This article was run in the November 12th, 2002 issue of Real Detroit Weekly. Written by BJ Hammerstein.
Kingdom: Neil Swaab Brings Mr. Wiggles To Life
“Hey, I don’t know if this is who I need to talk to or not, but that comic strip, Mr. Wiggles, with Jesus in it, that’s blasphemy. You’re all going to go to hell.” -Anonymous phone message
Controversy. What’s not to love? Differing opinions sparking emotional debate with an outcome that can be peacefully agreed upon or, on a dime, could leave two friends at each other’s throats. Among other things, The First Amendment allows us the freedom of speech, but comments nothing about taste. And that’s not to say the comic strip Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles has bad taste. No, that’s not what we thought when then-Syracuse student (brought up in Southfield and West Bloomfield) Neil Swaab explained his evolving comic strip to REAL Detroit Weekly for consideration of publication. And since that fateful meeting in the summer of 2000, the phones continue to ring with anonymous objections and the talk of Jesus brings a snicker to some and a gasp to others — all in the name of art and comedy from the illustrator, comic artist and now author known as Swaab. “There’s definitely a more conscious sort of approach to trying to push things even further,” he said from his new residence in Brooklyn, N.Y. “I mean, that’s the whole point, trying to always expand that line one extra inch.”
Sure, it’s tough for Swaab to show his grandmother his work — which typically involves life contemplation between a human character loosely based on the author and his cute, talking, depraved little teddy bear friend. When Grandma shows off her grandson’s work, and bears witness to shit jokes and whatnot, Swaab explained the pride turns quickly to tears. But he assured me his mother, father and especially his grandfather are proud of the illustrious career Mr. Wiggles is beginning to offer. “I guess the Wiggles energy, ‘The Way of Wiggles,’ is kind of like an antisocial pride movement, about not really fitting in with society and society’s conventions. I think that Mr. Wiggles draws a lot of those feelings of alienation,” he explained. “And understanding how this whole society really functions and not feeling like part of this society, but feeling removed from it.”
Society has seen a lot of changes, but one underlying factor has always been the role of art and the limitless expression words, images, sound and texture can all have on perception. And for many people, like Swaab, the quest for existence is moving upward through society and, ultimately, having your voice heard among the sea of a billion others. “Doing the comic has definitely made me feel like I wasn’t just some mindless worker drone,” he continued. “That’s always been the best part about the comic, just feeling like I had something to contribute and something that made me an actual physical person and not just one of the mindless masses out there. There’s always things going on that I’m referencing — personal references — in the comic that nobody’s aware of. That’s kind of therapeutic in a way, as well.”
Laughter is good therapy, and depending on your sense of humor (let’s say it should be warped), Mr. Wiggles is your fix. Swaab has just self-published his first book, “Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles: Vol. 1,” a collection of the twisted tales compiled from the first 142 comics of “the lovable scamp.” Besides being published weekly in REAL Detroit, Mr. Wiggles also is published weekly in the NY Press and monthly at Gear, and recently was picked up by The Prague Pill in the Czech Republic. In addition, his work has been shown at the Dabora Gallery in Brooklyn, and the illustrator also was recently voted to be included in Print magazine’s New Visual Artist Review as one of the nation’s top 20 illustrators in the United States under age 30. But there’s much, much more for the mind behind this madness: “I have made a lot of sacrifices to get the book out there,” he said. “In terms of profit, I’m not going to make very much off this book — hardly even worth the effort — but again, it was important to me to get the work out and have people see it and experience it in a different context than they’re used to experiencing it. Right now, I’m writing a script for Mr. Wiggles — I’m writing jokes for it and I’ve written plots for the first six episodes. It’s really, really funny. I don’t know how it’s going to get made, but I’m going to try.”