Dame Darcy’s Gasoline

Dame Darcy

When I was in New York a couple of months ago, I was extremely fortunate to meet Dame Darcy. She’s an artist, writer, musician & film-maker, & when I was a teenager, she was one of my personal heroes. I used to buy her Meatcake comics off Ebay, then wait for months for them to arrive by some tragically slow shipping method, because there was no other way of getting them in New Zealand!

In July, my friend Dicie invited me to a birthday party in Brooklyn, where Dame Darcy was reading palms & tarot cards. Dicie, her boyfriend & I all lined up, & when it finally came my time to sit down, we started talking. To make a long story short, that was the beginning of a delightfully unusual friendship which included midnight jaunts to Ukrainian diners where we slurped borscht, talking about casting spells & realising we know all the same people.

Gasoline

But anyway. The point is this. Dame Darcy has a new graphic novel coming out in October. It’s a post-apocalyptic fairy tale called Gasoline, it’s about learning to survive in a world without gasoline, & it features… Fairies! Witches! Zombie sailors! Telekinesis! Voodoo rock bands! & eco-consciousness!

I’ve seen some of the pages & it is amazing — really original, beautifully drawn & radical in motive. I can’t wait to get my hands on the real, bound deal!

We met in Central Park to talk about it on an incredibly steamy day in July, & here’s what eventuated… (We also filmed an hour-long interview sitting on my bed in the West Village, parts of which are coming soon to a screen near you!)

For lucky American ducks, there are Gasoline events happening in Los Angeles & New York in November, with book signings, bands, Gitane Demon from Christian Death, costume competitions, art exhibitions & apocalyptic cabaret! Have a look & write the dates down somewhere. You’d be maaaaaad to miss it!