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10 THEY SAID IT BARRY SWITZER: “Some people are bom on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” w — The Gamecock ^ % takes a look at the genius I _ behind the mm / K. ■ ■ • VfeI -fc 1 ■_0 comics that v—/ the lines ss? PHOTOS SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK .Heads and Tails above the rest' A second-year USC student hones his skill for an art career * through his comic BY BEN ANGSTADT THE (iAMBCOCK Jonathan Hughes, alecond-year graph ic design student, has found a way to com bine his recreation with his education. He learns artistic techniques in class and then uses this information to create a truly orig inal work of art. Hughes, a native of Rock Hill, is the cre ator of “Heads and Tails,” an original car toon that can be seen periodically in The Gamecock. “Heads and Tails” features a host of different characters in comical sit uations, the most memorable of which is a regular-looking man with a not-so-regular tail. The Gamecock sat down with Hughes to find out what inspires him. what his future plans include and most of all, where the crazy tail comes from. WHEN DID YOU FIRST BECOME INTERESTED IN MAKING CAR TOONS? “I got interested in doing cartoons when I was bored in English class in the eighth grade. I’ve just been doodling since then, and it’s just been fun. I went from doo dling in class to taking some art classes in high school. Then I just realized it’s something really fun and worth look ing into.” HOW DO YOU GET YOUR IDEAS FOR “HEADS AND TAILS?” “I get inspirations for the characters from my friends; the idea of it itself, I don’t know. It’s going to sound stupid, but I al ways thought it would be cool to have a tail. I mean, it would probably look weird, but I just thought it would al ways be cool ^_ I for Pe°Ple ||Snjj£gto have a f> looked for any reason to put in a tail.” IF ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY , "HEADS AND TAILS” IS ABOUT? f, “It’s just anything that’s funny that my 1 friends and I can think of. It’s so funny with my friends and me that sometimes I have to put it down on paper and hope that somebody else thinks that it’s at least somewhat humor ous.” WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR FAVORITE CAR TOONIST? “I have a picture of Bill Waterson, the creator of 'Calvin and Hobbes,’ in my room, and I’ve drawn a little arrow that says ‘God.’ I’d have to say if there was anybody in any way that ♦ HEADS AND TAILS, SEE PAGE 12 The artist’s self-portrait as Jonolas, an elf. Jonathan Hughes' solution to USC’s parking problem. : - ***'! Us in the cartoon world Filling a gap for college paper sparks job for ‘Buttercup Festival’artist Garbauskas BY BRIAN RAY THEfiAMECOCK Three years ago, Elliott G. Garbauskas scribbled a little twerp dressed up as Death on a piece of scrap paper. Since its first appearance in the The | Massachusetts Daily Collegian, Garbauskas has written hundreds of quick comics that will make you laugh aloud or leave you wondering what ex actly just soared over your head. Most of the strips depend on non-se quitur humor, but some go beyond the bizarre into the unforgettably and won derfully absurd. Our unnamed protag onist’s greatest adventures include en counters with balloon creatures in the forest, frog stomping and conversations with cosmic protean intelligence. Considering the otherworldliness of his work, you might wonder what kind of bats fly inside this artist’s head. WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF BUTTERCUP FESTIVAL? “There was a gap in the comics page one night that the graphics people couldn’t fill, and someone asked if anyone was interested in whipping something up to fill it. and I . just picked up the nearest pen and paper and scribbled some thing...” WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TITLE? DID YOU CONSIDER ANY POSSI BILITIES OTHER THAN “BUTTERCUP FESTIVAL?” “It just had a silly ring to it... I didn’t consider any other titles.” , * HOW LONG DOES IT TAKETOPIAN AND EXECUTE ONE COMIC STRIP? “Sometimes I find myself giggling in the middle of a bookstore, pulling old receipts from my wallet... and some times I can waste hours trying without suc *V» cess to will myself to think funny thoughts. Actually drawing the small sized strips takes at most 30 minutes.” WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR INFLU ENCES? “I can see a lot of Monty Python in my humor.... I’m also a fan of the Jim Abraham’s movies, ‘Airplane!’ and ‘Hot Shots! Part Deux.’... As for artwork, a lot of my recent landscapes and scenery (have) been inspired by the guidebook writer-illustrator Alfred Wainwright and also Ernest Shepherd, who illus trated the Winnie the Pooh books.” HAS YOUR CHARACTER EVER USED HIS SCYTHE? “I don’t think so, unless you count stuff like poking the ground with the end of the handle or throwing it over his shoulder.... It’s probably made out of papier-mache." HOW HAS THE STRIP EVOLVED IN THE PAST THREE YEARS? “I got slowly more consistent with the look of the protagonist, who has become taller and thinner over time... The writ ing has always been nothing more than whatever happens to make me laugh....” WHERE DO YOU SEE THIS COMIC GO ING? “X have eventual plans to spin off a completely separate narrative strip ... something of a Brothers Grimm-meets Alice in Wonderland-meets-Winnie the Pooh.” *0* AT THIS POINT, HOW LONG DO YOU SEE YOURSELF WRITING COMICS? “Sometimes I can see myself doing ‘Buttercup Festival’ for another seven ♦ BUTTERCUP, SEE PAGE 11 Cartoonist-rapper sarcastically confronts racism, small triumphs BY CHARLES TOMLINSON THE UAMECOCK “K Chronicles” is cartoonist rapper Keith Knight’s way of re lating his life experiences as a black male to the comics-reading masses. Even a simple trip to the farmers market presents an op portunity to blast bad drivers, as well as racism, while he’s at it. Originally from Boston, Knight began the comic in the late ‘80s in the Salem State College newspaper. He moved to San Francisco, and for 10 years, newspapers everywhere have printed the comic by the “brash, young, sheep- and hip-hop-lovin’, left-handed Red Sox fan," as he described himself in one strip. Knight also does two other ' comics, “(th)ink” is a one-panel strip about social issues for peo l/f"'ple of color. “Life’s Little Victories,” often part of the “K Chronicles” strip, is all about the small triumphs that make people happy — such as finding a “man overboard” hanging from your nose before a meeting. Knight also raps in the San Francisco band Marginal Prophets. But no matter what your race or political bent, Knight’s comics lave an undeniable appeal be cause, as he says, the issues — ind little victories, as well—are ill ‘'human stuff.” THE “K CHRONICLES” SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD HAVE THE BIGGEST APPEAL TO A LIBERAL BUCK AUDIENCE, BUT DO YOU THINK “K CHRONICLES” HAS A CROSS-RACIAL, CROSS-POLITI CAL APPEAL? “Yeah, if anything, I think it’s ♦ CHRONICLES, SEE PAGE 11 When flowers ATTACK ‘Bob the Flower’ characters reveal artist’s conflicting inner personas ' BY COREY GARRIOTT THE GAMECOCK How does he do it? Yes, you guessed it: Notley is Canadian. Bob the Angry Flower has dabbled in bio-robotic technol ogy and international politics since making his comic page debut in 1992. A cult following, touched by the out-of-the-ordi nary cartoon, looks forward to the weekly series in See Magazine. It later appears, staggered a week late, on www.angryflower.com. Revealing the sense behind the absurdity, Stephen Notley met with The Gamecock to talk shop. SO, WHY A FLOWER? | “No particular reason; I suppose a million years ago I ; had the notion of a flower with a mohawk and thought that might be a funny idea. Plus, a flower is easy to do — just a circle with petals — and there weren’t any other big flower cartoons out thereat the time." 4 I’M FAMILIAR WITH THE “K CHRONICLES.” WHAT OTHER COMICS DO YOU CONSIDER IN FLUENTIAL? ''Other comic influences? Well, let’s see ... ‘Cerebus the Aardvark,’ very big; ‘Howard the Duck’ I liked a ' lot as a kid; ‘Spider-Man,’ ‘X Men,’ and then later I took to ripping a lot of stuff off from ‘Calvin and Hobbes.’ That’s where I’m at now.” WHAT DO BOB, STUMPY AND FREDDY THE FETUS REVEAL ABOUTYOUR SOUL? “That’s a rather broad ques tion. Bob is me turned up, I guess... loud-mouthed, full-of ♦ BOB, SEEPAGE 11 V