The Philippe Labaune Gallery in New York City is back at it again. And “it” is curating amazing gallery exhibits honoring comic book artists, this time Paul Pope. Best known for his work on everything from Batman to Spider-Man, the new exihibit will feature original pieces from Batman: Year 100, Battling Boy, THB, Heavy Liquid, as well as homages to other artists, commercial art, and even some more personal works.
“I wanted to select pieces from across my career, from early work to my most current work,” Pope told Comic Book Club over an email interview. “We have a piece included which I did in the last month, and the oldest piece goes back to 1996. It’s crazy to think I’ve been in this field for almost 30 years, but here I am. There’s also a real value in seeing art up close and personal, especially for comics and illustration. The experience is very different from seeing the work in print. For one thing, my originals are quite large. The biggest piece in this show is 22×37”…seeing the art in person is a very immersive experience.”
The Paul Pope Exhibit is open to the public now, until Saturday July 26. For more on the exhibit from Pope and Labaune, as well as a tease about when you’ll get to see some new sequential art from Pope, read on.
Comic Book Club: There’s already a retrospective book, now you’re doing a second one and a gallery exhibition… Why is it important as an artist to look backwards?
Paul Pope: Well, the first monograph, PULPHOPE, was published by AdHouse in 2007 and sold out within a month. It was crazy. A lot has happened since then, it’s been almost two decades. Hard to believe. Boom! Studios’ boutique imprint Archaia approached me in late 2023 with the idea of doing a second book. Not a reprint, but an expanded and updated volume. We’ve included a lot of rare and hard to find work to the new volume, as well as some of the “greatest hits,” as it were. A new interview and updated essays on things like the motivation to make art, process, memories and reflections. I think it’s important to take a step back at times in order to see where you’ve been, the path you’ve either chosen or was thrust on you as an artist or creative type. My own personal library is full of artist monographs and books of essays. Some artists such as Paul Klee or George Grosz wrote eloquently about their ideas and intentions and processes. That was an inspiration for me. I wanted to make a cartoonist’s monograph which stood out from the others, because it is an artist’s monograph first and foremost. Showing in one of the premiere galleries in NYC was a logical next step, and I appreciate the offer Philippe extended to make this a reality.
When you’re constructing an exhibition like this, what is the story you want to tell?
Pope: Mainly I wanted to select pieces from across my career, from early work to my most current work. We have a piece included which I did in the last month, and the oldest piece goes back to 1996. It’s crazy to think I’ve been in this field for almost 30 years, but here I am. There’s also a real value in seeing art up close and personal, especially for comics and illustration. The experience is very different from seeing the work in print. For one thing, my originals are quite large. The biggest piece in this show is 22×37”…seeing the art in person is a very immersive experience.
Philippe Labaune: With an exhibition like this, the goal is to represent the full scope of Paul Pope’s vision—to show the sheer range and ambition of his work. Paul has crossed so many genre lines and stylistic traditions, constantly reinventing what comics can be. This show functions as a kind of survey, offering a glimpse into the worlds he’s built—from dystopian futures to hero’s journeys, to deeply personal and experimental pieces.
The story we’re telling isn’t linear—it’s more to show his evolution as an artist. What ties it all together is Paul’s fearless approach to the medium. He moves fluidly between influences—manga, European comics, American pulp—and fuses them into something entirely new. That boundary-breaking spirit is what we wanted to highlight.
Ultimately, the exhibition is about honoring an artist who’s expanded the language of comics and visual storytelling. It’s a celebration of how far the medium can go when placed in the hands of someone with Paul’s imagination and conviction.
Are there pieces that didn’t make the cut?
Pope: Oh yes, and as it is, the exhibit size and scale expanded as we started looking at the work. I’d say about 50% of what I initially brought in didn’t make the final cut. Back to the stack in my flat file for you! But what we are showcasing is a wide range of very good brush and ink drawings, some pieces in color or ink wash.
Labaune: Yes—there always are. With every exhibition, one of the biggest challenges is editing. Paul came to us with such an incredible range of work, and while we would have loved to include everything, we had to be selective. The goal was to curate a show that felt balanced and representative of his evolution as an artist.
Each piece we chose had to contribute to the larger story we were telling—one that captured the full range of Paul’s vision, from high-energy storytelling to more intimate, experimental work. There were certainly pages and drawings we admired deeply that didn’t make it in, simply because of space or cohesion. But in the end, we focused on assembling a body of work that speaks to his versatility, his influences, and the unmistakable voice he brings to the medium.
You’ve been mostly delivering cover work rather than sequential art for the past few years… How is that reflected in the gallery show?
Pope: I am actively working on new comic book pages, but what I am doing now is essentially writing and drawing graphic novels. The final work is a book–200 or 500 pages. It’s quite different from monthly periodicals and it takes a lot longer to make the work, which nobody can see for years at a time. In between I seek out commercial gigs here and there. Covers have been instructive because it’s a different type of image-making. In comics you can be a bit roughshod, not all panels need to be perfect or tell the whole story. A cover is the opposite because you have one image to tell the whole story or convey a character or theme. We have examples of both in the show.
Labaune: We aim for a balanced mix of both cover art and sequential pages. While covers often get a lot of attention—and rightfully so, as they tend to be bold, iconic pieces—we view sequential art as essential. It’s where the storytelling really unfolds, and that’s a big part of what we want to showcase.
With Paul’s work, the narrative flow, the pacing, the panel composition—these are all vital to understanding his artistry. So while there are some striking covers in the show, we also made a point to include pages that highlight his storytelling abilities. That’s something we always try to do. In fact, with our recent Will Eisner exhibition, we had the opportunity to show an entire story in full sequence for the first time (The Super from A Contract With God), and it reminded us just how powerful that format can be.
That said, you are returning to finish up — or at least continue — Battling Boy… Is any of the direction you’re headed with that book reflected in the show? And what is it like tackling sequential storytelling again?
Paul Pope: We decided to showcase the initial test page I did for Battling Boy when I first pitched the project to :01. We have a couple pages from THB in the exhibit as well. I own all of the Battling Boy and THB artwork, and we have plans to exhibit that another time. I am still working on Battling Boy 2. When it’s all said and done, Battling Boy will be around 500 pages and THB is over 1000 pages. My next book on the shelves will be Total THB vol.1 which is out this November from the new adult imprint at Macmillian, 23rd Street Books, a sibling to :01.
Broad question to end here, but an artist’s life is pretty solitary. What’s the experience like in a packed gallery when your art is up on the walls?
Pope: You’re right, most of the cartoonist or writer’s life is solitary and contemplative. I have grown to dislike the exorbitant pageant of the large conventions, preferring more intimate venues where you can actually talk to the people who show up. Philippe’s gallery is becoming a real focal point for great comics/manga/European comics and illustration, so it’s a perfect fit. I get to be my own front man for an evening.
The Philippe Labaune gallery is located at 534 West 24th Street in New York and is open from Thursday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm.
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