Worth Your Time and Dollar: Robin Bougie

Thematically, I guess these last two are the 'Canadian' editions of "Worth Your Time and Dollar".

I discovered Robin Bougie's comic/zine CINEMA SEWER due completely to the old mantra 'judging a book by its cover'. I was in a comic store somewhere in Vancouver (one that had a spinner rack filled with local comics and whatnot), and was drawn in by the cover to #12. Usually purchases like this amount in something not even always novel, and quickly forgotten about or discard...not this time. The night after I picked up #12, I was back at the store and caught up with everything they had.

Remember how I said Dave Cooper might not be for everybody? Well, that probably goes doubly for Bougie, who I love but I'm not blinded by that love and realize some people probably wouldn't find an article on, say, bestiality porn in the 1970s, or the wonder of water sports to their personal tastes. There's a bit in there for the horror/exploitation movie fan, and an even smaller amount for the comics fan, but I could definitely understand their being somewhat a small audience for the material Bougie (and I) go for.

What is probably the most striking thing about CINEMA SEWER is that it is almost all entirely hand written. At first it is rather daunting, but you soon forget about it, and find yourself forgetting that almost nothing is hand lettered anymore...let alone actual articles. It actually reminds me a lot of Robert Crumb's text, which may or may not be intentional.

Saying Robin Bougie is the sole hand behind all of CINEMA SEWER is misleading of course. Bougie brings in his friends for writing (which Bougie typically hand writes and illustrates himself), and a lot of the recent issues have sported lovely Danny Hellman covers.

One of the neatest things was I was only in Vancouver for the week and a half with Shanell and it just happened to be around the time of the Vancouver Comics Zine Festival. Looking it up, lo and behold, Robin Bougie would be there! I made my way down there on the Saturday? I think it was, and got to meet him. Extremely friendly, and very open to talk about his stuff. I always kind of feel bad because I remember him pointing out Rebecca Dart's (his wife) comic RABBIT-HEAD, which I told him I actually had ordered in for myself just a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if he believed that, or if I was being polite, but it is true! Yeah, that's something else everyone should buy too, if it is still available...RABBITHEAD!

Robin Bougie maintains a daily blog, which you can find over on the link scroll, and you can buy his wares here, and via email and Paypal. Probably one of the best buys is the recently released CINEMA SEWER book, which collects the best of CINEMA SEWER #1-12. I actually found I recognized a lot of the material from #11 & 12, which just might mean that is when he personally felt he hit his stride. The biggest bonus with ordering the book directly from Bougie is he will personalize your copy with whatever you want him to draw on the inside. He's been doing this so often that apparently he's even thinking of making a comic collecting these.

I've been buying all the recent issues of CINEMA SEWER from Bougie direct. What I miss was his porn magazine clipping, with white-out text balloons with the woman in question pleading for my subscription money. Maybe if I, and everyone else reading CINEMA SEWER, had done so, we wouldn't have to wait now for February to roll around for our new issue.

-Jarrett