MERRIMENT

BY JOHN B. MOORE

When Joe Steinhardt – the founder of Don Giovanni Records – first started work on his new graphic novel, Merriment, he wasn’t thinking about who would illustrate it. But after showing it to his longtime friend and Screaming Females guitarist Marissa Paternoster, it became pretty obvious that the two should be working together on the project.

“Marissa is one of my closest friends and I originally showed her what I was working on simply to get feedback, and through that process it led to her illustrating the book,” Steinhardt says. “We share a dark sense of humor and bleak worldview that informed the story in the first place, so I couldn't really

think of anyone better to bring the words to life than Marissa.”

The story, told over 128 pages, follows Mack, who realizes that she may never be able to afford to live in New York City again, and is having a hard time adjusting to life in New Jersey. Add to that a mother who won’t let her forget that it’s hard for anyone to be happy these days. Oh, and she also thinks she might have committed a murder, and the FBI may be on to her.

“I actually started writing it as a screenplay, but through the writing process and feedback process, it started to make more sense as a graphic novel, especially with Marissa's illustration work,” Steinhardt explains.

when the majority of the words had been written, but Steinhardt admits she was the first person he thought of approaching to illustrate the story, once he realized it wasn’t actually a screenplay he was working on.

The two go way back. Paternoster is a visual artist, and her band has put out records on Don Giovanni since 2007. Steinhardt and Paternoster also play music together as Modern Hut. After the vision for the graphic novel came into clearer focus, they set up a Kickstarter to fund the project.

“The Kickstarter was a super-long pre-order to raise the funds for the supplies and time we will need to finish it,” Steinhardt says. “It is a slow, and I mean slow process, much slower than either of us really envisioned, to bring this idea to fruition. We have a solid workflow sorted out, though, and the coronavirus has given us some time to focus on finishing it. That said, once it is finished, we will do a traditional release process, including taking orders, and should have it distributed to stores and hopefully be able to do some book touring with it. But between the slow speed of finishing the illustration and production work, and the nearterm uncertainty about touring and manufacturing, when that will be is anyone’s guess.”

Regardless, Steinhardt says the book will get finished. In the meantime, you can pre-order it through Kickstarter, either in paperback, or a limited edition signed hardcover copy, which is limited to 200 copies. �� �� ��