Joe Matt

Joe Matt (September 3, 1963 – September 18, 2023) was an American cartoonist, known for his autobiographical series Peepshow. His work is unflatteringly confessional, presenting him as stingy, duplicitous, and even abusive, and depicting a debilitating obsession with pornography.

Early life Joe Matt was born and raised in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, a middle-class suburb of Philadelphia. He had three siblings. His mother was a housewife. His father held a variety of different jobs, including owner of a carpet store and a longtime stint working for Amtrak; in Matt's words, "he seemed to drift from job to job a lot."

Matt developed drawing skills by age five, and later said he considered himself an artist all his life. His mother encouraged him in this pursuit, having herself attended the Philadelphia College of Art before dropping out to raise her family. His earliest influences were Charles Schulz's Peanuts and Al Capp's Li'l Abner, which he would collect by clipping the strip out of the daily newspaper. However, Matt later stated that "they came to their senses and changed their mind".

Peepshow #14 went on sale in 2006, and a collection of Peepshow #11–14 titled Spent was released the following year. Following Matt's death, a posthumous issue #15 was released in July 2024, with Chester Brown inking four unfinished pages.

During the years in which he produced Peepshow, Matt lived frugally and worked as a colorist to make ends meet, particularly for Comico on the ongoing series Grendel and related limited series, and Fish Police.

Personal life and death Matt moved to Montreal and lived illegally

Joe Matt died on September 18, 2023, of a heart attack, while working at his drawing desk. He was 60.

Awards For Peepshow, Matt was nominated for four Harvey Awards: for Best New Talent in 1990 and for the Award for Humor in 1991, 1992, and 1993.

Matt was nominated for a 1989 Eisner Award for Best Art Team and a 1989 Harvey Award for his coloring work on the Batman/Grendel series.