Excuse Me While I Kiss This Fly!!

A ‘Fresh Ziggy’ Introduction to this week’s offers!!

No, I don’t understand the title either. It was from some comedian who was imitating Jimi Hendrix or maybe Jeff Goldblum imitating Jimi Hendrix, I’m not sure. Either way, it’s beyond my level of sobriety right now.

We have lot’s of shouting to do today (aaaah, let's put a marauding invader right here, it'll be our little secret, arraarragghh!!), so let’s get right to our screamations:

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We’re very pleased to welcome a very talented and fun-loving amico from the land just a few hours south of HQ in other than

No Boring Thoughts To Be Found Here!
An interview with Designer Mauro Gatti

We’re very excited to bid a hearty welcome to this modern-day Italian ‘master’ (he won’t like that, but we did it anyway). But Mauro is indeed quite adept at many different aspects of graphic design and illustration, with his work being featured as MTV themed phone jackets, CD covers, posters galore and much more!! And darned if he hasn’t gone off and started a new venture in the collectible toy market as well!! Make sure and set your dials to ‘morbid is fun’ because these guys will make you laugh!

With a style that brings back some of your favourites including Edelmann and more, I think you’ll fall head over heels innamorato for Mauro’s stuff. So sit back and relax and have a blast!

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So moving on to this week’s ‘Shout Out’s’:

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Our first shout-out of the week goes to our good pal Hon Lam of ‘Flying Mouse 365’. Hon Lam had the unusual occurrence of seeing one of his design illustrations, namely his tee-shirt known as "Dragon Flavour", being worn by a character from the Japan popular manga, PEEPO CHOO!! As HL tells us, this manga is created by a super talented mangaka Felipe Smith from Argentina, the only foreign mangaka in Japan!! I mean, how cool is that? Having one of your designs featured as a design in an awesome manga 'zine?

And that’s not all. Hon Lam is also continually producing new designs on his world-famous ‘Flying Mouse 365’ site but is also found wherever there’s a design contest to be had. Check back again and again!

To read more about Hon Lam and his exciting world, please take a look at our recent interview which you can find here.

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Fittingly enough, since we’re on the topic of manga, it’s only appropriate that we mention our second shout-out for the week in the form of Shaenon K. Garrity.

Shaenon was recently featured in a really good interview found here, which gives insight not only into her own efforts to make comics safe for all of us but also in terms of her collaborative workings. Good stuff!

And since we’re on the topic of good stuff (keep using that transition Zig, it’s working!), Shaenon also participated a few days ago at a grand ‘Sketch-A-Thon’ at the Charles M. Schulz Museum to celebrate 60!!! years of the Peanuts cartoon. Awesomeness covered in awesome!

To read more about Shaenon from the days way back when she talked to ZN, please see her interview here.

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Finally, darned if we weren’t watching the Little League World Series a few weeks ago when we thought to ourselves: ‘Selves, I recognise those pants!’ Yes, a strange thought to have when you’re watching young kids play baseball but stick with me here (I assure you that the kiddies can continue to read along as well).

After much searching and ultimately finding some input via Facebook, our suspicions were indeed confirmed that the coaches of the Canadian team (yes, they play baseball in Canada and only half the kids were wearing ice skates!!) were wearing pants designed and created by our old pal Scott ‘Woody’ Woodworth and his now very famous ‘Loudmouth Golf’ apparel brand.

You may even remember this same design making an icy splash (huh?) at the recent Winter Olympics when the Norwegian Men’s Curling Team (which I was surprised to find out has nothing to do with styling hair) won the Silver Medal!! Sadly, though, the Canadian baseball coaches were ‘encouraged’ to remove said pants (whoa, calm down! They put some other pants on!!) but not before they were heartily welcomed by the local crowd!

For more about Scott’s start in design and what led him ultimately to become a Golf Fashionista, read his interview with ZN here.

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But wait, can it be? Yes friends, it’s a FOURTH BONUS SHOUT-OUT this week!!

We’d be remiss if we didn’t confirm as stated in our earlier interview with Vince Chui that the book ‘Sir Seth Thistlewaite and the Soothsayer’s Shoes’ is now out in stores and on-line just waiting for purchase!!

For this exciting announcement, Vince was also kind enough to throw in some pre-production art (not published in the book) on his blog, which you can check out here.

And if that weren’t enough (you knew it wasn’t), then check out our really cool conversation found here. Enjoy!

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FAVOURITE-DESIGN-STORY-OF-THE-WEEK!!

Well, let’s just say that title is going to be loosely applied this week.

Ziggy Nixon just wanted to point out to his gazillion of fans that he has a ‘new’ blog out where he’s releasing some of his own ‘art’. Again, another loosely thrown about phrase there. But hey, it is keeping us off the streets, so it’s not all bad!

Please check out ‘Little Ziggy’, which is based on a concept that first appeared many moons ago here at ZN HQ Prime. We’re also on Facebook so be sure and get some serious socialising goin’ on!!

And we'd be very remiss if we didn't point out again that this sort of 'semi-daily' approach was inspired by the on-going efforts of Chow Hon Lam mentioned earlier, as well as the bear-tastic work of Julius ‘Bulius’ Santiago, who still cracks us up each and every day!!

Be good!!

Hi Kids, Welcome to General Hospitalization!

A 'Fresh Ziggy' Introduction to this week's offers!

Actually, no, hospitals are one subject that I do NOT want to talk about. Not at all, full stop, end of sentence, waiter can I please have the check!!

I don’t know about you folks, but I am sick of being sick, having friends who are sick and just in general am getting really testy about this whole having to be ‘mortal’ thing! I mean, what’s up with that and who signed off on it anyway?

But I tell you, I’m starting to suspect that whole ‘eat well, get plenty of exercise and rest’ advice... it just seems the more I follow ‘doctor’s orders’, the worse I feel!!!

Bah, I think I’ll just hang out on Facebook 24/7 and be done with it!!

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So instead of talking about that – which I wasn’t – what I’d really rather talk about is this week’s guest of honor! I am very pleased to bring you the following interesting interview presented as:

Hey You There! Donkey Wonky Do!
An Interview with Illustrator and Graphic Designer Vince Chui

Now concerning the title, well, you’re just going to have to read the article to get in on that little inside joke. And besides, you’ll want to enjoy Vince’s input about his young but already successful work in the illustration and graphic arts business, which also includes work in the movie and video game industries! We really hope you enjoy all he has to say and offer!!

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And as usual, we now move on to this week’s ‘Shout Out’s’:

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Our first ‘Shout Out’ isn’t in fact so much of a shout out as a ‘oh man, I so wish I could have been there!’ A longer title, yes, but much more accurate in this case!!

It’s just our way of giving a big nod to a previous interviewee here at ZN, namely the very talented and timeless Robert T. Cole. You see, Robert is not only a master sculptor, but also performs with his poetic and beautiful wife Susan and their pal Scott Burgess in the band ‘Blue Judy’, where the recently appeared at the ‘Capital Fringe Festival’ in Washington D.C. All I know is, if you’re ever in DC and get tired of all those boring ‘monuments’ (yaaawwwnnn), then for sure stop by and check out the Cole’s and their magical studio or collected works!

To read more about Robert, see his interview here.

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The second of this week’s trio of ‘Shout Out’s’ goes to the talented and very busy Shaenon K. Garrity.

Shaenon recently kindly let us know that in honor of the 60th anniversary of the absolutely timeless and always relevant Peanuts comic strip, that the Schulz Museum is hosting a big sketch-a-thon featuring its past artists in residence, including Lark Pien, Debbie Huey, Paul Madonna, Alexis Fajardo, Brian Fies, Mick Gray, Brian Kolm, Michael Capozzola ... and Shaenon, too!

Cartoonists will speak with visitors, share their work, and draw something for the Schulz Museum’s collection celebrating the 60th anniversary of Peanuts. For more information, do not hesitate to visit Shaenon at one of her various sites or the Schulz Museum itself at http://www.schulzmuseum.org/ .

To read the previous interview with Shaenon – who is for those that don’t know a master of both manga and also on-line comic creation – please see this link.

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And finally, we here at HQ would just like to ‘Shout Out’ a HUGE thank you to all who sent in their kind comments about our last interview, namely with the one and only Julius ‘Bulius’ Santiago. So many of you were kind enough to mention his work and how much fun it is to also follow his ‘King Panpan ‘365 Bears’’ project!! He really is a fun artist!

But what’s that? You haven’t signed up yet or even sent in your favorite suggestions for a future bear? Then you’ve been missing a daily dose of hilarious teddyish conversions of some of your favorite people or even fantasy creatures. Not only that, but Julius has also been offering his faithful public download-able wallpapers and more! And if that weren’t enough, if you aren’t a daily follower then you missed none other than Spiderbear, Mebearsa with her (his?) scary snake hair and even this masterpiece namely:

Bear on a Unicorn on a Shark Rainbow in front of a Regular Rainbow!!

Need we say more? Folks, this just might be THE artistic event of the new millenium. Because we sure as heck aren't voting for Lady Gaga ...

So follow Julius and if you missed it, be sure and check out his interview here. Aloha!!

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FAVORITE-DESIGN-PHOTO-OF-THE-WEEK!!

And now for a heroic close-out, we’re going to put a new section in, namely our Favorite Design Photo of the Week. So here it is:

Aren’t they just so ... oh, I don’t know ... just so worthy of having a huge government grant given to the designer to develop them further? They’re just so simple and yet so stylish!

In addition, you can’t argue with their eco-friendliness or recyclability, roominess and suitability in all kinds of weather!! And I’d be willing to bet that (a) one size fits all and that (b) they’re a lot less damaging to your feet than some of those monstrous creations we see on the fashion walkways!!

OK they’re maybe not Birkenstocks (and I doubt the Adidas logo is authentic as well), but who the hell wear’s those anyway?

Oh you do? Sorry... just please promise me not with white socks, okay? I mean... that image just makes me feel sick to my stomach ... oh damn, I did it again ...


Be good and enjoy this week’s offer!! Ciao for now brown cows!!

I Scanned The News Today, Oh Boy...

Speaking of which, today’s trippy tome features Eco-Friendly Porn (is that redundant?), A Trip to Venus, Art So Good You Gotta Lick It and Negotiating with Clients Made Easy!

Click on most (but not all) images to enlarge them and potentially reveal more stuff...

I don’t think it’s paranoia – I mean, I know everyone’s out to get me so I’m used to that – but lately I have been more addicted than usual to the news and keeping up with current events. Maybe it’s because my other means of keeping up with ‘world happenings’ has been via Facebook (one can only take so much CNN before one completely freaks out at hearing ‘you’re watching CNN’ every ten minutes!! Okay, James Earl Jones / Darth Vader, we get it already, aaaahhh!). But really, besides meeting neat people like a really cool imagist interested in illiteration (sic) and a having a great talk with a lovely romance novelist in the past weeks, this outlet hasn’t provided exactly a ton of thrills curiosity-wise.

Sure, in my spare time, I’ve been taking a lot of the surveys FB offers, but they’re rarely plausible it seems. Case in point: I took one the other day that says as a lover I am, quote, ‘A God/Goddess that is certain to always give his/her partner multiple ORGANISMS...’ Well, I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine that argument ever working (‘hey baby, I’ll make sure you get more organisms than you’ve ever had before!’)(PS: ick!!!). It seems like much more of a papally decreed good argument for safe sex along the lines of ‘you make sure and be in New York and I’ll be in Tokyo, then we’ll get started.’

So anyway, I’ve been drudging my way through a lot of news and other reports lately. It’s actually kind of neat, because I really enjoy finding out more about the things that are reported, or more often than not, seem to be misleadingly reported.

And speaking of which, here are just a few examples:

It’s been ‘Fashion Week’ in New York the past days, which leads to some, um, intriguing views and photos in the press. Oh who am I kidding, fashion is just something I simply do not understand. I don’t think it’s an age thing as so much it’s a ‘I prefer clothes that are at least 10 years old and yes, you do have to consider which holes to put your limbs through getting dressed.’ And don’t forget the old sports jersey in case it’s chilly and the underwear that’s no longer even suitable for using as an old paint rag.

Seriously, one of these days I want to interview at length and face-to-face a true-dyed-in-the-wool fashionista or whatever the heck fashion designers like to call themselves. Sure, I get extremely cool golf pants that can be used as well to signal rescue teams or even be seen by space satellites, but this other stuff... I mean, do we expect to see these outfits on the streets soon? Is this what we’re supposed to be wearing in like 2012, as if it’s an auto company revealing the hot new sports car colors they foresee coming into vogue? Well, no thank you. Get those tiny little creatures to sashay out in an old Pink Floyd tee-shirt and some faded jeans, then I’ll stand up and clap.

And speaking of which, why is it that so many of the models for these shows apparently age so very poorly? I did see a recent photograph of one of the most lovely women I’ve ever seen – namely Isabella Rossellini – and she looks better and better the older she gets (note how I remain a gentleman and do not reveal her age [97]). Despite the often boyish haircuts she wears, I find she has such charm, such grace, with those thoughtful eyes and that playful smile. Hm, that’s so nice.

Let’s see what it said about her in the caption that accompanied this very photo: ‘...actress Isabella Rossellini applauds at a screening of ‘Green Porno 2’ in New York and that she...’ HELLO! Whatdidhejustsay?

Now, class settle down! No snickering or other gaspy noises, please! I, too, reacted somewhat with shock at this strange heading but then, as indicated, I did indeed do a little more research into the subject. And guess what, it’s something in fact for the whole family! Has that peaked your curiosity (or outrage or...) yet?

It seems in fact that Green Porno is in fact a critically acclaimed series of short films made by Ms. Rossellini along with the teams at the Sundance Channel that discusses the reproductive habits of insects, marine animals and more. It’s supposed to be extremely accurate from a scientific stand-point (I’m just going to take their word on some of these models) but it’s really fun. I watched a few of them and they’re really outstanding little shorts, no puns intended. (aside: I’ve got to ask The Great Paper Manipulator himself – Julien Vallée – if he was in any way involved with some of those, erm, statues seen here. Again, unless you’re a really cool and open-minded parent or similar type person, probably not for you!).

But getting back to women that age gracefully, can you imagine, I don’t know, someone like Demi Moore or whoever doing the ‘Whale’ sketch? Watch it yourself and tell me what you think (note: perhaps not everyone's tastes or suitable for all audiences ... but hey, it's just nature).

Okay, yes, now that you’ve watched it I know what you’re thinking: Cher would do it in a heartbeat! Fine, I’ll give you that (come on, she’ll do ANY-thing), but can you see, say, Meg Ryan or even Priscilla Presley (what in gods names were they thinking here?) doing this? Please... their lips would probably crack and fall off. Which might explain their Klingonian face jobs...

And speaking of which, I know that not all plastic surgeries go bad and it’s not nice to speak poorly of the recently deceased, BUT ISN’T THE FOLLOWING PICTURE THE WEIRDEST THING YOU’VE EVER SEEN ... EVER EVER EVER TO THE POWER OF INFINITY?

This picture was released by The Field Museum in Chicago a few days ago. It shows an Egyptian limestone statue, depicting an unidentified woman, carved during the New Kingdom Period, 1550 BC to 1050 BC. YAHOO! News (appropriately named somehow I've always thought) and other sites with even more eerie renditions of same go on to say that ‘the bust has been the focus of interest since the death of singer Michael Jackson as visitors double-take at the eerie similarities between the 3,000-year-old statue and the singer.’ Duh, ya’ think?

And speaking of which, namely women and all that kind of ‘stuff’ (oops, that’ll get me at least one night on the couch alone), did I miss the announcement about the fact that when a woman of the female persuasion becomes a mother she automatically qualifies for disability? And no, this is not another right-wing, drooling argument against President Obama’s health plan... not that I have an opinion about that, no, not me ... or an opinion about drooling right-wingers either, nonono...

It’s just that I found it more than a little odd that after Kim Cly.. Kim Cleist... Kim Cliiye... the Belgian woman won the US Open last night that everyone seems to be fixated on the fact that she is now, biologically speaking, a mother and if you want to get really technical, probably no longer a virgin either.

It just struck me that a lot of the comments were phrased along the lines of ‘coming back from the excruciating pain and horrible disfigurement brought about by becoming a mother, she was STILL able to triumph! What an inspiration...’

Okay, yes, I get the bit about child-birth feeling like you’re passing a Volkswagen Beetle through a straw (trust me, after standing beside my wife for two 24+ labor episodes, I’ve heard every description and I understand that, yes, it was indeed all MY fault), but come on, give the young lady a break! She played great and I think it’s terrific that she won. Plus, she kept her composure through a nightmare of an ending to her semi-final match (oh man, that is going to come out so bad, not just with Serena but I just think it’s going to lead to a race tension thing between Asians and African Americans, especially in New York). I mean, except for priests, do professionals in the limelight just not get to have lives outside their chosen jobs?

And speaking of giving a young lady a break, I feel so bad for the runner from South Africa that has had to go through this whole gender-testing nightmare. Folks, there are a lot worse things going on than someone who doesn’t know she has a potential defect or even deformity running in a race. I just think it’s terrible what she and her family now have to go through if as it seems that the tests will show that she SHOULD have been born a male with all the bits and bobs that entails, but through fate came out appearing to be a little girl. Sad and all I hope is that this is eventually handled with some dignity, though I doubt it will be. ‘Nuff said.

And speaking of amazing female athletes, does this sound like a fair fight to you: Dawn Fraser from Australia – who won a gold medal in swimming in 1960 – fought off an intruder who threatened to kill her during an apparent burglary attempt. No wait, there’s more – it appears that Ms. Fraser, age 72 (talk about ageing well!) kicked the young intruder in the groin with – wait there’s even more moreness – her Titanium knee.

Okay all the guys one time in unison: ouchkabibble! Wow, talk about Terminator-like precision in knowing how to hurt someone!! You go girl!!! ... noting that I’ll wave at you from the other side of the road in case you misinterpret what I’m saying or somehow do not comprehend that I only wanted to give you a high five for your bravery! (Extra Credit Question: wouldn't Titanium Knee be a cool name for a heavy metal band?)

And speaking of which, aren’t we glad that all the typography purists out there irritated by IKEA’s decision to change it’s use of the famed font Futura – which had been in use for some 50 years – didn’t have titanium kneecaps at their disposal (hopefully) in the past days. But alas, if you haven’t heard of this event that is apparently more important to some than world hunger, war and even the occasional rampant break-out of peace throughout the lands combined, IKEA has indeed switched now to Verdana, the font made famous by such free use sites as like... well, as like this blog.

Do I like the change myself? No, not really. Do I see a good reason for it? Well, again, if go through all those ‘free’ sites we all nowadays take for granted, all I know is that Verdana is one of the choices and Futura is not. Hey, you get what you pay for, again taking this blog as a prime example. If you want to, you can also research Microsoft’s comments about how the one (Verdana) is pixel oriented vs. the nicer pen and stroke version (Futura), but I tend to pass out when I read too much. I mostly just stick to headlines to satisfy my thirst for knowledge (which should be painfully apparent by this stage).

Still, if the font change makes you unhappy, then maybe you’re not exactly the kind of person that needs to buy furniture that is designed to dissolve in an eco-friendly way and collapse within 24 months of exposure to unwashed laundry, marijuana smoke and cardboard pizza boxes that will eventually begin to support said furniture in one fashion or another. Or so I hear... ahem.

And speaking of things that would be better if they were turned into pulp, here’s an event I would love to attend one time, even though I just don’t quite understand it, namely the La Tomatina festival that’s held every year in Bunol, Spain. Okay, despite the fact that the pictures eventually look like a scene from some really cheaply made horror movie, I’m just curious how they get an estimated 100 tons!!! of rotten and over-ripe tomatoes to throw at each other during this festival!

Call me a bit of a tree-hugger that has been at it long enough to develop a mild but persistent bark fungus on his arms, but are you seriously telling me that with all the hunger and all in the world, that somehow there’s that amount of tomatoes sitting around that has just happened to go bad just in time for this festival? Uh, hello, did someone just cough ‘unfair farm subsidy practices’ there in the back row? Yeah, that makes sense: paying farmers to let their crops rot, after all, gotta keep that tourist trade running smoothly...

And speaking of things that are just accompanied by odd, or let's say, poorly chosen photos, yes, I understand that Annie Liebowitz has recently been having a very public issue with her bankruptcy hearings and all, but couldn’t the news agencies have picked a slightly more, I don’t know, appropriate photo to go with the article? Yes, it’s recognizable but still for a bankruptcy discussion?

I just find too many arguments AGAINST using this image for me, including bad memories, the fact that it was taken on the last day of John’s life, plus the timing with the raised attention about the Beatles’ catalogue, and more. Maybe it’s just me and the time that his death occurred during my formative years. Whatever, huh?

And speaking of someone posing poorly for a photo, don’t you think this guy could have had a different expression on his face for this one? Seems this gentleman was being photographed on the occasion of his arraignment for – yes you’re reading this right – becoming annoyed with a crying 2-year-old girl at a Wal-Mart. Uh, hello, but isn’t a screaming infant part of the whole Wal-Mart experience? D’uh!!!

Still, apparently in order to make his annoyance VERY CLEAR to everyone, the article this comes from goes on to say that this obviously well-adjusted gentleman went on to slap the toddler several times in the face in order to, quote, ‘quiet it down’. Wow, but you know this picture can be used later by his defense attorney to help prove what a kind and loving soul he truly is and that somehow everyone misunderstood his tender intentions. Pillar of the community and all that. Geez-a-meez, dude get a case or two of Xanax and chill for a while...

And speaking of misplaced souls – and in the words of the great Dave Barry: I swear I am not making this up – it seems that the new ‘First Lady’ of Japan, Miyuki Hatoyama is not only known as a so-called lifestyle guru, a macrobiotics enthusiast, a cookbook author and a retired actress but she has claimed IN WRITING that she was abducted by aliens almost 20 years ago. And if that weren’t enough, she details that said aliens took her to Venus, which is apparently extremely beautiful and very green. No, she doesn’t say if the green is owing to vegetation, or to exotic Venutian gems and crystals, or lovely pools of boiling sulfuric and nitric acids frothing with methane gas, although that does sound nice.

The title of her book, which again I am not making up, is ‘Very Strange Things I’ve Encountered’ (though I’m guessing that is a rough English translation, since I couldn’t find this MUST READ on Amazon). In it she details the visit to our neighboring celestial body took place in spirit form, travelling on a triangular-shaped UFO, though I guess in her mind it wasn’t an UN-identified flying object but an IFO. Or a cheese sandwich, you never know with some people.

But wait fans of the surreal, there’s more! In addition, this multi-tasking lady also claims she met Tom Cruise in a previous life. Now what a lot of us don’t immediately realize about Tom is that he was apparently previously Japanese (explains the height challenged part of his 'physique' no?). Miyuki goes on to say that she is looking forward to making a movie with ol’ Cruisey which she ALREADY KNOWS she will win an Oscar for her performance! In fact, when she gets a chance to ‘catch up’ with Tommy Tomtom, she intends to say ‘Hi, it’s been a long time’, which he will understand (ooh, sounds a bit randy to me!).

But the ever-respectful Japanese public are taking all this in stride. Apparently the new Prime Minister is also somewhat of a ‘radical’ type in Japan, even being called 'eccentric' for his tendency to wear green suits instead of standard-issue navy blue ones and for not combing his hair (hm, must be an impostor in this photo featuring a Japanese man in a blue suit with well quaffed hair). Also since he married a divorced (gasp! how shocking) woman, he must carry this social stigma around as well. And yet, off he’ll go, proudly leading Japan to yet more years in the economic toilet. Seriously, can you imagine what would happen if any public figure in the USA had this on her résumé?

And speaking of which (sorry, this transition is WAY too easy, but still), did any of you see the title of a recent TIME Magazine article, namely: Why Michelle Obama’s Hair Matters. I kid you not. Note as well that this article offered more ‘related’ links to articles titled ‘Michelle Obama’s Style: What Her Fashion Statements Mean’ (I can just hear Glenn Beck’s answer to that one), ‘Michelle Obama and the SHORTS Heard ‘Round the World’ (gasp, you mean she wore shorts in Arizona in 100° weather? The nerve...) as well as ‘The Meaning of Michelle Obama’.

Seriously, you must read this article, if for nothing else to take a photo of ‘America the Weird’ (and the Home of the Depraved) as it stands today and store it in the Flickr album of your mind (note that we do NOT think these are the recent Andy Warhol prints that were stolen, but you never know). The article has one quote that will remain etched in my brain for a good while, namely : ‘her hair is the catalyst for a conversation that begins with style but quickly transcends outward appearance and ultimately transcends Michelle herself – a symbol for African-American women’s status in terms of beauty, acceptance and power.’

Wow, is it just me or have we someone lost the thread in all this? Or perhaps even the comfy knitted sweater of our collective sanity has completely unravelled? Maybe it goes back to the earlier diatribes about girl- and boy-stuff (add a night on the couch), but all I can think of is ‘where’s George Carlin when we really need him?’ WARNING: this link may be offensive to those of you that don’t regularly tolerate conversations with me and contains more F-bombs in it than a Serena Williams match.

And speaking of which, this is a link to an article that made me want to use all of those magical seven of the words you can never say on television. Sorry but it really irritated me, though I’m not entirely sure why. It’s just that through my blogging activities (loosely defined of course), I do feel I have developed if nothing else a rapport with and a sympathy for the daily plight of artists, designers and whatever else it is that a lot of you guys and gals do. So when I found this article titled Why Are Artists Poor I thought ‘aha, a valid discussion to read, absorb and to take with me during boys night out this Thursday...’

Yeah, right. You can go ahead and read it, but it gets pretty self-serving rather quickly. The author, Andrew Keen, starts off being pretty honest about what his real target is, namely getting you to go out and buy his book before it hits the discount bin at Barnes & Nobles : ‘Is the Internet good or bad news for high-end creative artists and cultural organizations? It’s bad news, I argued in my 2007 book Cult of the Amateur, a polemic which suggested that the Internet is killing our culture and undermining the livelihood of cultural producers. No, it’s good news, counter the techno-optimists ... who argue that the Internet offers creative artists and organizations an opportunity to escape from the sometimes unjust and inefficient control of industrial age mass-media.’ The article goes on (and on) to argue various viewpoints about protecting an artist’s rights and how public access is both a boon and a bane to everyone out there.

But ... oops, I mean – and speaking of which, I did find one thing that seems to be FRIGHTENINGLY ACCURATE in terms of many of the discussions I’ve had with the interviewee crowd. If you haven’t already, I’m sure a lot of you will get a kick (or a scream, or a good cry, or a good titanium knee to the groin) about this video titled ‘The Vendor Client Relationship – In Real World Situations'. Enjoy (or the other things I just mentioned):



And speaking of art (the stream is drying up folks, bear with me a few paragraphs more), I liked the title of this article and have decided I must get one of the shirts. Yes, friends, not since ‘I’m With Stupid’ came out some 40 years ago has a tee-shirt shared a more concise message, namely ‘Please Don’t Lick the Art’. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is offering a tee-shirt with said message on it following a little girl’s recent visit to the museum.

Apparently, the young visitor was admiring this 17th-century portrait of some fancy pants French aristocrats wife and kid. It seems then that this so-called youngster was so moved and taken by the deep blue velvet dress worn in the portrait that she just had to enjoy it’s blueberry goodness even more than she could with her eyes. This led then to a very alert guard – trained in the art of hand-to-tongue combat – to point out: “Please don’t lick the art.” And as this did take place in America, there is now a tee-shirt on sale at the museum for $22.50 (though the museum is apparently falling asleep at the proverbial wheel of this marketing gold-mine, uh, truck as the image of same could not be found on-line).

We would also add that THANKFULLY the painting was unharmed, though various reports have indicated it will now be sent in for testing for signs of the H1N1 virus.

And speaking of tee-shirts: personally, Ziggy is going to first buy this tee-shirt which we think says it all in a nice motif and even has pink in it (which means we’ll have to get two, including one for the littlest she-devil in our lives)! According to the supply site, this shirt is recommended for anybody who is evil in your life, or better yet, anybody who is adorable, or, I guess, anybody who is adorably evil (no comment, I’m already banned to the couch for a fortnight). This tee-shirt is no doubt recognized by a plethora of our faithful readers as being the same worn by mad scientist Helen Narbon in Shaenon K. Garrity's very cool webcomic Narbonic. Excellent reading for all you scientifically minded folks out there... or fans of evil and rampant destruction (or both in my case).

Oh, yeah, I should also add that the shirt is made out of, quote, 100% Cotton - Hanes Beefy Tee (which we assume doesn’t mean a tee-shirt that is made out of beef... well, it could be true, a lot of stuff gets made in Japan...).

And speaking of which... see you next time!! Same batty channel, same batty place. Keep pushing! And don't forget your breathing...

Mad Scientists, Manga and More – An Interview with Shaenon K. Garrity

This may be a slightly somber start, but I first came across Shaenon K. Garrity’s wide assortment of artistic and writing endeavors shortly after I learned that my all-time favorite author, Terry Pratchett, had been diagnosed with a very virulent and quick-striking form of Alzheimer’s (so-called “early onset”). You see, Shaenon had done something really wonderful, that is, from almost half a world away she organized a bit of a fund-raiser for Alzheimer’s research to compliment Terry Pratchett’s own large grant. Her approach was really unique, where she helped raise money by offering original panels of some of her own web cartoons in exchange for a donation to the same grant. Great stuff and no doubt something that will grant her a free pass out of at least a few year’s worth of purgatory. [ZN: which is where YOU will have to go if (a) you have to ask who Terry Pratchett is and (b) do not rush out immediately to add his entire set – including his books for “children” – to your collection. Well, don’t just sit there, off you go! Oh, and don’t forget to donate, too, we did.]

And as is so often the case in the web-o-sphere when delving into one subject, there were other links and references to Shaenon’s talents that I found along the way. So I began to do my usual “Homeland Security” grade research and other patented nosey delvations. Along the way, I found out very convincingly in fact that Shaenon is not only quite knowledgeable about the wonderful world of illustrating and cartooning, but is also busy in a professional kind of way with the specific area of what is commonly referred to as “manga” (which I was admittedly at first surprised to learn is not a kind of tropical fruit).

Now, only revealing that I currently live in the same country as where the Coneheads claim to be from, I had noticed myself about this same time (coincidence? never…) that not only were there several TV channels dedicated to manga (some of which a responsible parent like moi had to screen pretty closely to avoid having Ziggy Jr. get a quick un-chaperoned lesson in certain “things”), but that also almost every super-market, book-store or many other shops in the area had literally rows and rows of the stuff available, but could barely keep it stocked quickly enough to match what was obviously a rabid demand across a very broad generational spectrum. Heck, I’ve even found that the free magazine provided at our local “popular-American-fast-food-restaurant-which-I-can’t-name-here-owing-to-trademark-stuff-oh-what-the-hell-its-McDonalds” contains about 30 to 40% manga related inputs, be it in the form of reviews or other insights into the latest magazines, books, videos, games, etc.

Even with my college-day experience in a book-shop – which was in many ways a front-runner in my home area for the comics-only stores we are all (?) familiar with today – I had never seen such interest in this genre. So, despite my genetic laziness, I decided to learn more and even worked out some questions to run by the talent SKG herself. The following then are the wise words from La Artiste herself, which I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I have (yes, it’s a bit long, but I obviously don’t have the same editorial skills as our guest… Whaddya want, I’ve got an Organic Chemistry degree! Kind of…):

ZN – Hi Shaenon, welcome to the show. I’ve noticed that you seem to have a real passion for "classic comics". You have mentioned in various articles some of the greats that I even grew up with including 'Pogo', which for it's time was amazingly adept at balancing entertainment for all ages (and comprehension on all levels) as well as a poignant view on the world around it (esp. the Nixon [Richard that is, no relation] years, Vietnam, etc.). Can you explain how you came to this interest in more classic comics?
I love comics in general, and that includes old comics. I probably do have a special fondness for classic newspaper strips, just because it’s an area that produced a lot of amazing work, especially given the limitations of the daily schedule and newspaper space even in the heyday of the form.

Pogo is one of the comics every cartoonist should study. It’s got the clever political commentary, of course, but also a lot of heart and character humor, plus a rigorous devotion to the highest quality of craftsmanship at every level. Walt Kelly managed to pack a lot of visual and verbal play into every strip. The fonts alone are unsurpassed.

There are tons of other comic strips I love. My current passion is the Moomin comic strip Tove Jansson drew for a British newspaper in the 1950s. Drawn and Quarterly is putting out the collected strips, and they’re blowing my mind. She was a fantastic illustrator and cartoonist, completely unique. I’m also big on E.C. Segar’s Thimble Theater (in which Popeye first appeared in early 1929), Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby … lots of strips.

Do you think that someone "younger" can really appreciate the messages many of these comics portray? For example, I've recently shown a colleague some of my old "Bloom County" collections and they totally failed to comprehend it (vs. say, “Calvin and Hobbes” or “Farside”).
Well, Bloom County is very much of its time. I don’t think its aged as well as some strips, although I have all the collections and still enjoy re-reading my favorite sequences. Pogo has some of the same trouble, just because of the political content.

As far as Pogo goes, a great starter collection, if you can find it, is Ten Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Years with Pogo (ZN: here’s a good blog description of same), which includes copious notes from Kelly explaining the then-current events that inspired various strips and storylines. But of course the great comics remain relevant, even if the political or pop-culture references get dated (how many fans recognize the names of any of the professional skaters mentioned by the late, great, hockey-mad Charles Schultz in the old Peanuts strips?).

You note as well that some artists have been able to achieve a more "permanent relevance" with their work. In your eyes, what helps make a strip more "timeless" vs. others?
Damned if I know. Even if comics don’t include specifically dated material, they’re going to be obviously of their time. The only way to survive the test of time is simply to be great.

My impression is that you must spend "at least" 24 hours per day writing, including for your own blog, regular features for various on-line or print magazines, etc.. How do you balance the other aspects of your life with what seems to be a very prolific writing agenda?
I work fast. And I get bored when I’m not working. That’s about it. It’s not really that hard.

Writing and drawing are what I do for fun, so of course I do those things as much as I can. I’m not really all that prolific. Think of all the manga artists churning out 20 pages of comics a week. Sure, they’ve got assistants, but they’ve still got to be constantly thinking and writing and drawing comics. I don’t know how they do it.

All of your on-line biographies start with "...best known for her web-comic 'Narbonic'" (I include a few of my favorite here, click to enlarge). Okay, without giving you too much shameless self-promotion time, at least for now, what for you is the challenge in general of keeping up a daily web-comic vs. a "printed" format?
It’s probably not all that different. I write and draw as much as I can, and fortunately I draw pretty quickly (as you can probably tell from the quality of the art, which alas, doesn’t get any better if I slow down), so I can keep to a daily schedule without too much trouble.

I like the rigor of a daily strip. I also like to keep about the same amount of buffer as I would for a syndicated print strip, that is, having stuff ready usually four or five weeks in advance. I take Sundays off now, though, and just put up sketches or guest art. Doing the Sunday features for Narbonic before it ended was always a pain for me.

Is there an advantage of print work vs. on-line publishing?
Oh, sure. I certainly enjoy doing print work, especially when it pays, but I find web comics a lot of fun. I like the informality of the Web, the spontaneity, and the close back-and-forth relationship you can develop with readers. Although that last part can get a little intimidating sometimes.

Do you see web comics as the wave of the future or what trends should we be looking for in the next years?
It’s more the wave of right now. I think what we’re going to see in the future, and what we’re already seeing a lot of today, is more blurring of the line between web comics and print comics.

Lots of web cartoonists are published in print now. Lots of print cartoonists do work on the Web. And lots of print publishers are currently trying to establish a Web presence and find a way to profit from the massive readership the most popular web comics enjoy. I have no idea how successful they’ll be. But it’s nice to see the various branches of comics notice each other and start to cross-pollinate.

Granted my exposure is somewhat limited, but your strips seem to feature several female characters, with – how do I put this gently – a great deal of attitude or at very least "unique" personality traits. Is this reflective of your own personality or did you see this more as a "missing element" in the range of comics available today, namely a lack of strong women characters or even strips "aimed at" women?
As it happens, I’m a lady person of the female persuasion myself, so of course I like to write about lady people. That’s about all there is to it. I mean, who doesn’t like reading about cute girls? Crazy people, that’s who.

Still, despite your impression, most of my comics have about a 50:50 male:female ratio. It’s interesting how many people perceive that as female-dominated. Of course, the female characters are often more in charge, but that’s just the way I was raised. All my female relatives are smart and bossy.

Looking at another perceived trend in your strips, did you in fact want to be a mad scientist when you "grew up"? I know I did (my mom loves to show folks in my little kiddy album where I wrote this at age 5 …and it came true for a while!! Sigh…I do hope one day they’ll let me back on campus…)
I did, more or less. I started out majoring in biology in college, but I was terrible at it so I switched to English. I’m all right at understanding the concepts, but I don’t have the kind of inquiring mind a scientist needs, nor the patience. I’m better at just making crap up than I am at figuring out how the world really works. I still enjoy reading up on science, especially biology.

You also seem to "collaborate" on a number of strips. How does this affect your process vs. working alone?
It definitely changes the dynamic. Narbonic is the only one of my comics that’s 100% mine; on the others, I’ve had either artists or co-writers. I like working solo, but I also enjoy exchanging ideas with another creator and seeing what comes out of it. I guess that’s my own brand of mad-science experimentation.

Usually I work with artists rather than writers because I’m a lot more confident in my abilities as a writer. I have a co-writer on Skin Horse, Jeffrey Wells, because I specifically wanted to work with him on a project, and Skin Horse seemed like something he would find interesting.

I notice that a couple of your strips are listed as "completed" e.g. Narbonic and Trunktown. How is it that a strip can be completed? What I mean here is that you either have the death of an artist (e.g. Peanuts, which lives on – thank the gods – in well-preserved reprints) or it just gets so crappy it's eventually dropped by everybody (ref. what happened with Berkeley Breathed and those damn cockroaches… hello?!?!! Not funny!!).
Well, if you read the comics, you’ll see that they have set story arcs and do eventually reach an ending. Actually, in the case of Trunktown, Tom Hart and I originally intended to do more; what we have is a self-contained story arc that was going to be the first “season” of Trunktown, but we haven’t gotten around to doing a second “season.”

Narbonic was planned from the beginning to last about five years; it ended up running for six and a half, which is a good run as far as I’m concerned. Skin Horse was also planned with a story arc and will eventually have a beginning, middle and end. I’m not interested in doing strips that can run forever. I like doing serial strips with on-going plots, and when you do that type of strip I think there’s only so long you can go before the characters reach the natural conclusion of their development and it’s time to move on to new characters and a new story.

Focusing a bit on manga for a while (excuse me if I group in manga with anime or other related genres): how did you get started in this area and even eventually gain the status needed to be referred to as a "major mouth-piece" for this style?
I’m not sure if I’m a major mouthpiece; that’s probably my friend Jason Thompson, author of the mammoth Manga: The Complete Guide (to which I contributed reviews). But I am certainly happy to blather on endlessly about manga.

I got into manga and anime in college, like so many nerds of my generation. After college, I managed to land a job at Viz Media in San Francisco, one of the biggest and oldest manga publishers in America. I was supposed to fill in at the front desk for two weeks; I’m now a freelance editor and have been working for Viz for eight years. Go figure.

In terms of your work as editor for manga offers for the US (or is your work for the overall "English speaking world"?): what does this entail?
In terms of our markets, it’s mostly for the U.S. and Canada, although we now have some sales presence in Britain as well. As an editor, my job is basically to coordinate the work of the translator, letterer, graphic designer, and other people who work to transform a Japanese-language comic into an English-language comic. I also do a lot of re-writing and copy-editing. It’s pretty simple, to be honest. My favorite part is writing the back-cover copy, which was something I always wanted to do for books when I was a nerdy kid.

I have to admit to not being overly "versed" in manga. Growing up the "youth" of our time was either very evenly split down Marvel or DC lines, with the possible exception of a few shows available on cable like "Speed Racer." Has manga "caught on" more in the past years in the United States and if so, why do you think that is?
It’s caught on like crazy, yeah. In America, as in many parts of Europe, you can walk into a bookstore and see kids crowded around the manga section, feverishly flipping through the books. It took a long time for manga to become popular in America, though. Viz has been around for over 25 years, and for most of that time it was a small, struggling publisher.

Interest in Japanese pop culture started growing in the 1990s, especially with the Pokemon phenomenon (aside ZN: don’t remind us, we’ve had to recently take a second job to support our son’s Pokemon trading card addiction). About ten years ago, manga really took off, largely because the publisher Tokyopop started putting out cheap trade-paperback editions and focusing on manga for girls (Sailor Moon was their first big hit).

There are a lot of factors behind the manga boom. A big part of it, I think, is that the American comics industry wasn’t putting out much to interest either grade-school children or girls of any age – but it turns out that this group liked comics (and had a certain degree of disposable income), and they eventually discovered manga that catered to their interests. Add to this a growing interest in Japanese pop-culture in general – as you said, it used to be limited to maybe a couple of anime series on TV, but now it’s everywhere – and you’ve got a trend.

Again, it took manga over 20 years to be an “overnight success” in the U.S. Most of the rest of the world caught on way before we did. For example, my colleague Jason Thompson was recently in Bhutan, and he just posted on his LiveJournal about trying to explain what he does for a living (he’s a manga editor like me) to a fellow American tourist, but with absolutely no success. On the other hand, he had the same conversation with a Bhutanese guy and they immediately got into an excited conversation about Dragonball, which Jason edited. There’s Bhutan, one of the most culturally isolated countries on earth, and even they love Dragonball.

How would you explain the popularity of this form around the globe?
The Japanese comics industry is like the American (or Hong Kong) film industry: it’s designed to produce great pop entertainment. Not necessarily great art, but definitely great entertainment. The artwork is simple and strong; the character designs are appealing. The stories are, at least when well done, instantly and easily engaging; the visual storytelling is, generally, technically superb.

It’s easy to get into manga, especially if you’re a kid. It’s popular because it’s designed to be popular. That’s what it’s for.

At the risk of getting "shot down" again, do you feel its more the "retro" design* or the often "risqué" story-lines or even artwork?
(*ZN: the last time I asked a designer/illustrator – who shall remain nameless (not) – about "retro" their response was, quote: "I find the term "Retro" to be a condescending expression, used by those who have not had the opportunity nor interest in exploring the history and evolution of design." Ouch, part 1 ...)
I don’t find it condescending, but I don’t understand what you mean by “retro.”

Obviously, something like Speed Racer looks “retro,” but that’s because it was created 40 years ago, so it really is retro (ZN: please do not confuse the cartoon with the recent dud of a movie). Recent anime and manga series don’t look old-fashioned to me, unless they’re deliberately trying for an older style. But as someone who works closely with manga, I’m attuned to the changing trends in art style and design, which I guess might not be apparent to someone who doesn’t read a lot of manga.

It always baffles me when someone says that all manga art looks the same. Often I hear this from fans of superhero comics, which I think have a much more uniform look than manga of any genre.

Do you think that the popularity of manga has affected other areas of art or design throughout the world? Certainly we see so much cross promotion of any creative media throughout all aspects of "commerce" these days (take for example the work of James Jean for PRADA, which we originally found here).
It used to be that the fine art world would troll the commercial art world for material to use ironically or as “found art” (the elitist assumption being that nobody actually created the artwork in comic books, or on soup cans, or whatever – it simply existed in anonymity for the fine artist to discover and elevate to the status of art). Nowadays, I do think we’re seeing more cases of commercial artists, including cartoonists, being taken more seriously as artists and given credit for their work.

From what I’ve seen of the James Jean Prada designs, Jean was hired not specifically as a comic book artist, with whatever assumptions and cultural baggage that carries, but as a gifted artist with an excellent sense of style who just happens to work in comic books. We’re also seeing more comic art in serious gallery shows, like the amazing “Masters of Comic Art” exhibition that toured America recently.

It’s a very interesting development. On one hand, I’m delighted to see cartoonists get the recognition they deserve as artists. It’s a definite step up from, say, the infuriating 1990 “High and Low” show at MOMA contrasting “low” art like comics and graffiti with the worthier “high” art it inspired. On the other hand, I have to admit that part of me loves the grimy, outsider status of comics. It lets us get away with more.

You’ve mentioned that "it's a fair assessment that the literary/artistic end of the industry is less well developed in Japan that it is" in America. Can you expand on this please?
Well, design, fashion, etc. are not manga. Manga is a thing onto itself. Actually there is a fair amount of good underground/alternative/artsy manga out there, but it’s not as huge a part of the industry as it is in America.

The American comics industry has reached this weird state where it’s almost evenly divided between superhero comics and “art” comics, with surprisingly little plain old pop entertainment. Manga is mostly about pop entertainment, with everything else on the fringes. But the industry is big enough that the fringe is pretty big. If you look through my Overlooked Manga Festival entries, you can get an idea of the range of work that’s out there.

Also, even if most manga is genre work of some kind, the range of the genres included is huge. For example, cooking manga is a pretty popular genre. If you think about it, comics about cooking and food ought to be a no-brainer, since it’s so easy to demonstrate recipes in comics form. Every culture should have cooking comics. But only the manga industry realized this. They’ve got tons of cooking manga.

Looking at promoting manga to a wider audience: you yourself have put in a mild disclaimer below your regular feature that :
"some (images) are mildly NSFW. Exercise caution when viewing manga which may contain nipples or swears. Keep out of reach of children."
With that in mind, how would you – hm, how to say this exactly – "convince" someone who is a bit skeptical or adverse to such things to try out the media?
I wouldn’t, because I don’t want to convince someone to read manga. I mean, for the sake of my job, it’s good that people enjoy manga, but I don’t personally care about evangelizing manga or even comics in general. If people want to read it, it’s there. I enjoy talking about it and sharing my likes and dislikes, but I’m not interested in cheerleading for it.

In terms of various images or actions you might find in some manga, I don’t think for example that drawing a short skirt on a female character automatically makes her a slut who wants to sleep with all the hot boys, nor do I think there’s anything wrong with her if she does want to sleep with all the hot boys. I mean, c’mon, they’re hot!

Some people do find offense as well by the occasional caricatures of Caucasians (white people, especially Americans, are most often drawn with wavy blonde hair, big noses, and freckles). On the whole, I think white people can take it. Even the minstrel-show caricatures of black people you sometimes see in manga (especially older manga), although they disturb me, are usually just the case of an artist copying what he or she saw in old American cartoons.

Actually, the portrayals of other Asians, especially Chinese, are often much more stereotypical and offensive than the portrayals of non-Asians, which are generally drawn without malice. But this is only true of some manga. There’s no way around it: Japanese pop culture has a somewhat different idea of what’s appropriate in comic books.

That said, the Japanese do worry about the content of manga, too. A while back the Japanese PTA voted on what it considered the worst manga magazines for children, with the venerable Shojo Comic coming in first. Interestingly, Shojo Comic is not especially shocking, and seemed to attract ire mainly because it’s the most mainstream girls’ magazine that includes characters having sex (usually couples making out discreetly under the covers or off-panel). Those short-skirted girls sleeping with the hot guys again…

It’s funny – fifteen years ago, the common stereotype about manga or anime was that it was pornographic, because a lot of porn anime like Legend of the Overfiend had made it to America. Nowadays, the stereotype is that it’s all for kids, and people are often shocked by even mildly questionable content, like teens smoking or a shot of a boy’s naked butt in a girls’ manga.

What kind of trends do you see in the areas with which you are involved or deal with on a daily basis – including color, or media, message, etc.?
In comics, design and style trends are all over the place. I’m personally very fond of a lot of the current art based on 1950s modernist design. I co-curated a recent Cartoon Art Museum show on Disney concept artist Mary Blair, who exemplifies that school of illustration, and it opened my eyes as to what can be done with simple shapes, colors, and contrasts. I really dig the sleek, simplified look, and in general I think less is more when it comes to cartoon art.

There are exceptions, of course, but I deeply admire cartoonists who can say a lot with a minimum of lines. 1930s-40s magazine cartoonists are another favorite of mine, guys like Gluyas Williams. I’m seeing more contemporary cartoon art based on that aesthetic, too.

In the introductory picture above, who is this simply divine character based on? She is so refreshingly authentic (no bony bits or overly silicated parts either) and reminds me very eerily of the one girl in my life that I consider "the one I let get away". I find myself quite enamored with her in a definitely manganistic way (ahem):
Heh. Thanks. That’s Helen Narbon, the main character of Narbonic. She’s not based on anyone in particular, although she’s inevitably a little like me.

Looking a bit more closely at the artwork, this illustration as well as the one here seems to incorporate a style very reminiscent for example of Mucha's works or even the so-called "Glasgow Boys" crowd (McIntosh et.al.). Was that intended or....?
Yeah, the first illustration is a Mucha riff, obviously. I did it as a commission for a reader and ended up using it in a lot of promotional art because it’s about the best color illustration I’ve done.

The illustration on the right, like all the artwork on www.shaenon.com , is loosely inspired by the menu for the “Tahitian Terrace” restaurant that used to be across from the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. That may sound obscure, but it’s a really great menu. Shag’s entire career is based on that menu.

I've also noted that a some point in the past you seemingly felt somewhat "picked on" when asked about the, um, "hand-made" lettering style for your strips. Well, I promise I won't do that (hint: I'm lying). However, how did you chose this gods awful lettering for your cast profiles, namely with all the curly bits and even (gasp) heart shapes?
I just have tacky taste. For Narbonic, I used a lot of pink and hearts and frilly designs, because it fit the tone of the strip, which is all about cuteness and evil (ZN: hm, sounds a lot like my kids: cuteness and evil wrapped together). I even got a pink heart tattoo to commemorate finishing the strip (for examples of this crazy cast, see below and also here).

For Skin Horse, it’s all manila folders and blue typewriter fonts. And that’s about as far as I get with anything resembling design theory. Whaddya want, I’ve got an English degree.

Shaenon, if you’ll allow me, here are some additional random thoughts for your consideration:

"Match it for Pratchett". Go:
Earlier this year, I sold original art from my strips Narbonic and Skin Horse and donated then all proceeds to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust. As you mentioned, this was part of the “Match it for Pratchett” campaign, in which fans wanted to raise money to match the very generous donation to the trust made by author Terry Pratchett. You can find more details here, where of course further donations are always welcome for sure.


Frankly, I liked getting my strips out of the house and into the homes of people who might hopefully have some use for them. They really pile up when you draw a daily strip.

If you could do anything else UNRELATED to your current works, what would it be and why? Go:
I’d like to do more straight-up writing without pictures. I do from time to time, but not enough.

What would you absolutely hate doing and why? Go:
Oh, any number of things. When I was in high school, I had a summer job working at a phone bank, doing push polls for political candidates. That was the most horrible thing I’ve ever done. I guess I’m lucky that I haven’t been forced to do anything more miserable for a living, but it was precisely the worst job for someone with my personality, not to mention my hatred of phones.

Is it extremely annoying to ask a question and then follow it with "Go:"? Go:
Less annoying than putting random quotes around your words. (ZN: Ouch, Part 2…)

This space for blatant self-promotion or anything else you want to add:
I think I’ve done all the self-promotion I can get away with at this point, although I should also mention www.ModernTales.com , the anthology web comics site I edit. It’s pretty good.

++++++++++++++++++

In her own words, Shaenon K. Garrity grew up in Ohio, being born as many people about her age were in the mid-1970s. The education bestowed on her by her parents was apparently expensive, athletic and prolonged but she did eventually get a degree in English at Vassar. She moved to San Francisco after college to take an internship at the Cartoon Art Museum and a job at Viz Media. She currently works as a freelance manga editor for Viz, overseeing about a dozen manga series. She also continues to volunteer at the Cartoon Art Museum, where her husband, Andrew Farago, spends his days making the world safe for comics working as the museum’s curator and gallery manager (but later his nights drawing William Bazillion, which by his own admission kind of cancels out the whole do-gooder thing) (additional from ZN: this entry by Andrew had us on the floor howling with laughter, and we include it here as part of our concerted effort to continually taunt our conservative cousins).

In her spare time, Shaenon writes and draws comics, mostly for the Web. Her current offerings include the daily Skin Horse, which is co-written with Jeffrey C. Wells and drawn by her, and Li’l Mell, written by her and drawn by various artists, including the very gifted Neil Babra.

As a cartoonist - which most of you have realized by now - Shaenon is probably best known for the daily web comic Narbonic which ran from 2000 to 2006. She’s also done some print comics work as a scriptwriter, mostly for Marvel Comics. In addition, she also contributes what can only be called a fair amount of writing on comics, including reviews for Otaku USA magazine and Manga: The Complete Guide, a biweekly column for www.comixology.com called “All the Comics in the World,” as well as her mostly weekly blog mentioned earlier (when its not on hiatus) called the Overlooked Manga Festival.

If you’re willing to believe what you read in Wikipedia, in 2005, Shaenon won the Outstanding Writing category of Web Cartoonists’ Choice Awards, and at the same ceremony was also nominated for Outstanding Comedic Comic. She has also been named co-Lulu of the Year by the Friends of Lulu – a national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry. Plus, after just scanning her rather well-maintained journal, we see that back in April she won the Stumptown Comics Festival Trophy for Outstanding Small Press for Skin Horse . And no doubt, jealousy will rule throughout the lands owing to the cool trophy that came with it! If you don’t believe us, just go to her April 30th, 2008 entry.

Oh, and she seems to like the word “gobsmacked”, which we eventually had to look up (again, we did not major in English; for clever usage examples of today’s word, see the same link as before or even here again, where we think one of the guys in the picture at the bottom of the page is her husband, Andrew. We’re guessing it’s the guy smiling in the back but still, it looks like she did good either way…).


All pictures used by very kind permission of either Shaenon K. Garrity or Viz Media. All image, copyright and other trademark protections apply.