by Mike Favila, Senior Editor
I picked up a copy of Boys Weekend, by Mattie Lubchansky back in June, not knowing what to expect. I’d not been familiar with their work before, but I just browsed the first chapter and got hooked. I breezed through the rest of the book that night. If you haven’t read it yet, Boys Weekend is definitely a new take on ‘a bachelor party gone wrong’ tale. Unless you’ve had tech bros, underwater civilizations and cults in your bedtime reading, this will be a shocker.
ComicsOnline: Where did you get the inspiration for the world in Boys Weekend? Even though you’re roping in so many different genres, I accepted the mishmash right away. It felt natural to be in that world and just immediately connect with the characters.
Mattie Lubchansky: Thank you! The germ of the idea for the book was, right after I came out, I went to a bachelor party in Las Vegas. It was a much different situation (obviously) but it sent my mind in motion for the setting. I’m always looking for ways to add a bunch of fun genre stuff into anything I do, so it felt natural to build the world out from this one feeling I had.
CO: Could you name some of your influences? Horror/sci-fi/comics/otherwise?
ML: I’m a big fan of speculative fiction generally and I think that shows in a lot of the work, despite it not necessarily being that –– for this book specifically I was thinking a lot about Ursula K. LeGuin’s The Dispossessed (and her work more generally) – the way she describes someone encountering capitalism for the first time always stuck with me and I was struck by a similar feeling being in Vegas. I’m also a huge fan of the book BTTM FDRS by Ezra Claytan Daniels and Ben Passmore, which mixes horror and humor and social commentary in a way that I thought was really admirable.
CO: With the increased threat on trans people, what impact do you hope Boys Weekend will have?
ML: I truly don’t know what impact a book can have, to be honest. Direct, material action is always going to do more than anything like reading a story. If anything: any trans person reading that needs to hear that we should expect better for ourselves? I hope they take that away. If a cis person reads this and understands our experience a little better, I can’t complain about that.
CO: What’s the best way to reach you for readers that want to know more of your work?
ML: I’m on basically every social media app there is available and am always posting my work there. I’ve also got a free monthly newsletter for people that want to keep up to date free from the algorithm. I’ve got it all listed here!
CO: What projects are you working on now?
ML: I’m in the middle of pencilling right now, another book for Pantheon! It won’t be done for a little while but it’s going to be (I hope) weirder and grosser.
Do yourself a favor and pick up Boys Weekend when you get a chance. Not only is Boys Weekend an original spin on a well known trope, it’s actually a fun read.
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