Joe Matt

Joe Matt (born September 3, 1963) is an American cartoonist, best known for his autobiographical work, Peepshow.

Early life

Matt was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started drawing comics in 1987.

Personal life

In addition to his cartooning career, he is known for his large collection of vintage Gasoline Alley comic strips. Matt lived (illegally) in Canada from 1988 to 2002. He currently lives in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Career

In his autobiographical comic Peepshow, Joe Matt examines his inadequate social skills, his addiction to pornography, his cantankerous relationship with his then-girlfriend Trish, and the lingering effects of his Catholic upbringing.

Matt began creating 'Peepshow' in 1987. In 1992, his 'Peepshow' strips were serialized by Kitchen Sink Press under the title 'Peepshow: The Cartoon Diary of Joe Matt'. His work is now published by Canadian publishing house Drawn and Quarterly.

Joe Matt's work on Peepshow is part of the autobiographical comics genre, kick-started by the confessional stories of Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb. Along with these artists, Joe Matt's work frequently involves soliloquies "to camera". Peepshow is part of a self-referential universe that includes Matt's contemporaries Chester Brown and Seth, all of whom have included each other in their books.

Spent (band)

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Spent was an American Indie Rock band from Jersey City, New Jersey consisting of singer/guitarist John King, guitarist/singer/keyboardist Annie Hayden, bassist/occasional vocalist Joe Weston and drummer Ed Radich.

History

Spent formed in the early 1990s in Jersey City, New Jersey. After releasing several EPs under various independent labels the band released their first full album. Songs of Drinking and Rebellion was released in March 1995 on Merge Records, an indie label formed by Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance of Superchunk, a band that Spent toured with extensively throughout their career. In September 1996 the band released an EP entitled Umbrella Wars, which included a cover of Joe Walsh's A Life of Illusion. Umbrella Wars served as a teaser for their next album released a month later in October 1996 entitled A Seat Beneath the Chairs. In 1997 John King joined Superchunk lead guitarist Jim Wilbur in a side project called Humidifier releasing the album Nothing Changes on Link Records. On July 21, 1997 the band officially split. In 1999 their last song "(I'll Clean Up) The Mess That You Are" appeared on the 10 year anniversary album of Merge Records called Oh, Merge. They did reform briefly to perform at XX Merge, the 20th anniversary celebration of the label. The band never received much attention outside of the 90's indie rock world.

SPENT (online game)

SPENT is an online game about surviving poverty and homelessness created by ad agency McKinney for pro bono client Urban Ministries of Durham (UMD), whose mission "is to provide food, clothing, shelter and supportive services to neighbors in need".Players must make the difficult decisions necessary to live for one month on $1,000, often having to choose between equally disagreeable options. The dilemmas they face represent those that bring people to places like UMD: Do you make a healthy meal or keep the lights on? Cover the minimum on your credit cards or pay the rent? Hope your sick daughter gets better on her own or risk your job by leaving early to take her to the doctor? Let your son play in the after-school sports league or save the money needed for his uniform?

The game ends when players either run out of money before the end of the month or make it through with money left over.

Since its launch in February 2011, the interactive game SPENT has been played more than 4 million times in over 218 countries.