CHIRP: The Chicago Independent Radio Project

Tony Tschetter-Breed writes

Indie music, meet indie web comics

Ok, it’s redundant – web comics are by nature independent – but they do share a lot in common with independent music. These are cartoonists who channel their creative urges into self-published work, and gain popularity mostly via networking and word-of-mouth. And it’s probably not surprising that a number of them have an interest in independent music which shows up in their comics.

Here are a few:

Diesel Sweeties

Among the cast of misfits you’ll find Indie Rock Pete, who only likes stuff no one else had heard of yet. His goal: by the time you’ve heard of a band, he’s already long over it. (Diesel Sweeties has in fact hit the big time, with a syndicated newspaper comic – pretty unusual in the web comic world – but writer R. Stevens had kept his autonomy, and maintains his web comic separately from the newspaper comic.)

Questionable Content

You may be reading Questionable Content, see a character, and think, hey, I have that t-shirt. While the storylines are mostly about relationships and sex, references to indie music abound.

Scary Go Round

Every December, writer John Allison puts out a list of the top 20 albums of the year, with reviews written in the voice of one of his characters. 2008’s top pick was The Fiery Furnace’s Widow City, so John Allison is OK in my book. The rest of the year is devoted to stories involving things like goblins, drinking, and international espionage, told through purposely awkward dialogue.

Nothing Nice to Say

Billed as “the world’s FIRST online punk comic,” NN2S goes on and off hiatus regularly – currently it’s on hiatus, but you can still read the archives. Writer Mitch Clem also makes posters for punk shows around the country, so you may already have seen his work.

Overcompensating

The fictional diary of writer Jeffrey Rowland. Through his strips, he introduced me to The Decemberists and MC Frontalot; plus, he rants well and knows all about internet crazies.

And while not technically a web comic artist, Jeffrey Brown specializes in highly personal (confessional) comics that deal with relationships, cats, and even robots. Jeffrey is probably most recognizable to indie rocks fans for his work directing the music video for Death Cab for Cutie’s “Your Heart Is an Empty Room”.