Meet a Semi-Local Cartoonist: Chris Otto

Chris Otto on the left and writer Ben Taylor at Intervention con.

Webcartoonist Chris Otto wrote a nice introduction for the Intervention con site last fall, which I'll quote here rather than rewrite it: "I started "A Dog's Life" last September after years of being a webcomics fan and wanted to try to make people as happy as I am when reading them. I just had to wait for inspiration to strike, and one day I started seeing my dog Hunter in my head in comic strip form, and there it was. I may have been a little hasty from conception to the time I started posting comics; I wrote and drew up 30 strips in 3 weeks and started posting. Am I insane for deciding to start up a comic with no artistic history and pushing 40? Perhaps. Have I had more fun than should be legal since I started drawing? You bet. Dogs rule, cats drool." He was kind enough to answer my usual questions.

Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

Chris Otto: I am the creator of the comic “A Dog's Life” on the web. I write, draw, color...I do it all!

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I draw the strip on Bristol board with pen and ink, then scan it into the computer for coloring and lettering.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

July, 1971.

Why are you in Washington now? What neighborhood or area do you live in?

I'm actually in Richmond, but I travel to DC often for comic events and visits with friends.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

Unless doodling Bloom County characters in my notebooks in high school counts, none... I just picked up a pen and started to draw.

Who are your influences?

Dave Kellett and Berke Breathed are the biggest ones.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

I would have waited until my drawing was more refined before launching the comic. The early strips are pretty scary, art-wise.

What work are you best-known for?

A Dog's Life. It's my first comic.

What work are you most proud of?

The 10th strip of the current story line, “Bark To The Future” is probably the best thing I've drawn; it's on my wall now.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I plan on doing the comic for a long time, and I'd like to take the book I nearly finished
writing and turn that into a second comic.

What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

I'll take a shower; my best ideas pop into my head in the shower. I take a lot of showers!

What do you think will be the future of your field?

Comics on the web have been around a long time, and more and more arrive every day. As
traditional print media dwindles, people will go to the internet for their comics.

What local cons do you attend ? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?


I was at Intervention for the first time this year, and hope to attend again next year. The DC Comicon is another of my favorites, run by Brett Carreras of the VA Con and MarcNathan of the Baltimore Comicon... it's a fantastic show.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

People from DC come from all over but inevitably become die-hard fans of the local teams, especially the Caps and the Nats...the sports fans here are great!

Least favorite?

Driving.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

I'm a big fan of the Spy Museum.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

Ted's Bulletin. Best. Milkshakes. Ever.

Do you have a website or blog?

You can read “A Dog's Life” at http://adogslifecomic.com/

Meet a Formerly Local Cartoonist: T Campbell

Webcomic writer T Campbell was at the Intervention con last fall. I bought his collections of the Penny & Aggie webcomic when I saw artist Gisele Lagace's artwork, and enjoyed them immensely.He answers our usual questions, although refusing to tell what the 'T' stands for.

Mike Rhode: What type of comic work or cartooning do you do?

T Campbell: Most of my comics are on the Web, one way or another, though many are also in print. I've done a very little work for major print publishers like Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop.

How do you do it? Traditional pen and ink, computer or a combination?

I'm a writer, but many of the artists I work with have switched to a computer-based system since I started working with them. In some cases I honestly don't know. The look of computer work is more and more difficult to distinguish.

When (within a decade is fine) and where were you born?

I was born in Virginia Beach in the 1970s.

Why aren't you in Washington now? What neighborhood or area did you live in?

I bounced around several apartments in the DC area for a few years, trying to get enough freelance work to justify my continued residence there, then got a comics job which took me to Oxford. After that was over, I came back to the Virginia Beach area, where I was more comfortable.

What is your training and/or education in cartooning?

I did a little study at the Savannah College of Art and Design, but as more of a writerly sort, I had to apply my English degree and self-educate from there. Still, the scriptwriting course at UCLA probably helped.

Who are your influences?

Alan Moore, Peter David and Scott McCloud were the ones most in my mind when I started my career. I try to find a new one every few months, these days.

If you could, what in your career would you do-over or change?

Start earlier-- I have a running fantasy of getting in on the ground floor of the Web, when some well-chosen investments could've changed a whole lot of things! Failing that, not do my History of Webcomics book, which was a lot of work for too little money, too much politics and a lingering sense of dissatisfaction.

What work are you best-known for?

Almost certainly Penny and Aggie, my just-concluded seven-year story about teenage girlhood, followed by the epic fantasy Guilded Age.

What work are you most proud of?

That's a toughie. The aforementioned pieces are pretty good, but I also have to throw a little love to Fans, my longest-running and most inventive series, about science-fiction fans in science-fictional adventures.

What would you like to do or work on in the future?

I'm just starting a series called Quiltbag, about sexuality, college and finding your identity.


What do you do when you're in a rut or have writer's block?

It helps to change things up. I'm someone who can get very focused-- one might say fixated-- on one thing for an extended period, so I find that shifting that focus usually gives me time to recharge my interest in everything else.

What do you think will be the future of your field?

What local cons do you attend ? The Small Press Expo, Intervention, or others? Any comments about attending them?

I've attended both. They're good shows, full of people who seem to have very good attitudes about comics and generally commercially healthy.

What's your favorite thing about DC?

There's so much here-- so much history, so many remarkable things going on.

Least favorite?

Traffic.

What monument or museum do like to take visitors to?

I'm fond of the Udvar-Hazy Air & Space Museum. All those giant aircraft and spacecraft in one hangar. Really inspiring.

How about a favorite local restaurant?

I'm a simple sort: a Friendly's is as good for me as anyplace more exotic.

Do you have a website or blog?

Lots of websites, but you can check me out at http://tcampbell.net to get started.

Fall 2011 Con photos

Roger Langridge at Small Press Expo

Continuing to play catchup on some undone tasks, here's pictures of 2011's Small Press Expo and Intervention cons. There's a few unlabeled images in the Intervention pics that I'd appreciate help with identifying. I'll be posting some more interviews from Intervention in this coming week.

Garth Graham at Intervention

Interview Intervention Con

The interview -

Intervention Con Returns for a Second Year
by Mike Rhode on Sep. 16, 2011
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2011/09/16/intervention-con-returns-for-a-second-year/

Intervention webcomic con update

A few weeks ago, we posted some PR for the webcomics con Intervention, that's arriving in DC in September. One of the organizers wrote to me this week with additional news, "Hugo Award-winning Sci fi author Ben Bova has chosen our event to debut his new webcomic. We have also just signed Molly Crabapple to bring Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School to the con."