Steve Bissette on TABOO and Publishing Horror

In part two of their discussion, Steve Bissette lays out the late-1980s self-publishing moment after his run on Swamp Thing, tracing how Dave Sim's Mid-Ohio Con outreach and critique of corporate profit flows led Bissette and John Totleben to launching the horror anthology Taboo and all points in-between: the Cerebus/Diamond Distribution "phone book" controversy, the Puma Blues fallout, the Creator Summits and the Bill of Rights that came from them. From there to topic focuses on Taboo itself and the creative pitfalls he had to navigate to get out even the short run that eventually saw print. The topic of comics as creative protest, then and now, is brought up and run through its paces: what would something like Mad Love's Aargh! look like today? Where does ego sit in the publisher's toolbox? The importance of creatives learning business before the business teaches it to them is just one of the threads in this back-half of the epic Steve Bissette conversation!  [This episode is number 832 in a series.]      CHAPTERS   00:00 - Intro 04:41 - Meeting Dave Sim at Mid-Ohio 05:44 - The Inverted Pyramid Lesson 09:40 - Collaboration Complications 11:55 - Launching The October Project 14:11 - Diamond vs the Cerebus Phone Books 20:17 - Taboo Goes Independent 21:29 - Creator Summits and Bill of Rights 27:52 - Modern Contracts and Creator Traps 36:12 - Promotion Is Still on You 40:41 - Curating Disturbing Horror 45:34 - Taboo Shock Factor 46:35 - Rick Grimes Defense 47:48 - Lost Girls Risks 48:58 - From Hell Origins 49:51 - Eddie Campbell Choice 52:49 - Cover Art Rivalry 55:14 - Midwife Ego Lesson 58:35 - Aargh! and Activist Comics 59:59 - Sticks and Stones Fallout 01:04:20 - Anthology Survival Advice 01:12:33 - Budgets Page Rates 01:20:49 - Business Truths Teaching 01:23:10 - Huckster Hat Plug 01:26:45 - Outro