From Scribbles to Syndication: The Making of a Comic Strip

From Scribbles to Syndication: The Making of a Comic Strip

‘I made a decision to reach into my inner nerd and love for making people laugh and bring that into a comic strip.‘

Why is Aesop a miserable flying dog?

I always wanted a comic strip character that had a cape, for some reason. I created a strip in the early 2000s called, “Every Blue Moon”, which starred Aesop. At the time, he had a cape, but didn’t fly and that strip didn’t “fly” either and ended later in 2004. Years later in 2013, Sour Grapes was created and I brought back Aesop and made him fly. It’s important and natural for me to “think out of the box”. Also, it’s always funnier to do or say the unexpected, so instead of Aesop just standing or walking, I added flying and a miserable personality. To this day, I get a laugh every time at the tag line, “He’s a miserable, flying dog.”

– How much of your life is reflected in this comic strip?

Simply, I don’t take much seriously. I’m a comedian, so I find the funny in a lot of things. As I mentioned, I like to think outside of the box, so I thought that an unexpected, yet relatable theme to the strip would be a problematic, complaining or “bad”day. The term “Sour Grapes”, unbeknownst to me at the time I created the strip, is from the “Aesop’s Fable,” ‘The Fox and the Grapes”. This fable shows the Fox being fed-up and “Sour” about not being able to get the grapes he wanted out of a tree. So when someone might say, “Oh they’re pretty sour on that”, that’s where it comes from and that’s basically Aesop and that’s basically where it comes from in my “Sour” days, of which I have plenty in my life.

– Do you think it stayed true to the original idea or has it evolved into something other than that?

In the beginning, the strip looked much different than it does today. As a matter of fact, it’s hard for me to look back at it. The drawing of the strip/characters has developed and improved over the years. As time went along, I “learned to draw” the characters better and better. Nowadays, I’m really happy with how they look. The idea or writing of the strip has evolved. The jokes are tighter and funnier, and the characters relate better to each other. Comic strips should reach a wide audience, and I feel Sour Grapes does that even more so now.

– How has it been finding your work in so many publications?

Honestly, I believe if you don’t play, you can’t win. So a lot of Sour Grapes getting into papers as a self-syndicated strip, has been attributed to me being tenacious and determined. It’s also important that the strip has to stand on its own and appeal to the reader. Some of the papers have run the strip for five to six years and of course, there are the new publications. Believe me, I’ve had more rejections than acceptances, but I’ve been lucky enough to have Sour Grapes running in 61 papers, currently.

– What was your creative life before SOUR GRAPES?

I’ve had a couple of strips prior, “Every Blue Moon”, starring Aesop and “Job Shop”, a strip about manufacturing, drawn by me and written by a partner. Other than that, I’ve done some freelance art. Prior to doing art, I was ( and still poking around with) singing in various rock bands; another form of art. I need to stay creative in some form. The music was great and I miss it, but I made a decision to reach into my inner nerd and love for making people laugh and bring that into a comic strip.

– What do you think of the idea that positivity cannot create good art?

I’m not sure about “positivity”, but I do know that good writing carries bad art, but good art does not carry bad writing. I think being positive can only DRIVE good art as being negative might hold someone back and second guess their ability.

– What spurs you to create a new strip for SOUR GRAPES?

You might remember, “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood”. He always had a theme to every show and he would continue that theme into the “land of make believe”, via the trolley and those characters would deal with/experience that theme. That’s kind of what I do. I experience things in my daily life and I put the Sour Grapes characters in that “experience” in their own world. The strip often writes itself,

– What does rebellion mean to you as an artist?

To retaliate and protect my art from dark forces.

– Being a comic artist, do you believe that you have control over how your art is perceived?

Not in the least bit. I can never predict how each episode will be liked, make someone laugh or not. I just have to hope. I actually have no control over its perception. All I can do is do my best to be true to the strip and characters and hope that someone likes it.

– Last but not least, do you think the glass is half full, half empty, or just twice as big as needed?

Regardless of how big the glass is, if I drink half of it, then what’s left, is the empty half.

ManicWorld Magazine

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