Daniel Johnston likes comic books. In fact Daniel Johnston Loves comic books. Supposedly his favourite superhero is Captain America, but when I asked him he told me his favourite comic was the Fantastic 4. He prefers them over the X Men, and he likes both Marvel and DC comic books. This makes sense, because the universe Johnston portrays in his songs is a simple 4 colour one. Many of his better known songs ‘Casper the Friendly Ghost’ ‘Speeding Motorcycle’ and ‘Rocketship’ evoke the simple pleasures of this escapist and some would say childish form.
This is why we find ourselves in the Forbidden Planet Megastore in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue. We’ve decided that rather than do a sit down interview with the artist it might be more interesting to go comic book shopping with him. Daniel is distracted as he rumages through the bargains, it seems that visiting foreign comic book stores is one of his favourite parts of touring. He also seems keen to pick up a few bargains, rather than check out the new releases or collect classic editions missing from his collection. He is not however keen to show me what he has chosen, I think that’s going to have to wait until later, when he’s ripped off the shrink rap and pawed the pages for himself.
I had been warned that Daniel could be a volatile character. Here he seems distracted, with no interest other than the comics and the occasional war toy. It’s interesting to consider what lives others with similar afflictions to Daniel have to put up with. No one is really staring at him, but there are a few odd glances. I wonder if I should question those looking, I’d ask them if it’s because he’s a rock star or because he has a disability. I could ask them what they would guess he does for a living. I’d honestly have to say that if I saw someone of Daniels appearance walking down the street my best guess would be that they collected supermarket trolleys for maybe Sainsbury or possibly Waitrose.
