from
Cul de Sac
by Richard Thompson

This page:

interview with Richard Thompson

Cul de Sac

index pages:
authors
titles
categories
topics
translators

from an interview with Richard Thompson carried in the Star Tribune September 20, 2012
Creating believable, solid characters is the most difficult and important part of a comic strip. Or a novel, movie, play, etc. Since I’d never tried it before, I looked at the work of Walt Kelly, whose “Pogo” contained the liveliest individuals to populate a newspaper strip. And I stole from him. As the weeks went by and I got to know my cast, the greatest thing happened: They wrested control of the strip away from me, often leaving me scrambling to keep up. Hearing your characters’ voices is a common phenomenon among cartoonists, but it was new to me, and I loved it, especially when I learned to stop dictating gags and trust my cast. If I gave them room to maneuver, they’d always surprise me. Most of the humor came from the collision of outlooks, or worldviews. Or personal alternate realities.	Topic: Writing
Alice is the irresistible force, and Petey is the immovable object. The friction generated by opposites is a good source of comedy, so I hoped having them at the center of the strip would keep it spinning.
text checked (see note) Sep 2012

from an interview with
Richard Thompson

carried in the Star Tribune September 20, 2012

Creating believable, solid characters is the most difficult and important part of a comic strip. Or a novel, movie, play, etc. Since I’d never tried it before, I looked at the work of Walt Kelly, whose “Pogo” contained the liveliest individuals to populate a newspaper strip. And I stole from him.

As the weeks went by and I got to know my cast, the greatest thing happened: They wrested control of the strip away from me, often leaving me scrambling to keep up. Hearing your characters’ voices is a common phenomenon among cartoonists, but it was new to me, and I loved it, especially when I learned to stop dictating gags and trust my cast. If I gave them room to maneuver, they’d always surprise me.

Most of the humor came from the collision of outlooks, or worldviews. Or personal alternate realities.

Topic:

Writing

Alice is the irresistible force, and Petey is the immovable object. The friction generated by opposites is a good source of comedy, so I hoped having them at the center of the strip would keep it spinning.

text checked (see note) Sep 2012

top of page

Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by Richard Thompson
2008	August 22	Dad: See the jellyfish? They sometimes wash up on shore. Alice: Ooh! Petey: I think it’s plastic. It says not to put this bag over your head in English, Spanish, German, French, Russian... Dad: Oh. Petey: And Japanese. Alice: Who knew jellyfish spoke so many languages?	Topic: Linguistics
2009	January 4	Alice: I don’t get it. Why do dining room chairs have ladders on the back? Petey: The cavemen invented them. Alice: Huh? Petey: It used to be sometimes they didn’t cook the food very well and it’d come back to life and chase them. And they’d climb up the ladder to escape. Alice: Mom! Petey: Don’t ask Mom about it! You’ll awaken painful memories!	Topic: Ladders
	April 20	Ernesto: If I seem subdued, it’s because my lycanthropy is playing havoc with my allergy to wolf dander.	Topic: Werewolves
	September 29	Beni: My dad yells helpful encouragement to others in traffic. I’m not allowed in the car with him till I’m 18.	Topics: Automobiles Swearing
2010	March 20	Alice: Nobody is listening to me play the toy ukulele. Petey: Immune to the indifference of the masses, the true artist pursues his or her art in bitterest solitude, compelled only by the irresistible tidal pull of the creative impulse. Alice: Heck with that. All I did was turn the crank so the noise’d come out.	Topics: Artists Music
	October 26	Alice: Succotash was invented by Native Americans as a way of disguising lima beans as food. Miss Bliss: Alice, please stop quoting your brother.	Topic: Food
	December 9	Alice: I wish I could play the oboe. Petey: It’s the most beautiful instrument of all time! It has a bracing, pungent quality all its own! Alice: Yeah! It’s like a plugged-up nostril you can play songs on.	Topic: Music
2011	May 30	Alice: Ew, unicorns are like elves and fairies! Nara: You don’t like them? Alice: I hate things that use magic to be cute. It’s so not fair.	Topic: Unicorns
2012	April 23	Alice: Mayonnaise is the juice left over from when they make school paste!	Topic: Food
text checked (see note) when added

top of page

fromCul de Sacby Richard Thompson

from
Cul de Sac
by Richard Thompson