Artist Inspo #11

Mimi Pond

Hello my merry little turnip heads!

It’s time for a new, fresh, and oozing edition of “Artist Inspo”.

So get ready to get fanatical, because we got ourselves a fuggin’ icon this week.

Yes, the Simpsons GIF was intentional, because this week we’re featuring! 🥁🥁🥁

Mimi Pond

Cartoonist, writer, humorist, and illustrator Mimi Pond has done it all!…

Well, all the things that I personally aspire to anyway.

I first discovered Mimi’s work through her graphic memoir “Over Easy”, which is a hilarious and unique window into late-1970’s Oakland.

Punk was on the rise and hippies were on their way out (much like me and my ankle socks).

“A fast-paced account of diners, drugs, and California in the 1970’s”

I originally stumbled upon this masterpiece at Pegasus Books in Oakland around 2015 and after flipping through some pages I quickly came to realize:

1. It’s about waitressing (Wait, I did that for many years!)

2. It takes place in Oakland (Wait, I live[d] in Oakland!)

3. She works at Mama’s Royal Café (Wait, I patronize this establishment!)

Mama’s Royal Café - 4012 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94611

I’ve always been a real big fan of the memoir— can’t get enough of ‘em.

I find it endlessly inspiring to read about the messy early years of my heroes.

And if ever there were a hero of mine I related to more than Mimi, I’ve yet to find her (OK, fine, she’s tied with Lisa Hanawalt).

Here are two excerpts: One from Mimi’s memoir “Over Easy” and one from my comic, “Signal in the Noise”, each depicting characters crossing the Bay Bridge from Oakland into “the city” (SF).

After reading “Over Easy” I performed my requisite fangirl deep dive into all things Mimi online.

It turned out Mimi had a lot more to her name than just this awesome graphic novel.

Mimi was a cartoonist for many publications including: NYT, LA Times, The National Lampoon, and Seventeen magazine.

(Cue flashback to 12 year-old me begging my mom for Seventeen magazine and her saying, “You can get one when you’re 17.”Touché mother. Touché.)

She also wrote for television including Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Designing Women, and most famously wrote the very first Simpsons episode: "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" in 1989.

Now, you may be wondering: How the hell did this come about?

Mimi was friends with fellow cartoonist Matt Groening at the time and according to Vulture, he had asked several of his friends in the field to consider writing for the show and Mimi accepted the opportunity while many others declined.

Young Mimi with husband and cartoonist Wayne White.

Now I’m sure you’re inevitably thinking: “But why just one episode?”

Well strap in for some hot Simpsons goss, because Mimi has answered this lingering question for us, and it is as unsurprising as it is disheartening:

I was never invited to be on staff, and I never knew why for the longest time. No one ever called me or explained to me or apologized or anything. And it wasn’t until years later that I found out that Sam Simon, who was the showrunner, didn’t want any women around because he was going through a divorce. It had remained a boys’ club for a good long time. I feel like I was just as qualified as anyone else who came along and got hired on the show, and it was just because I was a woman that I was, you know, not allowed entry into that club. I always wind up being the turd in the punchbowl because the show is so beloved and everything, and I’m sorry to burst bubbles but [laughs]. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for me.

In the contemplative parlance of Bart Simpson:

“AY CARAMBA!”

More details can be read in this A.V. Club article.

In 2017 Mimi published her follow-up memoir, “The Customer is Always Wrong”, which I am literally ordering online right now because I had forgotten when I first heard years ago (what a shitty fan I am).

But to gracefully conclude this rendezvous into cartooning greatness I’m going to make this all about me again by saying that Mimi Pond has an interview in “A Case for Pencils”, which I have also been interviewed by!!!

OMG twiinnsssssssssss.

*glows in the adjacent light of Mimi*

Comments (Let’s Chat!):

• Are you a Simpsons fan?

  • Did you watch the original episode as it first aired like I did? *old*

• Were you previously familiar with Mimi Pond?

• Are you also a fan of the memoir?

  • Or are you a monster?

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Listening to: