I was excited when I first saw Pepe popping up on strange corners of
the internet. After years of spotting Matt Furie’s work at indie comics
shows like SPX and MoCCA, the online community was starting to take
notice of his work, albeit in that idiosyncratic internetty way. But
after years of bizarre and benign appearances on body building forums
and Kim Kardashian’s Twitter feed, the stoned frog character seemingly,
suddenly took a strange turn, embraced by some of the internet’s darkest
recesses. Over the past several weeks, Pepe was reference by
presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, highlighted on the Rachel Maddow
Show and, as of yesterday, designated as a symbol of hate by the
Anti-Defamation League. Suddenly, the artist’s phone start
ringing off the hook with dozens of calls from journalists asking Furie
to defend his benign cartoon creation. Sure most artists would kill for a
moment in the national spotlight, but practically overnight the
cartoonist was in the incredibly unenviable position of having his name
and creation linked with online hate groups. Furie kindly jumped
on the phone for a quick chat while driving from his home in Los Angeles
to an art showing in San Francisco. We talked about his unexpected and
unfortunate fame, the power of simple symbols and his on-going efforts
to steal Pepe back for the forces of good.
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