Interviews Conducted by Robert J. Beck

What made you want to start a web comic?

In 1995 I wanted to take advantage of the online medium.
When a newspaper reader reads a comic, they only have
that day's strip available to them. On the web the readers
have access to the strip's archives, so the cartoonist is able to tell longer and more complex stories without the audience becoming lost.

Are you a big fan of web comics yourself?

Absolutely. There is terrific work out there.

When you first started Kevin and Kell did you ever think he would become as big as he has done?

I've always been hopeful that "Kevin & Kell" would find an audience.

Where did the name of the strip come from?

It's a play on "heaven and hell"...a union of opposites.

What makes your strip different from others?

What makes it unique is simply that I create it. It's my own singular vision.

 Who do you think has influenced your style of art?

Charles Schulz, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Walt Kelly...among others.

When was it you realised your comic would be able to support you financially?

It's never been able to support me by itself. None of my three strips are able to do that; however, the three of them together can. "Kevin & Kell" has been profitable from the start, though, when it was sold to about 50 CompuServe forums for $5 a week. That didn't last long, but by the time CompuServe petered out I'd launched other revenue streams.

What is the process of actually making a strip?

I put tracing vellum over my pencil sketches, and ink with a #0 Rapidograph pen and an Osmoroid cartridge pen. The strips are drawn at 13 inches by 3 and three fourths inches, and I scan them at 600 dpi and do touchup with Photoshop.
 
Do you have a favourite strip that you've done?

No, I don't. I'm more proud of some than others, but there's no single strip that I would consider a favorite.

Your strip is one of the oldest on the internet; do you ever get bored of it?

No, there's always a new angle to take on the characters' lives. I see what's going on in our world and twist it around to see how it would play out among predators and prey.