baby
was to celebrate the latter set of people, people like Rev. Pepper, Shiloh, Anna Dellyne,
and (in his own wounded way) Sammy. I knew people like that, and still do. They had and
have the power to inspire others to try harder not to be brought down by the pain and
hate. We like in such cynical times, and I do think that cynicism is one of the greatest
killers. Knowing people like the Peppers can help us protect our spirits from the despair
it's easy to feel if we only think about the Sutton Choppers (or the Adolph Hitlers).
BV: My favorite character's were the older Toland and Mabel, Mabel with her eye trick made
me laugh so hard! One of the most disturbing parts in the book were when Toland ask his
father about black people's skull's. I don't know why but this really stuck with me
through the whole book.
HC: The business about coming across the picture of Emnmett Till's mutilated corpse in Jet
magazine was definitely real. I was in the second grade, and it spooked me for years.
Thanks for the interview Howard! ; )
More information about Howard Cruse can be found on his very well done website at: www.howardcruse.com
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