The Homeless Channel

by Matt Silady

When Darcy Shaw starts a 24-hour cable network called "The Homeless Channel," she thinks she's got everything figured out. But confronted with an unexpected romance, a sibling out on the streets and corporate sponsors who think they know what's best for her network, Darcy starts to wonder which is more important: saving the world or saving herself. Check out Matt Silady's intriguing debut graphic novel from AiT!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2007

About the author

After growing up in the Chicagoland area, Matt Silady taught eighth grade for six years in Champaign, Illinois before moving west to study creative writing at the University of California, Davis. It was there he discovered comics as a medium for fine art.

In 2007, he published his first graphic novel, The Homeless Channel. The story about a television executive attempting to start a 24-hour cable network for the homeless was nominated for an Eisner Award.

Since then, Matt accepted a teaching position at California College of the Arts where he helped expand the undergraduate comics curriculum and founded CCA's MFA in Comics program in 2013. After chairing the graduate program from 2013-2021, Matt guided the creation of CCA’s new BFA in Comics curriculum and will serve as chair for the undergraduate cartoonists as the first cohort arrives in the fall of 2022.

Professional projects include serving as Guest Editor of the SF Weekly Comics Issue and the launch of the inaugural San Francisco Comics Festival. His comics and writing have appeared in publications such as Barron's Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel, Sonoma Magazine, PMLA, and Keywords for Comics Studies published by NYU Press. In 2016, Matt collaborated with the open education platform, Kadenze, to bring a free, online comics course to over 10,000 students from 81 different countries around the world.

Reviews

[Petergiaquinta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Matt Silady’s graphic novel addresses the problem of homelessness and the shit show of reality television that turns the suffering of others into entertainment for the unwashed masses. When those two misbegotten elements combine to create The Homeless Channel, nothing good will result, despite the efforts of a well-meaning producer who learns some tough lessons in the process.

I really wanted to like this, but it’s a bit dull and doesn’t seem to go anywhere by the end. Sorry, Matt.

P.S. Grady reminds me of you.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kinda weird giving my own novel a star rating. ; )

If anyone's interested in sampling the first chapter of the story, I invite them to check it out right here: [http://www.mattsilady.com] There's also some behind-the-scenes type stuff for those (like me) who are into that sort of thing. Here's a selection of some of other reviews that are out there on the web:

"Matt Silady explores his ludicrous premise in Homeless Channel with intelligence, yielding powerful drama when Darcy's mentally ill sister enters. The imagery is incongruously antiseptic, but sometimes inspired, as when Darcy's life plays out on a Candy Land-like board. A-" Entertainment Weekly

"Raw, smart comic... visually stunning..." Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing:
[http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/08/...]

"There’s the same slightly crumpled, wry idealism at work here as there is in the very best episodes of The West Wing... unmissably good." Alasdair Stuart, Fractal Matter:
[http://www.fractalmatter.com/main/?p=606]

"With fully realized characters, this slice-of-life book shows that you don’t have to have capes and eye-beams to make a good comic." Ain't It Cool News
[http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33067]

And if you've read the book, I'd love to hear what you think. Loved it or hated it, I'm interested in hearing it all. I'm not worried about criticism. If we all liked the exact same kinds of stories, then all the books out there would be exactly the same! And that would be no fun at all.

All the best,

Matt

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've known Matt Silady for about ten years; this is his first graphic novel, and it's fantastic. The story is of a woman who starts up a cable network completely built around the topic of the homeless in Chicago. There are standard cable shows that have their intent tweaked towards the subject at hand, and there are also times when they just have a live feed pointed at the streets. The story is compelling, the characters are flawed but likable, and the art style reminds me more than a little of Michael Gaydos. (Matt says that's interesting, as the art was based off of photos he did - I immediately recognized on my first reading that he was his own model for the character of Grady - and that he's heard that Gaydos works off of photos in much the same way.) Especially considering this was his debut work, that's some impressive talent on display. Seriously - pick this one up.

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of The Homeless Channel is current and edgy. The characters seem very real, and the story unfolds at a slow yet interesting pace. Once I started reading it I couldn't stop till I was done. That to me is the true test of a great story. The art was also excellent. I had picked up the book at the Wizard World Chicago Con and that night had a pile of books to read. This one stood out from the bunch. The next day I was shooting video interviews and got a nice interview with Mr. Silady
[http://youtube.com/watch?v=KD183ZDlnOY]
and it was fascinating hearing him tell how he produced the story and the art all himself. This book deserves to be popular and from what I can tell it already is!

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept that gets side-tracked a little too often for my tastes. There's a line towards the end where the main character says she's not sure what she wants The Homeless Channel to be; I kind of wonder if that's what Matt was going through as has we writing this book.

It's worth checking out though, it's well written for what it is and the art is serviceable. I just don't think it turned out to be what I thought it was going to be. I suggest reading Boing-Boing's review for an alternate take on the book:
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/08/...

[Alarra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thoughtprovoking. I enjoyed the characters, who were complex humans with idealism that often clashed with the realistically difficult issues involved in the area of homelessness and social justice. The art is simple, but fits nicely, and the main romantic relationship is framed well within the context of the struggle that Darcy has in trying to run a TV channel that raises awareness of the plight of homeless people while staying financially viable. The ending is simple and lovely.

[David Press · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book. If you like Bendis's art in his early work, ala Torso and if you like Aaron Sorkin-like dialogue this book is definitely for you.

Matt is also extremely helpful to lost New Yorkers who have no idea what they're doing with the BART system.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid debut graphic novel from a talent to watch out for in the future. Characters speak and act in realistic ways, and while the graphic novel sometimes seems to lose focus (is it a condemnation of reality tv, or a look at modern romance, or straight social commentary) etc, I can mostly write that off as being true to life. If someone put ME under a microscope, the focus of my own life story would also change from moment to moment (is his life a social commentary on the working class, or biting religious satire, or, no---Wait!---a short and quite sloppily produced porno film?) so I can forgive Silady's minor transgressions in this area---especially considering the "first novel" status. Most first novelists wander about far worse.

Besides, the characters and stories are compelling, and if things progress a little too quickly at times, it's merely how graphic novel writers are often forced to ply their trade. I do wish that we could have had more focus on the actual "Homeless Channel" itself---but at the same time that would have lessened the character moments, and I found them enjoyable.

TIRADE ALERT!!!: Here's an area where I really respect Silady's work. He got off his ass and he did it. I've known quite a few people who want (or wanted) to be comic writers, but don't have the drawing skills to create a graphic novel by themselves. Now, as there's no chance of gaining notice as a writer UNTIL you have a published work, that means your 1st works have to "cheat" in some manner. There are only three ways of cheating.

1: Have an artistic friend who is willing to spend an amazingly inordinate amount of time illustrating your story, either for hardly any money or completely no money, and then hope you get noticed. I tried this route, and it helped, a little.

2: Date (and eventually marry) a fantastically talented woman named Colleen Coover, who will make her name in lesbian girly porn comics, and then you begin to make comics with her, gaining you some notice, and then also use her connections to further your own name. I can state that this method works fine, but opportunities were very limited, and are now, in fact, closed.

and---finally---the third option:

3: GET UP OFF YOUR DAMN ASS AND DO IT ANYWAY. This method is going to mean a lot of personal toil, and since you can't draw you're going to need to use photography that's tricked out into graphic novel form. Use this 1st work to establish yourself, and then go on to have a successful career. This is what Brian Bendis got off his ass and did, and now this is what Matt Silady got off his ass and did. And I respect the hell out of it, because it takes balls the size of a condominium.

[jonathan berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warm characterizations save an ambitious but overwrought comic. The ideas are halfway there, but the whole thing feels loosely-sketched, like a second or third draft. The innovative production method (photographing actors, reducing the photos to line are by hand) sounds appealling, but turns out to be a little flat on paper. Still, an ambitious idea and decent execution. I bet Silady learned a LOT, and I'm looking fwd to his next project.

[Ster · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique book graphically. It resembled a photocopy of a color graphic novel. The style removed me from the book at first, where usually a graphic novel immediately pulls me in. The black and white style must have been thematic to the story, about how homelessness is not just black and white. I enjoyed following Darcy’s growth as a person, watching her hair grow and time move forward, but she always seemed a bit removed from life, aloof about everything, even the things she cares for and about. Maybe it was the style and I ultimately could not connect without the emotional details that usually reside in the brush strokes and panels of a traditional graphic novel. A quick read though, with a tough storyline about Darcy, tv production, homelessness and corporate greed.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I've met Matt Silady a couple of times and found him to be a pretty nice guy. He also wrote a kind review of a comic book I wrote right here on GoodReads. That said, my intention was to say nothing at all here if I read The Homeless Channel and didn't like it, taking the diplomatic (read: cowardly) way out.

Obviously, that was nothing to be worried about. Despite being leery of the book's high concept about a TV station devoted to the homeless, I was pleasantly surprised to discover it's not as much about that as it is about the people at the station and their personal relationships. Silady's writing is humorous and friendly, managing to be both stylized and realistic. He's not afraid of some good doses of sentimentality and knows when to stop short of overdoing it.

Matt's work actually reminds me of the early cartooning efforts of Brian Bendis. This is a positive in the writing department, not so much in the art department. I am not really a fan of the photo-manipulated, heavy reference school, but like old Bendis, the writing also manages to make one forget such concerns.

A solid debut.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was slightly disappointed by this. The art, having a photographic style, was different relative to other graphic novels, and added a cold and bleak atmosphere to the overall setting. However, I found it to be flat as in having an effect of rendering the characters as emotionally dead and generic, and it gave me a difficult time in distinguishing between the characters.
The story tries to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness and poverty, and does bring to light many frustrations that occur in trying to alleviate this social problem. No solution is really offered near the end, and like the characters, we are just left to observe the entire situation. At the end, we are left to question our own abilities to make a difference, our true intents in being a part of this cause, and what the fine balance is between the environmental and internal factors of one's locus of control.
Overall, I applaud Matt Silady's use of this medium to raise awareness about homelessness, but I feel that this could have been executed better.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So...two girls walk into a cable station and say, "We want to bring attention to the problem of homelessness in this country by devoting an entire cable network to the issue, called The Homeless Channel. Who's in?" Remarkably, they get what they asked for. As depressing as this story could have been, it's really not as much about homelessness as it is about the life of the character who comes up with the idea for the channel. The story definitely touches on several aspects of homelessness (and how there's really no easy fix for the problem), but mostly we get to know Darcy and her own struggles to find the best way to help the problem, deal with an unexpected romance, and cope with her sister, who is homeless and refuses any assistance from Darcy. The artwork is stark and striking. My only complaint was that the story wasn't long enough, detailed enough - I felt I was only just beginning to understand the characters when it ended.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book, the concept and its tackling of a social issue that hasn't been much addressed in the graphic medium. The narrative occasionally lost its way but was pretty good on the whole. I think most of my issues ended up being with the artwork. Some of the frames had the look of someone standing still (for a reference photo) trying to look like they're walking or moving. The faces are good, though. My other problem was with the homeless people -- I didn't believe their appearance. Perhaps the homeless in Chicago look different than the homeless that I've encountered where I've lived (Des Moines, Boston, Los Angeles), but I doubt it. Frankly, they look like middle America kids who are "dressed up" as homeless people. They don't have the weathered look, both in body and dress, of the homeless people I see every day. They are young and white, and the majority of homeless people I see are older and not caucasion (even in the midwest). Sorry.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just picked this up from the library, having never heard of it, because a) I was in the mood for a graphic novel and b) I work in a homeless shelter and was curious. It was kinda neat. The faces were very expressive, the subject was interesting. I could easily picture a TV adaptation or something. I was really thrown by the pacing though--something about it didn't seem complete. Maybe that's just the style, but it seemed like things were happening very quickly without a lot of exposition and I wasn't quite sure what was going on with the rate of passing time.

On a personal note, I kept wanting to case manage the homeless characters. (Hire me, imaginary studio, I know how to connect them with resources for housing and employment and survival needs!)

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

his graphic novel is very interesting because the artwork is done in a style that's unlike any other book I've seen. The story revolves around a network on TV called The Homeless Channel which uses its programming to show the plight of the homeless. The writer is a former middle school teacher who now teaches at the University of California, where he received a Master's in fiction.

This isn't a title that I expect will appeal to my teens here who read manga and superhero stories, but to those who like realistic and off-beat stories, this one might catch their eye.

[Emilia P · Rating 2 out of 5]

euhhhhh
i think it was a bad weekend for comic books.
there was like a negative amount of plot structure in this book, and the comic book style was basically black-and-whited photographic, which in some cases might be ok, but in this case it just made me say "why didn't you spend the time you saved on drawing the art on making the story strong".

no dice.

[Kyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually liked the "hyper-real" drawing - reminded me of a cross between the Rotoscoping of "Waking Life" and the Ghost World duo of Enid and Rebecca - story, hmm, not bad, not earth shattering...graphic novels are where realism can be shelved, such as the idea that an entire channel dedicated to homelessness could actually be funded...

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story (with realistic and sometimes realistically lame dialog) about a woman who starts a t.v. network with programming all about the homeless.

Picked this book up at Aardvark on a whim and just found out that the author is a lecturer at CCA. Where was the graphic novel workshop when we were in school?!

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think any such effort that attempts to tackle social issues period deserves big props, but a send-up of reality television as well, plus good writing, excellent black and white drawings, comix sex, and pop culture references? I think that's awesome.

[Curtis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Homeless Channel is an interesting concept, and the illustrations are great. But ultimately, my interest waned as the story progressed. The characters fell flat, and it all felt a little contrived.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

left me feeling unsatisfied.

[Aaron · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bleh. Uninteresting, visually and otherwise.

[Sharron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The only graphic novel I've ever read, I'm not a fan of the format. The subject was good though.

[Siri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable quick graphic novel.

[Alycia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very 2007ish and a little all over the place, but not bad.