Join us for a chat with award-winning writer/artist/performer/playwright/comics creator Cynthia von Buhler! The main focus is Cynthia’s Minky Woodcock graphic novel series, published by Titan Comics. And we connect the dots on related subjects too. Cynthia von Buhler is such a versatile creative person with one of the most impressive portfolios of work. Our conversation covers the last three graphic novels: the two recent Minky Woodcock books (read my reviews here and here) and a special treat, The Illuminati Ball, which is also an immersive stage experience.
The Illuminati Ball, immersive stage experience.
As you’ll find, all three of these titles share a lot in common: a fun and pulpy sensuous vibe; a love of quirky and uncanny history; and a relentless passion to solve a mystery.
The ever-expanding universe of Minky Woodcock.
One key factor about Cynthia’s art is its distinctive point of view. I get the feeling that I’m right there with the characters in their various activities. I can feel the rooms and environments; their bodies and sensuality. And there’s good reason for it. As we discuss during our chat, Cynthia goes to great lengths to be authentic whether it requires creating miniatures; having real life models, draped or nude; even living in the actual spaces once inhabited by her subjects. All of this adds up to a lived-in immersive experience, whether on the stage, in paintings or in graphic novels. We discuss this at length regarding Cynthia’s stay in the same room that Nikola Tesla lived in at The New Yorker Hotel for a decade. There’s a distinctive sense of place that is captured here.
Cynthia von Buhler graphic novels
An auteur cartoonist, someone who both writes and draws a work of graphic narrative, especially one with a fair amount of historical data, is going to need to be passionate about their work if they want to succeed. Cynthia von Buhler most certainly succeeds. As a graphic novelist creating work that weaves facts into her fiction, von Buhler revels in bringing to light all sorts of examples of truth being stranger than fiction. We chat about this in all three books we discuss. One perfect example comes from The Illuminati Ball with its history of the actual Illuminati, formed in 1776 by Adam Weishaupt. The goal of this “secret society” of scholars was simply to help “illuminate” common sense and stamp out superstition. This is a far cry from the urban myth that developed around The Illuminati which is steeped in superstition.
America’s Stonehedge no more.
Once a conversation ensues, it’s easy to lose track and, before you know it, you can be left with a few recipes for cocktails and not much else. I do my best to set the bar high. There were certain things I wanted to make sure to include during our talk. I am always struck by how much one can uncover if you’re willing to dig deep. There’s that 3-book rule: once you read three books on any given subject, you can call yourself an expert. Well, only relatively speaking since few people are willing to dig. I find Cynthia to be a kindred spirit when it comes to storytelling: covering the whimsical and the sensual; as well as the intellectual. You will definitely learn a number of things while reading one of her graphic novels, like the story of the Georgia Guidelines, nicknamed “America’s Stonehedge,” found in The Illuminati Ball. These monumental slabs of granite provided a road map to help society but succumbed to a bombing a few years ago and are now no more. At least it survives in Cynthia’s work.
Damsel in search of a gurney.
Lastly, this is a bit of bonus material. When I stumbled upon the fact that Cynthia had appeared on an episode of Oddities, the reality TV show on Discovery, I knew I’d found something worth a closer look. In this episode, circa 2012, Cynthia is putting together a stage show about her investigating the mysterious death of her grandfather.
Evan and Ryan on the search for grandpa’s gurney.
I found the episode, “A Gurney for Grandpa,” (S3 E16), after my interview so I wasn’t able to bring it up to her. That said, it added to my appreciation of her art. Cynthia grew up with the legend, and the trauma, of this death in the family. Her grandfather was a bootlegger in the 1930s in the Bronx, New York. Ironically, it was after Prohibition that he was shot by someone on a Manhattan street. But this tale takes a evener odder twist. Cynthia’s grandmother was pregnant with her mother at the time, and upon hearing the news of the murder she went into labor. Von Buhler’s grandfather’s body was laid out in one room of their small Bronx apartment while her mother was born in the room next to it. This family mystery would ultimately lead to one of Cynthia’s crowning achievements, Speakeasy Dollhouse, a series of immersive plays based on her investigations of mysterious deaths in site-specific historic locations. This project began as a series of dioramas, a favorite subject of mine, thus the name of the stage performance.
A dollhouse can help solve a mystery.
And so that’s why Cynthia appears on that episode of Oddities since, at the time, she was looking for a gurney prop for her show. It’s a perfect behind-the-scenes look at an artist’s lifelong quest to make sense of her world. Video podcast is just below. Your views, comments and Likes are always welcome.
What a fascinating artist and a fascinating back story she has regarding her grandfather!
Cynthia was meant to be an artist–or a detective, or both!