Comics Alternative

In this episode of The Comics Alternative's interview series, Derek talks with Zach Worton about his new book, The Search for Charley Butters, just out from Conundrum Press. This is the second in a planned trilogy, and one beginning with last year's The Disappearance of Charley Butters. As Zach describes it, this is a black comedy about depression and the way this condition manifests itself in isolation, addiction, and failed friendships. The narrative runs along two parallel tracks, one about the titular character, a painter from the 1950s who becomes an eccentric recluse, and the other about the present-day Travis who becomes obsessed with Butters's story as revealed in his diaries. This obsession begins to break down the relationships in Travis's life, and as the story unfolds he finds himself going to a personal dark place that is not entirely dissimilar from that the artist's. Zach talks with Derek about origins of this project, his reasons for serializing it over three volumes, and his rough plans for w