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Janet Lee Talks About Movning Dapper Men To The Top Shelf


img_20170421_143019501Greg Baldino writes for Bleeding Cool from C2E2,

The news only just broke about Janet Lee and Jim McCann's Return of the Dapper Men getting not only a new home with a new publisher, but also planning new books continuing the Dapper Men stories. Literally the nicest person in comics, Janet sat down in artist's alley, booth P-6, to talk about the book, her creative process, and Tim Gunn's culinary prowess.

Greg: Janet, for people who may not have heard about it, what is the story of Return of the Dapper Men?

Janet: Return of the Dapper Men is a steampunk fairy tale; it's a story about a world where there's no grown-ups, just kids and robots, and time has stopped completely. And suddenly 314 Dapper Men show up, and they're there to restart time. The bulk of the book takes place when the kids are figuring out what it means to have a destiny and save the world before bedtime.

And it's all done in decoupage. I'm the weird guy who does decoupage.

Greg: So with that in mind, what's it like working on a page of Dapper Men in that style?

Janet: Sticky (laughs,) very sticky! It's constructed with original illustrations that get cut out and glued down onto wood. So there's a lot of tiny pieces of paper and glue, but the fun part is I get to play with the composition until it's ready to go. It's a really intuitive process, it's fun. I enjoy it.

Greg: Now the exciting news is that Dapper Men is getting reprinted–

Janet: It is! It's been out of print for a while, and we are now with Top Shelf Comix, which is very exciting. We are rereleasing the Return of the Dapper Men as a deluxe edition, it's got much much more coming out in the volume out this summer. And that leads up to the sequel which comes out next year, The Time of the Dapper Men. And then we'll have a third one after that.

Greg: The original edition of the Dapper Men was a gorgeous book, but one of the things I found most surprising and charming was the introduction from Tim Gunn from Project Runway. How did that come about?

Janet: That was all Jim McCann! He used to work for Marvel, and when he was working there he worked with Tim on a comic called Models Inc, I believe? He either wrote it or he was a consultant for it, but either way he was at Marvel a lot. He and Jim lived in the same neighborhood and they took the same train every day, and they got to be friends. So when Jim wrote Return of the Dapper Men, he asked Tim if he would read it, and maybe do an introduction for it. Tim read it and invited Jim over for brunch where he made frittatas and mimosas and he agreed to write the introduction.

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Greg: Fantastic!

Janet: I know! I'm geeked out completely, I want him to make me frittatas!

Greg: Do we have a release date for the new book?

Janet: We are nailing that down, it should either be late summer or early fall of next year, but we should have a date in the next couple of weeks. By San Diego I should have dates for everyone.

Greg: Great! Janet, thank you so much.

Janet: You're welcome!

Greg Baldino lives in a world where time has stopped completely and everything is glued in place. His books and articles are literally all over the planet. Tim Gunn, if you're reading this, I'm free for brunch next Sunday.


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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