I modeled Slick's cool and confident personality after the comic strip character, Heathcliff. Unlike Garfield, Heathcliff was a badass. I don't like Garfield anymore, but Heathcliff rocks. (I'm referring to classic Heathcliff by creator Geo Gately.) The artwork is gorgeous and the strip is very action-packed and energetic (especially the Sunday strips). If you look at Slick's expression in the second and third panels, you'll see shades of Heathcliff.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Shades of Heathcliff
I modeled Slick's cool and confident personality after the comic strip character, Heathcliff. Unlike Garfield, Heathcliff was a badass. I don't like Garfield anymore, but Heathcliff rocks. (I'm referring to classic Heathcliff by creator Geo Gately.) The artwork is gorgeous and the strip is very action-packed and energetic (especially the Sunday strips). If you look at Slick's expression in the second and third panels, you'll see shades of Heathcliff.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was a huge fan of Heathcliff the cartoon but my local paper didn't carry the comic strip. I think I bought a collection at a book fair once but it didn't make much of an impression on me.
ReplyDeleteAt what point do you feel Peanuts began to influence you? I almost feel like Roofus is kind of like a Charlie Brown-ified Slick.
A Charlie Brown-ified Slick. Best comment ever.
ReplyDeleteMy earliest memory of reading is reading a Charlie Brown Fawcett digest. Back in the stone ages (before eBay), you could actually find these books at thrift shops, Goodwill, Salvation Army and garage sales. I would buy a bundled stack of Peanuts books for 50 cents and read them over and over. I was probably about eight or nine when I started reading Peanuts. I didn't read a lot of children's books when I was a kid. Those Peanuts digests were my children's books. I think Peanuts influenced my love for comic strips.
As far as influencing my writing, I've never consciously tried to imitate Peanuts. To me, Peanuts is and will always be the best. Roofus' insecurities are based completely on my own. If he seems like Charlie Brown, that's because I was like Charlie Brown. I had a round head. I didn't have friends. I didn't get invited to parties. In college, I was socially awkward. At a very young age, I connected with that strip on an emotional level. I think the influence has always been there at an unconscious level.
Great question, Kenny. Thanks for a wonderful comment.
I bought a lot of Heathcliff books at the school book fair. I still have them. I also have most of my Peanuts digests. I just can't bring myself to get rid of those books.
ReplyDelete