McCubbin talks 'Rent Girl' and ribcages

At Movie Poop Shoot, Marc Mason reviews Rent Girl, then chats with illustrator Laurenn McCubbin about collaborating with Michelle Tea, tackling sexual content, and the anatomical sins of Michael Turner:

MM: ... between this book and your self-published effort XXX LIVE NUDE GIRLS, you have developed a reputation as an artist who brings realism and beauty to the feminine form. You’ve concentrated on telling stories about real people, never using your talents for evil, like someone such as Michael Turner. Now you have a project coming out with Warren Ellis, QUIT CITY, which delves a bit into the speculative fiction arena. What was it like working on a book in the genre where women are usually treated more as fetish objects, and how did you adapt your personal style to it?

LM: Dude, you totally made me Google Michael Turner, and I may never forgive you. None of his women have ribcages! So, QUIT CITY - the great thing about working with Mr. Ellis is that he is a writer who can write an actual female character, with real personality. Nothing in his script rang false to me - the women are people that I feel like I would know. They have faults and weaknesses, yes, but they can still be heroic. Even if their heroism ends up as just taking control of their own lives.

Yeah, the genre does lend itself to the anatomically ridiculous, but I don't think that means that every artist has to choose to work that way, and there are some that don't. I want to be a part of that elite group! Heh.