Podcast: Inside The Reptile House

For this month’s trash barrel fireside chat, I interviewed Nicholas Bunch and MechanicalPencilGirl, two of the people behind my favorite current comic: Reptile House Comix.

Reptile House is a collective of Philadelphia-based comics creators. Every issue of their zine-format anthology is chock-full of lowbrow comics, art, and gags by creators like Tia Roxae, ShittyStyle, Cum Mask, and many more.

You can order Reptile House Comix directly from their website, or in finer comic book and zine stores. Nick recently released a collection of his “Blood Horn” stories that might be a good place to start, though personally I’d recommend just starting by picking up the first issue or two of the anthology and seeing if it’s your thing.

Nick and MPG talked me through Reptile House’s origins, their editorial philosophy, and what we can expect next.

You can listen through the YouTube embed above, or subscribe on Apple/iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcasting app. If you can’t find it in your app, you should be able to use this link to our feed.

Linkorama

Reptile House Comix: Instagram, website

Nick Bunch: Instagram, website

MechnicalPencilGirl: Instagram, website

Music by: Krudler

Above is Feral Publications’s review of issues 3–5 of Reptile House, it gives a pretty good overview of what you can expect.

Show notes:

MechanicalPencilGirl grew up in Virginia, the first comics she was exposed to were manga like Sailor Moon. Later she got into 70s underground comix, Heavy Metal, and erotica. She discovered Juxtaposed magazine which helped expose her to the world of art outside of traditional gallery art.

Nick had a cool uncle who would take him to the comic store. Nick really liked the Evan Dorkin Bill and Ted comic. Also, Spawn and the KISS: Psycho Circus comic. He got out of comics as he got older. When he moved to Philly, he wanted to do film, but realized he needed friends to make films. He was doing storyboards for the films, and realized those could just be comics.

Nick did a comic called Drunk Doofy before Reptile House.

Mechanical Pencil had a group called Girl Crime with Tia and others, they did art shows and stuff.

They were both part of Contour Philly, where they met a many other Reptile House folx. “It felt like we were the rejects” of that group.

Someone asked Nick to contribute to an anthology, but the deadline was too tight. The next issue was far off, so he, Mechanical Pencil Girl, and Tia decided to do their own anthology.

Nick begged people to contribute, thinks he got the right people to contribute.

A friend of Nick’s was applying for a job at the zoo, so that’s where the Reptile House name came about.

What makes a Reptile House artist? Nick says humor has a lot to do with it. Even though Tia’s stuff is serious and dark, he thinks there’s still some humor to it. Humor, fun, not taking oneself too seriously are the key traits.

MechanicalPencilGirl says the defining thing is just letting people draw whatever they want to draw. There was never a theme. Let people do what they do. No censorship, they encourage people to do whatever they want, never hold back.

They know the artists personally, trust them. They haven’t had to deal with anyone crossing any lines. The general rule is “no assholes allowed.” Vetting artists, not the content.

What Klint likes about Reptile House is that it can be offensive, low-brow, but still be socially conscience.

MechanicalPencilGirl tapped into offensive imagery in Reptile House # 3.

Rob Woods was one of the artists they most wanted for the book. “He walks a very fine line.” Subversive, funny, smart.

Doing the 3D issue was “fucking sucked” Nick says. It was a ton of work.

When they first started they wanted it to be available in-person only. But the pandemic made them focus on using Instagram to get the word out.

They’re not in Diamond, but they do wholesale through Domino. It’s available in a few comic and zine shops. It’s very DIY.

Klint: Hey Jason from Floating World: carry Reptile House and also please come on the podcast.

MechanicalPencilGirl plans to bring “Taco Meat” back in another venue where she can print the art at a larger size. She might do a “Maggot Cock” collection when it’s done.

She’s also working on toys and an art book.

They really like Scarfff Comix, a west coast anthology that’s been around about as long as Reptile House has.

MechanicalPencilGirl did a Maxx and Taco Meat commission for a fan.