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An Interview with Darrin Bell and Theron Heir
Question: Darrin, "Rudy Park" has a youthful, contemporary sensibility, which helps it stand out. Do you feel you're representing a generation or a culture that is otherwise missing from most comics pages?
Darrin Bell: I would say, instead, that we're part of a new generation of comic strips that succeed in representing a generation or culture that has recently come of age in America.
There are other strips that speak to the same generation (including another one I write and draw, called "Candorville," which debuts October 19 nationwide). Rudy Park is unique in that it is more questioning of our generation. It's introspective. It takes a very critical look at where Generation X and Generation Y are headed. Most importantly, it does so through the eyes of a multi-generational cast that includes plenty of café regulars ranging in age from 6 to 60 who know what America is right now, and two octogenarians who remember what America is supposed to be about.
Q: Although your title character represents your own tech-savvy generation, you're not afraid to poke fun at him for this -- like checking his cell phone for updates on a baseball game that's playing in front of him. How much do you think your generation is ripe for playful criticism?
DB: Extremely ripe. Were our generation a melon, it would withstand a lot of pinching in the produce aisle. I'm not sure what that means.
Every generation is ripe for criticism, for different reasons. At the risk of generalizing:
The "Greatest Generation" was largely productive and well-meaning, but on the flip side it was often repressive of thought, and of rights for women and minorities, and many were emotional hermits. Baby Boomers were often emotional geisers and favored free expression and equal rights, but were often jaded, impractical, and ultimately hypocritical (c'mon, $60,000 SUVs with "Save the environment" bumper stickers?). Generations X & Y are creating a more interconnected, high-tech world, but are at the same time losing their social skills, and forgetting what it takes to keep the body politic healthy (informed participation and an appreciation of our Constitution and Bill of Rights is what it takes).
Underneath it all, every generation has the same basic realities that are ripe for playful satire: relationships, generation gaps, jobs, the search for integrity and meaning, the desire to belong… All the normal situations that make us all the same are the ones that are most ripe for satire.
Q: The Sadie Cohen character provides contrast, and she gets in a lot of zingers. Are you saying that, despite most of the younger characters' emphasis on technology and work, there's much wisdom to be gained from her?
DB: Don't tell Rudy, but that's exactly what we're saying. Sadie is cantankerous for a reason, and that reason is she lives in a society in which common sense (as she sees it) no longer applies. She sees Rudy as the ambassador of an entire generation that's wasting his life on the pursuit of validation from external, materialistic sources. Sadie has lived a long, storied life and has seen it all. She's seen where these journeys of self-discovery lead, and she's seen where those journeys sometimes lead straight off a cliff. Like many in her generation, Sadie's frustrated that the younger generation doesn't know what she does, and often forgets that there was a time when she, herself, didn't know as much as her grandparents did about life. This frustration leads her to behave in ways that make it tough for people like Rudy to recognize the wisdom that underlies it. But we hope the readers will recognize it. Sadie is basically the conscience of the strip.
Q: You seem to have two goals with this strip: to create warm, amusing characters that fans will enjoy no matter the topic; and to use the strip as a forum for satirizing current events and politics. Which is more important to you and why?
DB: To me, it's more important to create endearing characters that people will look forward to spending time with. I want people to care about Uncle Mort, even if they disagree with his politics. We all have people in our families whose political views shock us, but we still like to hang out with them at barbecues. I want people to care about Sadie, Armstrong, Rudy, Darlene, Randy, and all the semi-regulars you see in the background at House of Java. The more people care about the characters and can get involved with their development and their growth, the more they'll be willing to accept social and political satire, even if they disagree with it. We're still naïve enough to think we can make a difference, but above all what we want is to entertain and make people laugh.
Q: One gets the impression Rudy's cybercafe is located in California -- perhaps in the San Francisco or Silicon Valley area. Are you concerned that the rest of the country may not pick up on the regional nature of some of the threads or jokes?
DB: I'm not concerned at all, because Rudy actually lives at a P.O. Box in the Bahamas, for tax purposes. Besides, all of the regional topics we cover (dotcoms, the California election, etc...) first have to get a lot of national (and even international) attention. That's our rule. For instance, the readers in Raleigh, N.C. are going to love next week's story about the Oakland Housing Authority's refusal to clear brush from the development at the intersection of Telegraph Ave. and Macarthur Blvd. That one is really going to hit home with readers nationwide.
Q: Darrin, you have a background in political cartooning. Are you the one bringing in the ideas for political and current-event topics, or do you both do that?
DB: We both do that. Theron can get pretty fired up about things, and I sometimes have to reign in his political instincts with soothing music, a Kit-Kat bar, or by threatening to post compromising photos of him on the Internet.
In fact, you see just as much of my influence in the character-based strips as in the political ones. Political cartoons and comic strips are different creatures. Comic strips have to - before anything else - create believable, endearing characters. Then they can involve those characters in current events and politics. If the character dynamics are interesting, then people will be more receptive to social commentary using those characters. I do help shape the political and social philosophy of the strip, but I'm just as interested in whether Rudy and Darlene ever hook up as I am in finding out just what Ashcroft is doing in that pastry container.
Q: How did the two of you hook up?
DB: On an episode of Temptation Island. You may not have seen it. We were cut from the show because the only things for the cameras to pick up were intense strategizing and marketing sessions, a frustrating game of Pictionary, and a thumb-wrestling match. That's just between you and me, though.
The "official" story begins with my former career, freelancing editorial cartoons to the LA Times, SF Chronicle, and Oakland Tribune (among other papers). Theron was a reporter at the Oakland Trib, and was standing by the fax machine one day while a cartoon of mine happened to be coming through. He already had the basic idea for "Rudy Park," and thought I might be a good artist to partner with. He called and told me about his idea, I drew up some sketches, and we were off and running. Rudy Park was soon gracing the pages of magazines such as Infoworld, CIO, and Techweek. The rest is history (and can be read in the foreword to the new Rudy Park book).
Q: How does the creative process work for you guys? Who does what? How do you share ideas? How much do you agree or disagree? Are you in separate locations, and if so, does that play any role in creative perspective or just getting the job done?
DB: Theron has a windowless room full of immigrant writers from Tadzhikistan who crank out a week's worth of strips every day.
When they're on vacation, it's up to Theron and me. We usually have a brainstorming session, most likely held during dinner at one spot or another in San Francisco or the East Bay. There's nothing more conducive to intricate plots and character development (not to mention messy) than brainstorming with your mouth full. We usually just hang out for a couple hours or so, talking about nothing in particular. From that, strip ideas just tend to write themselves. I say "Hey, the way that girl insulted your mother before dumping you would make a great strip." He says "Y'know, I think it would be funny if Rudy said something as shallow as what you said the other day..." It's sad, but productive at the same time.
Theron lives in San Francisco, by beautiful Golden Gate Park. I live in Oakland by an alley. We have two very different perspectives, but somehow arrive at very similar social/political philosophies. I like to think that comes through in the strip. We sometimes do disagree - I occasionally try to steer the strip in a more slapstick, surreal direction. For instance, when Monkey was held captive at Camp X-Ray, I practically begged Theron to write a story where Monkey would end up in a hammock with an overly-chatty Fidel Castro. Then he would be abducted by aliens and become a pawn in an epic, ten year-long intergalactic war between aliens and mermen from Atlantis. But Theron said there had to be a "point" to it all, and "just because" didn't really fly. But the disagreements are good, because they always spark new, better story ideas that we both can get behind 100%. Stay tuned to find out what DOES happen to Monkey...
Working from across the Bay doesn't pose too much of a problem logistically. We usually toss ideas back and forth through e-mail, which is great because then we have everything in writing for when we eventually sue each other (I think suing each other is a law in California. Sooner or later, everyone has to).
Q: Theron, how much does your day job as a journalist inform your writing of this comic strip?
Journalism and cartooning are very good bedfellows. Both revolve around communication, current events, social awareness, and getting ideas by plagiarizing "facts" off of the Internet. I kid, of course. You don‚t really have to be that socially aware.
Journalism and cartooning are also, in some ways, opposite sides of the same coin. Both do revolve around current events, but from totally different perspectives. Journalists are serious and self-serious people who are likely to sit in the front of class and say things such as, "I'd like to propose a solution to the Middle East Crisis". By contrast, cartoonists are people who like to sit in the back of class and make monkey noises. I think many people carry a bit of each trait, and it‚s a luxury to have found a career that lets me spend time warming seats all over the classroom.
Finally, as a matter of substance (I think this is what the question was actually getting at) journalism can very much inform cartooning. I have the opportunity in journalism to come across lots of issues and see how advocates on both sides of those issues express themselves. That‚s why Rudy Park is the fairest, most accurate and balanced comic strip in newspapers today that is set in an Internet café and includes a pet monkey.
Q: How do you find time to write this outside of your day job? Ultimately, which is most important to you?
Theron Heir: I often write the comic strip in the hours before and after my day-job as a journalist. I'll get up early in the morning, or stay up late.
But, no kidding around, I also get a lot of ideas at the most inopportune times, like when I'm driving down the freeway, talking on the cell phone, and changing the radio station. At moments like these, I would be wise to ignore the creative impulse and keep driving in a single lane. Unfortunately, creative impulses cannot often be ignored, and so I periodically find myself writing the strip at 65 mph on interstate 280. I guess this leads me to one bit of advice. Not about cartooning, but about driving. If you happen to be on I-280 and you see a White Jeep Cherokee, I'd advise pulling over and waiting for me to pass, or drive into a ravine.
As to which career is important to me, this is a very difficult question. Journalism and cartooning satisfy different passions for me. I am very committed to both of them and will continue to pursue them both until I find the answer to a deeper spiritual question: which career helps me attract more women.
Q: Do you think most journalists could benefit from a satisfying creative release, or is it just you?
TH: As you know from recent events, some prominent journalists have been finding creative release within their actual news stories. But I kid the New York Times.
I do not think I could fairly generalize about whether all journalists need a creative release. There are some reporters who care mostly about gathering information, and being the first to get the big story. These are the kind of reporters less likely to have a creative spark. But there are other journalists who focus not just on getting information, but on presentation. These journalists love the craft of writing, and are consumed by words, expression and communication. They probably would do well to find a creative release, or access to prescription medications.
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