• the217
• Blogs
• Capes & Cowls
• Beardo, the Interview

• RSS

Beardo, the Interview

posted by Matt Knicl at 7:01 am.

• Bookmark & Share
• Comments (5)

This will hopefully be the first of several interviews with the writers of the comic strips in the Daily Illini.

Dan Dougherty writes Beardo, a strip that portrays the future of many college students if your major is Art, History, Art History, Classics, Philosophy, English, Creative Writing - basically everything that’s not science. His strip can be seen every weekday and was one of my inspirations for my comic strip, Cape and Cowl. Check out the interview below, plus the epic crossover - When Beardo met Cape!

Matt Knicl: How did you come up with the idea for Beardo?

Beardo

Dan Dougherty: The foundation of Beardo material seems to be about the fate of people with useless degrees, which is to work as a barista. I was so annoyed when I had to take a job as a barista after getting my art degree, I felt like it was such a cliche. Then I realized that the thing about cliches is that everybody understands them. For the first few years at the coffeehouse, I didn’t make strips but I did occasionally write down the ridiculous things said by customers and co-workers alike.
When I did start the Beardo strips, I was just starting my leap into the frightening world of freelance art. I was drawing so many things for other people, I never had any time to do anything for myself. So Beardo came about because it was a simple and direct thing that was all mine. It’s evolved from being specifically about the barista Beardo to being about artist Beardo and relationship Beardo, and all the problems and wackiness that go with those roles.

Matt: Are the strips based on real life?

Dan: Mostly yes. Beardo is the result of things I write in a little notepad in my back pocket as material presents itself. That especially includes the absurdity and fun that goes along with being a barista, a job which I have held on and off for the past five years. I tell people that I’m there for the insurance, which is true. But I think I’m really there at this point for the material.

Matt: Why did you choose to run your strips in the DI?

Dan: I’m an alum, or alumni, or aluminum - of the University of Illinois. A friend of mine let me know that they were accepting submissions, and they’ve been good to me ever since. I’d like to get Beardo into bigger newspapers, I even submitted a selection of strips to all the major syndication companies. Unfortunately, I got generic rejection letters back. But I plan on putting together a Beardo book this year and seeing if that’ll impress them enough to send me a personalized rejection letter instead.

Matt: What is your philosophy for writing your comics?

Dan: I don’t know if it’s a philosophy so much as it is a lifestyle. Everyone knows me as the drawing guy, and it’s literally all I do. As far as Beardo goes, I think my only philosophy is to keep at it. I think I’ve figured out my character and style at this point, it’s just a matter of paying attention when something interesting happens. The thing that’s nice about Beardo is that there’s no writer’s block, all you need to do is just record the goofiness in whatever order it comes in, and then figure out later on how you can make it into a coherent collection. I didn’t know where I was going when I started, but now that I have like 300 strips, there’s actually a plot to this monstrosity. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the coffeehouse, broke up with a beast of a fiance, formed and lost a band, bought property (No more starving artist!) and stumbled into a great relationship with a girl who actually likes a cartoonist.

Matt: What other comics/strips were your inspiration?

Dan: Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, Dilbert, Corto Maltese, the artist/writer Gipi, and anything Paul Pope does.

Matt: What is the best part about being a cartoonist?

Dan: I love it. That’s it.

Matt: What is the worst part?

Dan: No health insurance, and everybody wants you to draw their kids.

Matt: What one thing would you like to say to your fans at the U of I?

Dan: I really, really appreciate your support, and I wish I had a better idea of who was reading. If you’re interested, I post all of my artwork (including Beardo) daily on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/beardocomics. I’d love it if you’d subscribe to the blog (where I post my artwork), and to make it worth your while I’ll send you a Beardo postcard if you do. You’ll also have a heads up when I finally put together Volume One of Beardo, which I think will be titled: Beardo: There’s Something On Your Face.

Matt: Does your strip run in any other papers?

Dan: Unfortunately not yet, but I’d like to. I’ve been bad about promoting Beardo beyond the DI, but it’s something that I’ve been looking to do for awhile. Beardo’s my baby, and I’d like it to be seen by as many people as possible because it’s something that I feel is simultaneously personal and universal.

Beardo © Dan Dougherty, Cape & Cowl © Matt Knicl 2008

Matt Knicl: My name is Matt Knicl. I'm a U of I alumn and one of those unemployed English majors Garrison Keillor likes to make fun of. I've been reading comics since high school and one day I would like to write them. My goal is to expose readers to what is out there in the world of comics and using my English powers, show what is worth reading or not. I can be reached at buzz.comics@gmail.com.