by Alex Deuben

Dave McKean’s first love was comics, but the artist, designer and writer has branched into other fields, creating book and album covers, publishing multiple books of his photographs and paintings, and has even drawn stamps for the Royal Mail. He’s the illustrator of Arkham Asylum, the landmark 1989 graphic novel written by Grant Morrison. He worked with John Cale on multiple books and collaborated with Heston Blumenthal on the memoir and cookbook, The Big Fat Duck Cookbook.

McKean is probably best known for his many collaborations with writer Neil Gaiman. McKean was the cover artist on The Sandman, illustrated Coraline and The Graveyard Book and the pair have created a series of graphic novels and picture books including Violent Cases, Signal to Noise and Mr. Punch. One of their collaborations was the film Mirrormask, which McKean co-wrote, designed and directed. It’s led to another career as a filmmaker, with two films currently in progress.

Working on his own, McKean has crafted dozens of short comics, many of which were collected in the book Pictures That Tick. He also authored Cages which is widely considered one of the most acclaimed and ambitious graphic novels ever created. McKean’s new book is Celluloid which was published by Delcourt in France and was just released by Fantagraphics in the United States.

Read our exclusive interview with Dave McKean on SuicideGirls.com.

by Keith Daniels

After 30 years together the Flaming Lips are still among the best and most interesting bands in the world. Blessed with a rabidly loyal fanbase and the pockets of indulgent major label patrons, the Lips have been able to pursue just about every project that struck their interests: recently including covering Pink Floyd’s entire Dark Side of the Moon album, releasing an EP every month for a year in forms as diverse as Youtube videos and USB drives embedded in gummy fetuses. This summer their always unforgettable live shows will even mix Dark Side of the Moon with The Wizard of the Oz in a way that seems almost inevitable.

SuicideGirls recently spoke with frontman Wayne Coyne about his new art gallery, The Wizard of Oz, and the power of Twitter.

Read our exclusive interview with Wayne Coyne on SuicideGirls.com.

by SG’s Team Agony feat. Clio, Squee and Elea

Let us answer life’s questions – because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls.

Q: My boyfriend seems to drink a lot. He’s very sensitive when I try to talk about it, but he’ll spend nights in by himself getting drunk. Not only that, but he plays an awful lot of Xbox, daily as soon as he gets home from work and all weekend (we live together).

I just don’t know what to do anymore. Please help.

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

Money Mark was money before money was a popular expression. Money’’s work as the keyboardist for the Beastie Boys has made him a highly regarded figure in the hip-hop world. It’s always a shock when he puts out a solo album and it is so radically different from the live and album work he has done with the Beasties. That shock was even more apparent when his new album, Brand New By Tomorrow, was released through Jack Johnson’s label Brushfire Records.

Read our exclusive interview with Money Mark on SuicideGirls.com.

by Aaron Colter

This week’s post is short, like the albums on the list. No time to waste. We’re all dying. Besides, what has Tibet gained in their patience?

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

The landscape of standup comedy on television has taken a surprising turn in the past few years. People like Artie Lange, Patton Oswalt and Paul Mooney are doing these amazing standup shows and are videotaping them in a very cool verite way. In the wake of the success of The Comedians of Comedy, Zach Galifianakis and director/editor Michael Blieden have teamed up again to bring Zach Galifianakis – Live at the Purple Onion to DVD. Besides Galifianakis’ hysterical set at the world renowned venue, we also get to see his “brother” Seth get interviewed by NPR’s Brian Unger and get some real personal moments with Zach.

Read our exclusive interview with Zach Galifianakis on SuicideGirls.com.

by Laurelin

I have always loved a challenge. Who doesn’t love to be tested to the limits, and pushed beyond their comfort zone to see if they can rise to the occasion and be successful? The human mind and body can be pushed, and the reward is sometimes nothing more than the personal satisfaction of knowing you did it. Take rock climbing for example. I started a while ago after reading John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. I thought that the climber’s concept of ‘mind over matter’ when it comes to physical activity was fascinating. To be able to push on and keep going when every muscle in your body is screaming for rest, to be halfway up a mountain (or in my case, a rock wall in a gym) and know that if you stop, you fall, and you might die.

When I’m climbing everything in the world goes silent; all you can think about it putting one leg in front of the other and pushing up to find the next finger hold. You must go on. Failure is not an option. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I find myself searching out similar challenges when it comes to men and dating. I crave a chase and hopefully big payoff. The guys I fall for usually have something wrong with them that I think I can fix, some undesirable quality that I convince myself I find endearing, something that makes things absolutely more difficult than it needs to be.

During my freshman year of college over a decade ago, I fell for one of the biggest “players” I had ever come across. This guy was a disaster, pledging a fraternity and totally dedicated to his brothers, but not at all to his school work, running though women like his life depended on it. And all the while, I was chasing after him, spending too much time with him, then watching him with other girls and feeling terrible. There had to be a real person under there somewhere. I was going to find him, and he was going to fall in love with me and stop all that crazy behavior. I could do this, I knew it.

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