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Trunktown started with my merely being curious about how
Shaenon (NARBONIC)
ticked. I felt she was the only daily artist I 'd seen in
a long time who used the very traditional daily strip format
well. She's fast. She's funny. Her timing is terrific. She
knows how to write a comic strip.
This differs from clever daily cartoonists like Chris Onstad
(ACHEWOOD)
who subvert the daily format, who twist it into their own
creations; Shaenon USES the format to tell her stories and
gags. I liked that.
So I interviewed her, via YAHOO MESSENGER, which is a weirdo
form in itself. Try to follow the cascade of responses...
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| Tom at his computer |
Shaenon at San
Diego con |
Shaenon: ARE YOU READY TO ROCK, CLEVELAND???
Tom: WWWOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Shaenon: Let's do this thing!
Tom: cool !
Shaenon: Right. Sock it to me.
Tom: ok so , narbonic then or not. where does the Shaenon
Garrity, cartoonist, story start?
Shaenon: Arrrgh...
Tom: ok forget it
Shaenon: I started drawing comics in high school. I did
a weekly strip for the kids' section of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
Tom: what questions did you think we'd ask
Tom: ok
Shaenon: When I got to college I did a strip for the campus
paper.
Tom: so a kids section for the loca paper- how'd you get
that?
Shaenon: As graduation drew near, I realized that I'd no
longer have an excuse to draw comics, so I hit upon the idea of
doing an online strip.
Shaenon: I was my school's representative to the Plain
Dealer. The newspaper sent me topics to write on. I did not enjoy
it.
Tom: oh really? but you used one of your characters that
you have now., right?
Tom: (by the way-have you anwsered all these questions
before? I don't want to tread ground you've covered a million
times. but I do want to ask about the individual strips)
Shaenon: I hated interviewing people; I was too shy to
pull it off. I started coming up with creative ways to avoid writing
actual articles. For instance, I wrote a poem about Colin Powell
in which every line rhymed with "Powell." The comic
strip was my final and most successful idea for getting out of
real (high school) journalism.
Shaenon: Mell was in the strip I drew in high school. Dave
was in the college strip. Helen was a character in a comic I drew
for a contest in the comic book "Thieves and Kings."
Shaenon: I won second place.
Shaenon: (Some of these questions may have been asked before...
but who will ever know???)
Tom: ok so you were a journalist, writing, and you submitted
a comic strip once or twice or you started doing comics elsewhere
to avoid your journalism obligations?
Shaenon: I felt like I had to turn something in to the
Plain Dealer, because they were so nice and all, but I hated writing
articles. So I sent them comic strips instead. They were very
nice about it.
Tom: terrific- they liked them?
Tom: (do we have a long delay or are we each typing slowly?)
Shaenon: They liked them well enough, I guess. My art was
really unbelievably awful then.
Shaenon: Even worse than now.
Tom: I can't imagine Mell being in anything with journalistic
intent. How did that work?
Shaenon: (Could be a long delay. My experience with live
chat is limited.)
Shaenon: Oh, it wasn't journalistic at all. It was a strip
called "North of Space," and it had no educational or
other redeeming value whatsoever. It was about teenagers and aliens.
Shaenon: Um, Mell was one of the teenagers.
Tom: so you totally gave up on the journalism. was she
the lead teenager?
Tom: when i was in highschool i did a monthly 4 panel strip.
i killed me that that was all that was available. how frequent
was yours?
Shaenon: It was a cast of three. The central character
was a boy who was basically a proto-Dave. I must have a thing
for guys with glasses and buzz cuts.
Tom: haha
Shaenon: North of Space was about weekly. Sometimes the
Plain Dealer ran it, and sometimes it didn't.
Shaenon: The college strip, "The Ratio" was about
the same way.
Tom: the same way?
Tom: weekly you mean?
Tom: and so dave and mell were in the ratio
Tom: ?
Shaenon: Yeah. Weekly.
Tom: what was that about?
Shaenon: No, only Dave was in The Ratio. I'd given up on
Mell. The Ratio was a slice-of-life college sort of strip. Pretty
standard.
Shaenon: I have some samples on my website, under "Ur-Narbonic."
Tom: right- dorm rooms and stuff
Tom: ok i should have looked.
Shaenon: The art is HORRIBLE! HIDEOUS!
Shaenon: People turn to stone upon the sight!
Tom: clicking now
Tom: ok but wait- place. you were in cinicinatti in high
school?
Tom: then where for college?
Shaenon: No, Akron in high school. Went to college at Vassar,
in upstate New York.
Tom: vassar is my home turf man
Shaenon: Really? No way!
Tom: best simpsons line ever: "I"ve just about
had it with your vassar bashing young lady!" yeah- i grew
up in kingston, across the river.
Shaenon: Oh man. Yeah, I'm a Vassah girl.
Tom: the ratio is nice. your sense of humor- your humor
"techinque" even is acomplished right from the first
moment.
Tom: you've always been good at this. why?
Tom: meaning, what got you drawing comics?
Tom: wait- im talking about north of space here. i was
looking at redrawn versions of that i think
Shaenon: I'm a much better writer than an artist. But I
doodle a lot. It started when my family moved to Ohio, when I
was in second grade. I was very shy and didn't know what to do
with my hands, so I just drew all the time. It quickly got to
the point that I couldn't concentrate without doodling.
Shaenon: Yeah, those are versions of NoS I redrew in my
freshman year of college. I don't think I have the high-school
originals anymore.
Tom: were you reading alot of comics in the paper- really
responding to them?
Shaenon: I always loved comic strips. But who doesn't?
Tom: ha. i dont know
Shaenon: I didn't really get into comic books until high
school.
Tom: your freshman art is better than you are saying. already
there you have a great sense of the "acting" involved.
good gestures and expressions
Shaenon: Aw, shucks.
Shaenon: My art is very crude. I have no formal training
beyond a couple of high-school art classes.
Tom: so what were you reading? and what were you in school
for?
Shaenon: Right now I'm rescanning the first Narbonic strips
for an upcoming print collection. They are UH-GLY!!!
Shaenon: What was I in school for? Sixteen years.
Tom: they kick you out?
Shaenon: Read a lot. I'm a bookworm. Again, I'm really
more of a writer than an artist.
Shaenon: They let me go. Kindly.
Tom: what was your area of study pleeeeese
Tom: im reading the ireland strips now
Shaenon: I majored in English at Vassar.
Shaenon: I drew most of the Ireland strips while I was
in Dublin. I studied abroad there in my junior year.
Tom: aha. is that when you read Tristam Shandy? and where
are the Tristam Shandy jokes in Narbonic- I missed them
Tom: your family is largely Irish i presume?
Shaenon: Yes! I read Tristram Shandy while I was at Trinity
College Dublin! I did one TS joke, but I plan to do another someday...
Shaenon: Yes, the Garrity family is as Irish as peat and
blood pudding.
Shaenon: What gave me away as Irish?
Tom: and masturbating puppets?
Shaenon: Yes. I like to hope that Ireland is the only place
on Earth you will see puppets musturbate on TV.
Shaenon: Although this may also happen in New Zealand.
Tom: haha. ok so a couple obvious questions- what comics
inspired you a) in high school and then b) in college. and what
kind of community did you have at that point? with other artists
i mean
Shaenon: I didn't find my way into any kind of cartooning
community until I got to San Francisco. This place is crawling
with cartoonists!
Shaenon: Strips I read... Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County
growing, up, obviously. Later I got into Pogo and some other older
strips. My current passion is Crockett Johnson's "Barnaby,"
which is tragically out of print.
Tom: yeah- i got a bit of barnaby on ebay once. do you
think it influenced Watterson?
Shaenon: I'm also a big fan of Winsor McKay, hence the
crude Little Nemo tribute I do on New Year's each year.
Tom: anyway- its terrific and weird.
Tom: yeah- the little nemo thing- I didnt realize it was
annual
Shaenon: I think Watterson was influenced by a lot of older
strips. He borrowed some gags and plots from Pogo, for instance.
He clearly had a strong sense of comics history, which I think
is a good thing.
Shaenon: My boyfriend, looking over my shoulder, tells
me that Watterson claims to have never seen Barnaby before he
started drawing Calvin.
Tom: is that right? please tell andrew hello by the way
Shaenon: I can believe this, as it's pretty hard to track
down these days (although a couple of small books of reprints
were published in the '80s).
Shaenon: Andrew says hi right back atcha.
Tom: sure. i can believe it too. he did harold and the
purple crayon too, which i have to confess i cant recall. the
kid draws things on the big page with the crayon
Tom: ?
Tom: anyway, what are you liking about barnaby?
Tom: you can tell you're an English major cause your capitalization
is all correct.
Shaenon: I loved Harold & the Purple Crayon as a kid.
I've since tracked down some of the other children's books he
wrote and/or illustrated, and they're wonderful.
Shaenon: Yes! Down with lazy Internet lowercase! You will
also note that my punctuation is impeccable.
Tom: I will have to attempt likewise, though my spelling
may not rise to a similar occasion.
Shaenon: I admire Barnaby's blend of simplicity and intelligence.
The humor is straightforward enough for a small child to enjoy,
but at the same time the dialogue is elegant and witty, full of
extra jokes for adults.
Shaenon: Likewise, the art is simple, yet distinctive.
And always crisply precise. Very beautiful.
Tom: Ok, so I have two main points I want to hit- basically,
I want to explore Narbonic: how it came to be what we know now,
and I also want to probe your knowledge/appreciation of comics.
Because I have to confess, one of the first things that impressed
me was not necessarily your work, but that you seem to eat, drink
and breathe comics.
Shaenon: I no longer have any life outside comics.
Tom: So feel free to go one about the better aspects of
Barnaby, etc. Any thing when it comes up.
Shaenon: Andrew laughed at that, but I am deadly serious...
Tom: Hahaa! Yes
Tom: I hope we can continue the downward spiral.
Shaenon: I feel that if I'm going to do comics, I'd better
do it right. And that means TOTAL IMMERSION!
Tom: But isn't life cool that way? You start out an English
major, and you just do what comes natural, and the next thing
you know, every aspect of your life is unified in a completely
unexpected way.
Tom: Yes total immersion- that's why I am demanding you
test yourself by rescuing my dopey ideas!
Shaenon: Working for a comic-book company, hanging out
with cartoonist friends, dating a cartoonist, volunteering at
the Cartoon Art Museum on weekends... if I dedicated this much
energy to something worthwhile, I could destroy the world.
Shaenon: Yes, my life now has a theme!
Tom: Yes! You're in the soup!
Tom: Ok, so you graduated comics, (Freudian slip. I'll
let it pass.)
Tom: Ok so you graduated COLLEGE.
Shaenon: Heh.
Shaenon: Yes. Graduated summa cum laude from Vassar. And
LOOK WHAT I'M DOING WITH MY LIFE!!!
Tom: Oh man. What do mom and pop Garrity think?
Shaenon: They're very supportive. Fortunately my mother
thinks the world of me and tries very hard to understand whatever
my passion of the hour happens to be.
Tom: It seems to have been a long hour.
Tom: You've been doing Narbonic 4 years?
Shaenon: Ha! Not quite two years. Just seems longer.
Tom: Really?
Shaenon: Yeah. On July 31, I'll have reached the two-year
mark.
Shaenon: I'm only 24, dude.
Tom: OKAY! Anyway, so you graduated college, and A) when
did Helen and or Narbonic appear in your brain and B) when did
you move to SF. And yes you're a very evil 24.
Shaenon: Right. Here goes...
Tom: Sorry- the "OKAY!" was in response to my
hemming and hawing- it looks more forceful on the screen
Tom: anyway- continue
Shaenon: 1. Helen was in a comic I drew in college for
the aforementioned contest. She vaguely grew out of a story that
I'd been tossing around in my brain since high school, about a
mad scientist with an ungrateful teenage clone.
Shaenon: Helen's mom was actually the focus of these early
versions.
Tom: Also named Helen?
Shaenon: 2. Moved to SF directly out of college. I got
the job at Viz and moved here after graduation.
Tom: You got the job at Viz from Vassar?
Shaenon: Oh, wait - I also moved here because I got an
internship at the Cartoon Art Museum.
Tom: aha.
Shaenon: Yes, they were both named Helen. Always.
Tom: What did the internship entail?
Tom: (I can't believe I have been capitalizing so well
up til now. )
Shaenon: Yes, Viz hired me right out of college. The internship
mostly involved entering items from our catalogue into a computer
database, for hours and hours. Also working the front desk, which
is what I do when I volunteer there now.
Shaenon: Very glamorous.
Tom: How did you hook up with Viz from across the country?
(Side question- does Helen still have these lips she had in the
early strips?)
Shaenon: I gave up on drawing lips on Helen. They looked
awful!
Shaenon: How did I hook up with Viz? Why, through the Internet,
of course!
Shaenon: Applied online for a job. Got it, somehow. It's
all still something of a mystery.
Tom: They were looking for people? For a person?
Tom: Oh great!
Tom: Ok- when in this timeline did Narbonic on line start?
Shaenon: July 31, 2000. Roughly a month after I moved to
San Francisco. I started drawing the strip while I was still in
college. It took me a month to set up the online part.
Tom: Neat. I'm curious, because, like a lot of comics,
yours seem like direct representations of your BRAIN! So, I just
want to place it in time, because I think you are faster than
most cartoonists I 've seen. I mean, your ability to process that
which needs to be "cartooned" is swift. So ok.
Shaenon: Really? Of my BRAIN?
Tom: Ok- so how long before you started meeting cartoonists?
As if the answer wasn't"right away".
Shaenon: Right away.
Tom: ok maybe not your brain, but they seem personal in
that way that comics are.
Tom: and good writing, however comedic or fictional
Tom: Lost the capitalization.
Shaenon: Heh heh. Actually, most of my cartooning friends
are people I met through either the Cartoon Art Museum or Jason
Thompson, a wonderful comic-book artist who happens to also be
a Viz editor.
Shaenon: Jason knows a lot of cool people.
Tom: I meant to say, "comics often can be".
Shaenon: And yet it was through the museum that I found
true love and my favorite cartoonist of all (gag, gag).
Tom: haha. cute. Andrew was so nice to me at the museum
and I was such a shit cause I'm always lugging around too much
luggage and also being distracted.
Tom: But that's so cute!
Shaenon: Right... my strips seem kind of normal and mainstream
to me, but maybe that's just my brain. They're personal in that
I write about stuff I like.
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