Benjamin Marra has built a career on pushing comics to new places, whether via over-the-top action, crime stories, or genre exercises that revel in excess. As such, his most ambitious project may also be his most unconventional. What originated as a simple experiment during the pandemic, posting a four-panel comic strip to Instagram every day, has evolved into an expansive, unpredictable graphic novel saga that Marra now believes could become his life’s work in comics.
The latest chapter is out in bookstores and comic shops now: What We Mean By Yesterday: Vol. 2. It’s a book that upends expectations by leaving behind the characters and storylines of the first volume to follow Ninkugel, a conniving peasant whose talent for lying and self-preservation sends him on a winding trip through a strange and often absurd fantasy world. It’s a sharp turn that speaks to Marra’s willingness to surprise readers, embracing detours and mysteries rather than straightforward storytelling.
To unpack such a unique comics reading experience, I recently asked Marra all about What We Mean By Yesterday. That includes the origins of the series’ enigmatic title, why he prefers that readers experience the story one day at a time, how a daily four-panel routine transformed the way he makes comics, and why What We Mean By Yesterday has become a catch-all for every story he wants to tell. We also talk about social media, creative endurance, black comedy, and the surprising path that turned a loose drawing exercise into a multi-volume epic.
Courtesy of Fantagraphics.
AIPT: What We Mean by Yesterday is a fascinating title. Could you unpack what it means for the series or for you personally?
Benjamin Marra: I’m very interested in titles of things. They’re important to me. I spend a lot of time brainstorming titles. It was so long ago I thought of What We Mean By Yesterday that I can’t remember exactly what I was thinking. I know I needed to come up with a title for a comic, and I knew I didn’t want it to sound too genre-based, like a lot of my other books, since this comic was going to be more about “normal life.” I wanted it to sound more literary (even though I’m not a fan of “literary” comics). I’m a big fan of Raymond Carver, and I thought it sounded a little too much like “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” so I ran it past some friends of mine, who said it didn’t matter. I liked what I came up with enough that I didn’t change it. What it means is up to the reader. It’s a mystery, as the comic is also supposed to be.
AIPT: As a kind of diary, how do you approach each day’s chapter, knowing the events of the day could influence the comic’s direction? Or, are you plotting ahead?
BM: I do plot ahead. But I only have key narrative beats planned out. I don’t know what the story is in between those beats. So the day’s comic is based on the previous one, heading in the direction I have in mind. I think I read George R.R. Martin say somewhere that it’s like taking a road trip. You know the cities and towns you’re going to stop in, but you’re not sure of the route you’re going to take between them. I don’t think this approach has worked out for Martin, however.
Courtesy of Fantagraphics.
AIPT: In the introduction for What We Mean By Yesterday‘s second volume, you ask readers to experience the comic one strip a day, right around 3 p.m. What is it about that specific rhythm and time of day that feels important to the story, and how do you think it changes the reading experience?
BM: 3 p.m. is the ideal time to read the comic, wherever you are in the world. It’s after lunch, when you need another break from the workday or whatever else you’re doing. Reading the comic strip a day, every day, allows you to absorb the panels, then meditate on them, letting any tension they provide build toward the next day’s reading experience, or for any catharsis to wash over you and prolong the enjoyment. If you read it straight through, you deny yourself this experience. However, I’m no longer a believer in life optimization, so ultimately it’s up to the reader how they want to digest the story.
AIPT: Volume two takes a sharp turn away from Bruce Barnes and introduces Ninkugel. What made you want to pivot so hard instead of continuing directly from where Volume 1 left off?
BM: Well, What We Mean By Yesterday has become a catch-all for every story I have in my head. Ninkugel’s story had lived in my head for a long time, and when I finished volume one, I realized I had an opportunity to finally tell his tale. I thought it would be an interesting surprise for readers and jarring when they were suddenly thrust into a new, very different narrative. When I’m reading, I love to be surprised. I don’t like obvious choices. So I thought the surprise would be entertaining for the readers.
Courtesy of Fantagraphics.
AIPT: The project started as a daily webcomic with one page posted per day. How did that structure shape the storytelling, especially when you’re thinking about pacing and cliffhangers?
BM: It allowed me to take my time and really think about what moments I wanted to capture next. It also gave me time to let my imagination come up with new ideas that pushed the story to places I didn’t think it would go. As I said, I have narrative beats I intend to hit, but that doesn’t stop me from meandering in directions that are totally unexpected, even to me. So the structure allowed me creative space to come up with ideas that sent the story into new and unexpected directions. As for pacing, it stayed pretty slow and glacial, which I enjoyed. The cliffhangers all happened organically. With no real pace, they arrived naturally.
AIPT: You’ve kept up that one-page-a-day discipline for a long time. What does that routine look like for you, and how has it changed the way you approach drawing and writing?
BM: It’s changed everything because it’s now difficult for me to do comics any other way. I prefer the four-panels-a-day approach. At the end of the year, I have a 300-plus-page graphic novel. The approach leverages time to my advantage rather than letting time work against me.
Courtesy of Fantagraphics.
AIPT: Posting on Instagram was a huge part of this project early on, and now it looks like things are shifting more toward Patreon. What’s behind that change, and how has your relationship with platforms evolved over time?
BM: Not really, other than I, like most others, have come to disdain social media and what it does to our psyche and lives. I hope my comic is a salve against that poison, but it probably isn’t. If people are drawn to Instagram to read my comic, they likely will spend more time on the platform than they should. Still, I appreciate everyone who reads the comic despite it being on social media. I like Patreon. It’s good for what it is. I am eternally grateful to the supporters I have there. They are loyal and dedicated, and I can’t thank them enough.
AIPT: With the series growing into something this ambitious, has What We Mean by Yesterday become your primary focus professionally, or are you still balancing it alongside other work?
BM: What We Mean by Yesterday is not my focus professionally. I wish it could be, but it’s more of a tertiary project, sometimes quaternary, or quinary. First is my main day job. Then there’s my freelance illustration work. Then comes What We Mean by Yesterday, but only if I’m not working on a painting or something else that’s come up. What We Mean by Yesterday is my most personal project, but it isn’t my priority, at least not now. If it were, I could probably finish three or four pages a day and complete three or four volumes each year. Even though it’s not my priority, I still make time for it almost every day.
Courtesy of of Fantagraphics.
AIPT: The tone of the series blends black comedy, violence, and surrealism in a way that feels very deliberate. How do you know when you’ve pushed something far enough versus too far?
BM: Good question. I’m not actually sure. I guess it’s a gut instinct. But the What We Mean by Yesterday world has its own rules, and what feels right within that space is what governs my choices. So maybe it’s what serves the story best within the nebulous parameters of the fictional world that is my guide.
AIPT: Looking at What We Mean by Yesterday as a whole, what has surprised you the most about how it’s grown from a fast, loose experiment into a multi-volume graphic novel?
BM: What’s surprised me the most is just that, what you’ve stated. It grew from a drawing experiment and an endurance challenge for myself into a multi-volume graphic novel that will probably be my life’s work in comics. I could not have predicted that when I started.
What We Mean By Yesterday: Vol. 2 is available now via Fantagraphics wherever comics and books are sold.
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