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| MARCH 13, 2008 |
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BG: I imagine with a readership as large as yours, you’d have trouble keeping up with
everybody’s ideas. Now, I know that sometimes you’ll include jokes that come from working
with someone like Kris Straub , I’ve seen some of your work like that. Do you ever feel like
you've included a joke that maybe you’ve heard from a reader and later on realized it or is it
just an ongoing process?
Scott: Oh, I’ve done that a lot. You can’t help it, you take in so much media all the time, and
you feel the pressure. I’m sure I’ve used jokes from other cartoonists that I’ve heard,
something that I’ve heard before but I don’t remember that I’ve heard it. As far as readers
suggesting an idea and me using it, usually if I do that, it’s because they ask and I let them
know it’s coming down the pike. Like at one convention there was a guy dressed as the
Penguin and he said “I’d love to be in the strip”, and I said “I’ll put you in the strip as the
Penguin” and he was in the strip the next day. It’s never to the point where a reader gave me
an idea and then two days later I’m like “I stole that from a reader!”. That has not happened
yet that I know of. Who am I kidding, it may have happened and I just don’t realize it.
BG: Now, when you first started this strip, did you intend for it to be a hobby, something you
wanted to do, or did you intend to take it in a business direction if it got popular?
Scott: I never expected it to last more than the six or seven month they paid me to do it. There
was no grand design, there was no path to success charted out. A lot of it happened on its
own, a lot of it happened because it was the right place at the right time, and people forget
there were a lot of stumblings and failures along the way too, you know? PVP failed as much
as it succeeded along these last ten years.
BG: Now understandably, with someone who’s been around for ten years, you’ve probably
heard just about every criticism you can get, whether it’s a personal attack or an attack on
your comic strip. Do you still find that any criticism or insult that comes towards your work or
towards your personal life impacts you just as much as it did eight years ago, or nowadays it
is just “I’ve got people who like me and people who don’t”?
Scott: On an individual basis, none of them really impact me. I think that after awhile,
accumulatively it affects me. I get tired of always having to be questioned over a period of time
for certain things. In fact, there’s a discussion about whether it’s okay for my art style to
change, because I’ve been making some drastic leaps, and it’s kind of like “Wow, are we still
discussing this, are there still forums dedicated to whether this is ok or not?”. It’s more like a
malaise over the fact that the Internet has not matured enough, but it’s rare that one comment
gets under my skin and gets me flying. It happens, but it’s very rare.
BG: Now we’re going to change the tone of this interview a bit. We’re seeing more and more
of the bigger publications getting into digital distribution and we’re seeing Marvel come in to
the digital distribution. It’s obvious that these guys are seeing the success of independent
comics and they are coming online trying to do something like this. Do you ever see a point at
some junction where it might be like a cartoon section of the Sunday paper where you and
other artists might join a conglomerate, or is that something you all are avoiding at all costs
as far as staying independent? [read more]
everybody’s ideas. Now, I know that sometimes you’ll include jokes that come from working
with someone like Kris Straub , I’ve seen some of your work like that. Do you ever feel like
you've included a joke that maybe you’ve heard from a reader and later on realized it or is it
just an ongoing process?
Scott: Oh, I’ve done that a lot. You can’t help it, you take in so much media all the time, and
you feel the pressure. I’m sure I’ve used jokes from other cartoonists that I’ve heard,
something that I’ve heard before but I don’t remember that I’ve heard it. As far as readers
suggesting an idea and me using it, usually if I do that, it’s because they ask and I let them
know it’s coming down the pike. Like at one convention there was a guy dressed as the
Penguin and he said “I’d love to be in the strip”, and I said “I’ll put you in the strip as the
Penguin” and he was in the strip the next day. It’s never to the point where a reader gave me
an idea and then two days later I’m like “I stole that from a reader!”. That has not happened
yet that I know of. Who am I kidding, it may have happened and I just don’t realize it.
BG: Now, when you first started this strip, did you intend for it to be a hobby, something you
wanted to do, or did you intend to take it in a business direction if it got popular?
Scott: I never expected it to last more than the six or seven month they paid me to do it. There
was no grand design, there was no path to success charted out. A lot of it happened on its
own, a lot of it happened because it was the right place at the right time, and people forget
there were a lot of stumblings and failures along the way too, you know? PVP failed as much
as it succeeded along these last ten years.
BG: Now understandably, with someone who’s been around for ten years, you’ve probably
heard just about every criticism you can get, whether it’s a personal attack or an attack on
your comic strip. Do you still find that any criticism or insult that comes towards your work or
towards your personal life impacts you just as much as it did eight years ago, or nowadays it
is just “I’ve got people who like me and people who don’t”?
Scott: On an individual basis, none of them really impact me. I think that after awhile,
accumulatively it affects me. I get tired of always having to be questioned over a period of time
for certain things. In fact, there’s a discussion about whether it’s okay for my art style to
change, because I’ve been making some drastic leaps, and it’s kind of like “Wow, are we still
discussing this, are there still forums dedicated to whether this is ok or not?”. It’s more like a
malaise over the fact that the Internet has not matured enough, but it’s rare that one comment
gets under my skin and gets me flying. It happens, but it’s very rare.
BG: Now we’re going to change the tone of this interview a bit. We’re seeing more and more
of the bigger publications getting into digital distribution and we’re seeing Marvel come in to
the digital distribution. It’s obvious that these guys are seeing the success of independent
comics and they are coming online trying to do something like this. Do you ever see a point at
some junction where it might be like a cartoon section of the Sunday paper where you and
other artists might join a conglomerate, or is that something you all are avoiding at all costs
as far as staying independent? [read more]