Every now and then I  will stumble upon a cartoon I simply don’t get. At times I can stare at it for quite a long and still not get it. Some time ago I heard about Bill Bickel’s blog Comics I Don’t Understand. On CIDU he posts newspaper strips and webcomics that he, well, does not understand. Of course I had to ask for his expertise.

Since I didn’t bookmark the cryptic cartoons I had found in the past, I had to browse toonpool.com for some to illustrate this interview. Doing so I noticed two important differences I had to take in account: 1) We have a lot more illustrations and experimental cartoons, that aren’t meant to have a distinct meaning or gag in the first place 2) Several toonpool.com artists may post cartoons that are meant for an audience from their own culture. So.. the images I chose are cartoons I think I could be getting, i.e. cartoons that seem “international” and also look as if they have a simple meaning or punchline.

Bill, can you tell a bit about the history of the CIDU blog?

I had — and still have — a friend named B. Joni who lives across the country. We wrote to one another frequently, and in years past we’d sometimes mail one another comic strips we didn’t understand. By 1994 we both had computers, and comics strips were starting to come online, so we were able to e-mail one another the comics. Brave New World!

But then she has to switch Internet Service Providers and could no longer receive e-mail attachments. I was already running a couple of web sites, and it occurred to me that if she couldn’t receive comics in the mail, I could start up an ad hoc web site just for the purpose of showing her the comics.

How did this become a public website?

Somewhere along the line, she passed along the address to some friends, who gave it to other friends, and at the same time I mentioned what I was doing to a kinsman and he passed along the address, and before long I was getting e-mail and comics from complete strangers.

Then David Farley, whose “Doctor Fun” strip appeared frequently on CIDU, gave me a plug. Soon afterward the site was mentioned in the New York Times, and then in Entertainment Weekly’s “Must List” page – the same place my brother’s book Creepiosity got listed 14 years later, oddly enough.

Did you have any kind of cartoon/comic background before you started the page?

No background at all other than having read the comics since I was three or four. I can’t draw for shit. I did draw a comic once, though: to avoid failing a high school art class, I created a comic book – all of whose characters were constellations, so all I had to draw were combinations of white dots on black paper.

What, in your opinion, is the main cause for cryptic comics?

I’m not sure there’s a “main” cause, but here’s a partial list:

There are several instances of “This made sense to me when I thought of it at 3AM”. Then, there are gags based on regional knowledge the writer believes is universal. Or gags based on technical knowledge the writer believes is universal.

There are also those moments when a comic actually isn’t cryptic at all: it’s just plain not funny and I was looking for something that wasn’t there

Sometimes the writer wanted to challenge his readers. Or he was being intentionally obscure to show off how clever he is. Then there are writers who are actually trying to get on CIDU.

And there are f***ing cats.

Wait.. how are cats a main cause of cryptic comics?

People have remarked – quite frequently and not without justification – that I simply don’t get any comics that involve cats.

In your FAQ you tell the original artists not to send in explanations. Is that something that actually does happen?

It did happen at first, before I added this to the FAQ. Still happens on occasion now, but invariably one of the regulars chastises the writer/artist before I ever see the comment. Self-policing communities; gotta love ‘em.

Dave Farley complains bitterly about this rule in his own FAQ, but it’s all in jest. The CIDU community misses Doctor Fun terribly.

Have you ever had cartoons explained to you and then actually thought they were funny?

Of course.

You also post cartoons that are actually funny in addition to the ones you don’t understand. Why?

Out of respect for cartoonists. If I’m going to give them a hard time when they’re unclear, the least I can do is honor them when they really nail one. In the end, I’m a fan: I’d much rather appreciate a comic than be confused by one.

You have been collecting cartoons and reading other people’s attempts at explaining them for quite a while now. Has this changed your own perspective on cartoons in any way?

I don’t know, not really. I have gotten better at understanding how comics writers’ minds work. And I know a lot more than I used to about cats.

So, how DO comic writers’ minds work?

Like clockwork oranges.

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich

Title illustration: “Superman is Shopping” by Zenchip

Ian, I really like your Bond caricatures. What is it about James Bond that made you start this series?

I have always been a fan of the James Bond films since I was a kid. In recent years I was involved in various Bond related projects, particularly in America, working with people who have had a long history working in the Bond universe on the film and literary side of things.

I started working on a few caricatures for my own amusement really, but they soon started to get the attention of Bond fans around the world and before I knew it I was producing large numbers of these portraits.

I’ve been overwhelmed with the positive response I’ve had from Bond fans. The downside is that at one point MGM Studios in Hollywood threatened to sue me unless I stopped producing the artwork, but they backed down.

What kinds of Bond projects have you been working on?

I was involved in a big project that unfortunately may not come to fruition now. I’m actually not allowed to talk about it, though. Seriously. Just like the real world of 007!

What’s your favorite Bond movie?

That’s a tricky one to answer; I love so many of them. I grew up in the Roger Moore era, and I loved all his films. Probably for his sense of humour and for the gadgets.

But I have to say that my favorite is probably Casino Royale. I thought the new Craig era brought with it a much grittier, down to earth feel that was right for modern times.

The new Casino Royale? Really?

Sure. The thing with Bond is that your favorite film can change depending on your age, or the way the world is at any particular time. When I was a kid I would say my favorite was probably The Spy Who Loved Me.

It’s still one of the very best, but back then, as a young kid, I was very impressed with gadgets, so that film fulfilled that. Right now I appreciate Bond being a much harder and more serious incarnation of the brand. I do think Daniel Craig is a very good actor, too. It’s funny but even though in real life I love technology and gadgets, what I want from Bond now is to not rely on them.

Is it getting harder to come up with Bond characters you haven’t done yet?

Not really, I’m not even half way through the collection. I actually get Bond fans emailing me requesting or suggesting particular characters to be added to the collection.

There have been a couple of Bond stars who, I’ve been told from my American sources, love the caricatures I’ve done of them – George Lazenby and Gloria Hendry. That’s so good to know.

There are still many characters that I need to do, some of them are major recurring characters too and it would be a huge oversight to not do them, so it will be a will be a while before I run out of steam with this project…Not forgetting of course that there is a new Bond film currently in production with all new characters to tackle.

How much time do your portraits usually take?

I work very quickly and seem to have a bit of a reputation for speed now. It varies. On average the black ink line work takes about five to ten minutes,and then I’ll add color

I might spend anything from 20 minutes to a few hours depending on its complexity.

The fact that you are working so fast makes me wonder.. did you ever work as a street caricaturist?

No, never. And I have never really seen myself as a caricaturist to be honest. I do caricatures when asked to, but it’s not my main area. I think nerves put me off doing live caricatures. Also, I prefer not to let the public see work that I’m not happy with… and doing that kind of work inevitable leads to work I am not proud of.

I greatly admire live caricaturists. Many of them seem to be able to hit a likeness straight away, every time, and that takes confidence. Unfortunately also, on a business level, I do feel that live street caricaturists are not paid what they deserve to be paid.

These days a new book of yours is coming out. Can you tell a bit about it?

It’s called “The Codgers’ Kama Sutra”. It’s in fact mainly a written book, which has a few cartoon illustrations scattered throughout it. I have worked a fair amount over the years as a comedy writer, and I wanted to do a book where I could showcase writing skills and let the cartoon side take a back seat.

How did you end up with the idea for the book? You don’t seem that old..

I’ve illustrated many books, written by other people, which are aimed at an older market – Mainly gift books that gently poke fun at people’s ages. I always wanted to write a similar book but with much more extreme, edgy humor.

I think a concept like the Kama Sutra is a gift for a satirist. Once I’d finished writing and illustrating it, it took a couple of years before I landed a publishing deal. Most publishers who saw the book found it to be a little bit too rude for their humor ranges.

Ultimately I submitted Codgers’ to Constable & Robinson in London, one of the oldest and most respected publishing houses in Europe, and I was delighted when they offered me a deal. A year on from signing the contract, I now have an advance copy of the book in my hands and look forward to the release of the book internationally on the 22nd of September.

If the book has been lying around for so long.. didn’t you feel tempted to change things.. redraw parts, add new cartoons, etc.?

This was one of the rare occasions where I felt the work I’d done had reached a satisfactory conclusion. I re-read it several times over the course of a year and it still made me chuckle every time.

There was one thing I did go back and change though, and that was the cover artwork. The original cartoon, I felt, could be a lot better, so I did it again. However by this time the old cover was appearing all over the internet with the old cover cartoon

There is another book I am thinking of resurrecting at the moment – One I started working on about six years ago. That book will have to be totally started from scratch, as having recently seen the original work, I know the cartoons need to be drawn better. I think all of us, as cartoonists, never stop improving our skills and evolving.

I’m sure one day I will pick up the “Codgers’ Kama Sutra” and wish I could re-draw the illustrations or add a new chapter. But for now, I’m very happy with the finished book!

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich

Hayati Boyacıoğlu is a Turkish-German cartoonist. His cartoons frequently deal with issues of integration and cultural relations.

Hayati, in the past weeks you posted several cartoons showing couples – most of them very unlikely ones. Where did that come from?

You will see couples anywhere you go – on the subway, at a doctor’s office.. That’s when I start wondering what they do, what they tell each other, how they found each other, why him, why her… There’s hardly any subject more rewarding for a cartoonist than relationships.

Was there any particular couple that started the whole thing?

Yes. Back in 1995 I published a book that had a couple on the cover page – a punk and a Turkish woman with a headscarf. I saw those two sitting on a bench at Moritzplatz. In a city like Berlin these kinds of things are actually quite frequent.

You make up names for all of your couples…

Yes, but I only started doing this recently. It adds a certain warmth to a cartoon. I also want to add a common element to my couple drawings: it’s meant to show that we are all human beings, even though some people have a hard time accepting that.

For example, I did this cartoon about “Heidemarie and Ali”. In that one Ali cuts both their names into a tree. These kinds of things just have to happen if you take into account that the first Turkish migrants came to Germany in 1960. It’s well possible that a Turkish man who arrived back then fell in love with a German. But in everyday life you see these things way too rarely.

You were born in Istanbul and your wife is from Bremerhaven. Does you own experience influence your couple cartoons in any way?

Sure. We have known each other since 1978, when she was 14 and I was 17. I asked her to teach me German… She still does.

You also do political cartoons, say, about famine in Somalia..

There is a kind of scheme behind that. I will draw a number of “bourgeois feelgood cartoons” and then I will do one about starving Somalian children.

Do you draw it in that order or do you keep back the grisly ones to use them in the proper moment?

Sometimes I think about trying to control this.. but there’s no real need to. Life does that by itself. I will draw something about couples switching clothes and all of a sudden my routine is interrupted by a sinking ship with 20 refugees aboard and other people doing nothing. You just have to draw something about that.

Is there any agenda behind your cartoons?

Dario Fo once said that if you want to make people understand something you have to make them laugh. Because that’s when their brains will open up and you can add knowledge.

The problem with toonpool.com is that the audience is composed of artists, of satirists. There’s no need to teach each other. On Facebook, for example, I will get very different reactions to my cartoons.

Several of your political cartoons deal with Turkish issues, for example with the recent elections. Can you tell a bit about Turkish cartoons in general?

In Turkey, the newspapers’ headquarters are mostly based in Istanbul. Except for about four pages of the international issues, everything’s produced there.

So, those international issues will hardly produce their own editorial cartoons. Perhaps because it’s hard to control editorial cartoons. In effect, most editorial cartoons deal with Istanbul issues and hardly ever with things happening anywhere else.

Are there any differences to German cartoons when it comes to humor?

Yes. There are basically two types. The first one does not really exist in Germany. It’s satirical magazines that are very cheap. Examples would be Leman or the now-defunct Gırgır.

German Titanic or Eulenspiegel cost 4 Euros each and, if you want to understand them you have to be well-read, know a thing or two about satire, etc. It’s not for everyone.

The Turkish magazines cost something like 25 cents and they are not too “high-brow”. Satire should be folksy and accessible for everyone – populist in a good way. I am trying to keep things simple, even though it doesn’t always work. Maybe that’s a point where I’m influenced by Germany.

Isn’t there a danger that populist cartoons can very quickly turn to propaganda?

I don’t think so. Readers would notice this very quickly. And they will punish magazines by simply not buying them the following week.

How about the second type of cartoons?

Those are more artistic and don’t use captions. That’s one thing that sometimes poses problems for cartoonists from Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and the like. Germans always use captions. Even on toonpool.com you need to fill in a title but, you know, the drawings are supposed to speak for themselves.

Where is this type usually published?

Artists will publish books or display them at exhibitions. There were a couple of more sophisticated satire magazines, but those never really worked.

Are you still in contact with cartoonists from Turkey?

Yes, I am. Thanks to toonpool.com, among others. I started drawing back in school, when Gırgır was still around [editor's note: Gırgır was originally published between 1972 and 1989].

I met a lot of like-minded people then. Some of them – like Erdogan Karayel - I met again in Germany. Others I found online. And, of course, I met a lot of new people.

What are the main differences in opinion between “exiles” and artists back in Turkey?

It always depends on how long you have been abroad. If you left only two or three years ago you can live here as you would have back in Turkey. You don’t really speak the language and you can stay at home and watch Turkish television. If you have been here for 20 or 30 years, though, if you keep your eyes open, you will change.

Which of your own attitudes, would you say, have changed?

I see some things differently. Some things that would be taboo over there, I don’t really mind anymore. When the Turkish military’s chiefs of staff resigned, mine was one of very few cartoons on this topic.. and it applauded the fact that they gave in to the power of the people. I hardly got any reactions on that one from Turkey.

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich (Twitter/Facebook)

Cheah Sin Ann – also known as both “Cheah” and “Sinann” – was born in Malaysia and currently lives in Singapore. In 1986 he started drawing a strip called “The House of Lim” for the Straits Times, Singapore’s largest English language newspaper.

Sin Ann, you write that you created the first “Singapore-made English language daily cartoon strip”…

Yes, when I first joined the Straits Times, there weren’t any locally-made strips. Perhaps because those were still the early days. I pitched the idea of a series on a Chinese family and the editors bought it. There have been a number of works created in Singapore since.

If there were no local cartoons, what others were there?

If I’m not mistaken, most of the cartoon strips were from the American syndicates – stuff like Garfield, and the Peanuts.

How many different strips do you draw at the moment?

Currently, I maintain two working cartoon strips. The daily Billy & Saltie and the weekly Event Horizon. I also post that one on toonpool.com, well, weekly.

I have a  third which I’m keeping under wrap for the most part for now. It’s called Beijing Life and about a modern ‘Mad About You’ type couple in the Chinese capital.

Singapore sounds like a melting-pot of different cultures. Does this figure into your cartoons in any way?

Yes, Singapore has many cultures I think mainly because it was a major port for the trading routes in the old days and the various immigrants settled here.

I don’t know if they figure in my cartoons but I think humor is universal and culture only provides the platform. Case in point, my strip, Murphy’s In-Law dealt with Irish culture but the jokes were essentially still jokes you and I can identify with. [characters from this strip are on the right side of the title image]

How did you decide to do strips about Irish and Chinese families?  Is there any personal connection? Your own name sounds Malay to me…  I mighty be totally off on that last one, though.

My name’s actually Chinese – Cheah Sin Ann – but my last company contracted it to Sinann Cheah for their computer system. This would explain the Chinese family strip. [characters from "The House of Lim" are on the left side of the title image]

As for Murphy’s In-Law, my wife is from County Kerry,  Ireland. So I had plenty of info about Irish culture. And Guinness.

There are are four official languages in Singapore how does that affect your everyday life? Do you switch between languages?

Effectively, I speak English, Malay and a dialect of Chinese and yes, I use those languages in the restaurants at the markets, etc..

Have you ever drawn comics in another language?

No, although I would very much like to. And that’s  an interesting point you’ve raised: Would humor in English work just as well in German, French or Spanish? Would the irony or sarcasm be lost in translation?  Even American humor isn’t the same as British humor.

How does this work in a multicultural situation? Do you see any differences in humor between the ethnic groups of Singapore?

All the races speak Singlish besides their mother tongue and we have our own brand of humour that takes an outsider a while to get. It’s full of local slang and innuendos. The same as in other countries, I guess.

The universal point i was trying to make is that all cultures have their hangups with mother-in-laws, shopping, people who talk too much, bad drivers, etc. I like to show how a particular group deals with them, preferably with a nice twist.

You mentioned a new strip about life in Beijing. What kind of market are you aiming at with that?

I’m really not sure about Beijing Life, to be honest. Unless I get some help from the inside and the outside. It won’t be easy to introduce the cartoon and, more importantly, the humor, to China. From what I know,  there’s no such thing as irony there.

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich (Twitter)

PS: Samples from “House of Lim” and Sinann’s other strips can be found on his website.

1. Which movie/TV character you see yourself as and why?
The movie character I see myself as would probably be the lead part in the film ‘Chocolate ‘ for so many reasons!!!

2. What are your New Year’s resolutions?
My new year’s resolution was to eat more chocolate and exercise less, or was it the other way round?  I choose not to remember.a

3. What bores you the most?
My day job bores me most at the moment.

4. Do you like your place or would you like to live somewhere else?
I love living in East Anglia and probably won’t ever go too far from it if I can avoid it.  I have tried but always seem to end up returning here.

5. What are you able to do that Superman can’t do?
Things I can do that Superman can’t, have a baby, go into the Ladies toilets, walk into a phone box without changing costume.

6. If you were sleep walking one night, where would you probably wake up the next day?
If I were sleep walking I would probably wake up in the nearest chocolate factory/ sweet shop/ ice cream parlour.

7. What would you wear to be kicked out from a black tie cocktail party
I could wear a cocktail dress and still get thrown out of a cocktail party.

8. Tell me the biggest prank you did on a friend.
The biggest joke I ever played on anyone was one of my ex managers. We had no staff and it was very difficult, but me and two of my collegues wrote out really ridiculous letters of resignation and handed them to him altogether.  He went white.  Five minutes later we watched his face change as he opened the first letter, then he realised it was April Fool’s Day.  The letters went right round all the managers at our supermarket, we’d written we were leaving to become strippers or prostitutes or something!!!!  All very ridiculous stuff.

9. How to ruin your vacation?
I’d have to get food poisoning or a tooth ache to ruin any holiday.

10. If I gave you a giraffe, where would you hide it?
I would hide a giraffe in the middle of an English supermarket with a sign round it’s neck saying ‘I’m a giraffe’.  English people don’t see anything in front of them and certainly don’t read signs.  They just complain if there’s not a sign. We’re a strange breed.

11. What do you do when you see the glass half empty!
What do I do with a glass half empty?  Depends what’s been in it.

Click on image to enlarge

Credits to Nicoleta Ionescu for talking with Kerina Strevens

“Adult cartoons” is a topic that  I have tried to avoid so far. There are mainly two things that I find problematic about the majority of sex-themed cartoons. The first one is that they are often more annoying than anything else. Basically they are the graphic equivalent of someone yelling “PENIS! See, I said PENIS!!!! And there is nothing you can do about it because this is the INTERNET!!! P-E-N-I-S!!!. The second problem is that so many of them perpetuate a sexist ideology that hasn’t changed much since the early days of Playboy.

Still, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the motivation and thoughts of “adult” cartoonists. Gustavo “Garrincha” Rodriguez is a Cuban cartoonist and illustrator who moved to North Miami Beach, Florida in 2005. I admire many of Garrincha’s works: his vectorized caricatures are inventive and immediately recognizable and his line drawings have have an almost Sempé-ish lightness to them. On the other hand he also does a series of cartoons aptly titled “Dickies”. Hence this interview:

Gustavo, what’s the story behind your series of sex-themed cartoons?

Sex is still taboo to many people. Well, not sex, but talking or joking about it. Which is, as we all know, stupid. And hypocrite. And wonderful to depict.

So yeah, I’m a bit provocative there. I didn’t have a space to publish any of that material back in Cuba. Coming to the States and starting a blog where I can publish whatever the hell I wanted was therapy, catharsis, a test and healthy creative exercise all in one.

Why couldn’t you have done the sex cartoons from Cuba?

I wouldn’t have been able to set up a blog in Cuba mainly because Internet connection is scarce and state-controlled. Even having a computer is a big deal there.

Most artists use computers as an extension of their work in government propaganda, or to talk about politically correct subjects in sports, culture, or technology. Because they want to or because they know they are being watched.

There is that thing with the control and censorship government bureaucrats take so seriously. They keep reminding everybody in earshot that the Cuban Revolution is a superior project. So revolutionary morality – whatever that means – is something they try to keep an eye on.. Soft erotic content is OK sometimes in one of the two humor publications nationally distributed, but drawing penises is a no no, to put it grossly.

I would have thought that Americans would be more touchy about all things sex-related..

Mainstream America is conservative and sometimes prude. But there are pockets or niches. The Internet definitely opens extra doors.

Having a personal blog and a website where I can publish everything is something I could have never dreamed of in Cuba. And so far I haven’t had anybody in the States telling me to shut it down because the content is indecent or politically incorrect.

How is the ratio of sex cartoons to family-friendly ones in your current work?

I would say is a quarter of what I draw, counting comic strips, illustrations, caricatures, editorial cartoons and gag cartoons. Maybe less.

It’s just that I find it relaxing being provocative and finding accomplices in the more familiar or intimate circuit of my reduced number of blog readers, Facebook friends or toonpool.com users. Although the latter two imply a number of readers not as small as I have imagined.

The majority of your sex-themed cartoons takes a males perspective with women and their genitals being demoted to objects of desire for the penile protagonists. Why such limitation?

Because that’s how pathetic we are.

Who is “we”?

Uh… Men as a group? Mankind in general?

I am pretty sure that – at least – one half of mankind would disagree. So, let’s stick with “men as a group”. Do you think that in the end, looking at yourself and other men, it all comes down to that?

Oh, sure! I know for a fact that very few people would admit that they have something pathetic in their lives. Me, I try to stay honest. And self-deprecating helps, no doubt.

I don’t really believe my approach to sex in cartoons should be taken as an “in the end” judgment of any kind. That’s too serious of a stance. It’s like making Bob Dylan’s poetry a philosophy of life, a doctrine. I mean, come on! If my male readers laugh at themselves with my toons, fine! If they don’t, too bad for them.

Some of my cartoons focus on sex sometimes to remind people that indeed they are focused on sex but lots of them won’t admit it. I make that matter public, and I try to do it in a funny way.

Is there something inherently funny about sex and male genitals in particular?

It all depends on whose genitals are we talking about.

So, whose genitals are funny?

“Ha-ha-ha”-funny or “That’s weird!”-funny? Well, I guess Khadafi and Hugo Chavez think theirs are cute. Even each other’s.

Look, penises are cucumbers with an attitude. Women genitalia on the other hand, are very… How to put it? Have you seen Gerald Scarfe’s flowers in Pink Floyd’s The Wall? Scary, huh?

Women are too gorgeous to reduce them to a walking vagina or a dancing pair of boobs. I’m not satisfied at all with the vaginas I draw, I have to say. To sum up, penises are excellent characters to draw about the male brain.

How do people react to your explicit cartoons? Is my question about limitation one that often comes up?

I can only tell from comments and emails, but it has been mostly a popular reception. Men and women alike seem to like ‘em.

How about other people’s adult cartoons? Do you enjoy those?

If you have sense of humor in treating sex as a theme, and if you have good drawing and conceptualizing skills, it means to me that you are a special person who chose to enjoy life.

The wit, the high quality of the drawings and the liberating feeling of mocking our sorry human nature are things not to be taken lightly. So yes, I do enjoy other artists’ cartoons about sex if their work is funny, well-drawn and communicates effectively. I think I should start a club.

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich

Francisco Munguía is based in San José, the capital of Costa Rica. He is a full-time cartoon artist doing newspaper cartoons, paintings, ceramics murals and even computer games. Francisco and his wife Debora live together with their two sons and 25 dogs.

My first interaction with Munguía took place about a year ago when I messed up his first name in an article about cartoon parodies of famous works of art. I have to admit that this still bugs me. Here is a proper interview:

Francisco, you often quote well-known paintings in your cartoons. Can you tell a little bit about that?

You’re right. Parodies of famous paintings make up for the greatest part of my “Calcamunguías” series. By now I must have done more than 200 of these reinterpretations. I prefer to caricature a work of art rather than politicians.

People from Guatemala, Holland, Korea, Ghana, or Spain easily recognize the Mona Lisa, or Munch’s Scream, but I think they hardly know the name of the president of my country. Chances that it will still be like this in 100 years are very high.

So, people like the parodies?

Yes, I started this series in 2008 and it became very popular. I even managed to organize a traveling exhibition of several rooms. Humor and parody are a great way to bring universal art to young audiences. In each exhibit my paintings are accompanied by a photo of the original painting, and the names of the piece and the artist. I also use the paintings to carry forward messages of animal welfare, ecology, and social interest…

While I love art, lots of paintings often seem boring to me – without humor and color. I’ll arrange that. My works are an upgrade, so to say.

What exactly do you mean by “boring”?

Over time, art has become more colorful and humorous, less realistic in form and more realistic in content, Michelangelo was gifted but his themes are limited by religious mythology. Rembrandt is a great artist but I do not like the many shadows in his paintings. Goya is extraordinary and very critical, but his works are void of color and the humor is very black.

I prefer the toonpool cartoons to Mona Lisa, but I enjoy Mona Lisa much more than CNN news. The best example I have is Guernica, one of my favorite paintings – a large painting, very critical, but all the characters suffer. It’s gray, it’s sad, and it is a cruel reflection of war. My version is happy and optimistic. The family is celebrating the birth of the child, they live in peace surrounded by animals. It is full of color, like an exorcism of the original.

Still, there must be something you like about the original paintings.. right?

You can learn many things from works of art from the past – composition, color, history, allegory, symbolism. But I prefer the more recent artists: Van Gogh, Picasso, Duchamp, Magritte. The latter being very colorful, very symbolic, and very close to cartoons.

How did you decide on the color scheme you are using?

Costa Rica is a very colorful place. This has definitely influenced my art. I use a preset color palette when working on the computer. In my paintings I am more free. I use intense and plain colors, I will create texture by overlapping spots, dots and drops of pigment. I hardly ever use shadows – I am all for day-life, I love the light. Coloring is the most spontaneous part of my work, it is like a game.

Your cartoons look as if they are done very quickly. Is that true?

I am a fast artist. Coming up with ideas may take some time but I have so many in line that I have more ideas than time to realize them.

Some of my drawings take 20 minutes from the white sheet to adding color on the computer. I am even faster when I do several pieces at once. I can paint up to three pictures at once and finish them in one day.

I paint murals of 30 square meters in four hours, but my ceramic pieces, for example, take me a couple of weeks. My largest mural took me two weeks with the help of one assistant. But there was also one that lasted two months. It was a pedestrian bridge that was painted underneath, inside, outside and everywhere. I needed cranes, extensions and several assistants for that one.

What, exactly, is the jobs of the assistants?

For my murals I cooperate with the community where I paint. Neighbors join the production as volunteers. Often they will ad the colors to the drawings – sometimes even little kids will paint a small piece. This way they become part of the art and the neighborhood improvement.

Other things assistants will do is to clean my brushes, put the paint into little containers for the use of volunteers. I am responsible for all drawings, for the coordination, I will fix errors made by volunteers and will finally add all the lines that define the painting.

Which do you like better – the murals or the small formats?

It’s hard to choose. The mural brings me closer to communities, but in the smaller formats I can do at home even if it is raining. The decision for “micro” or “macro” depends on the needs of the moment, and my time. Also the murals need sponsors, the small formats don´t.

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich

Schwoe… – bürgerlich Matthias Schwoerer – lebt und arbeitet im südbadischen Badenweiler, gut zehn Kilometer von der französischen Grenze entfernt.

Matthias, du hast unter anderem als Käselieferant, Gymnasiallehrer, Regieassistent und Schauspieler gearbeitet bevor du Cartoonist und Illustrator wurdest. Warum so unterschiedliche Jobs?

Das ist so eine typische Formulierung aus vielen Künstlerbiografien. Sie soll zeigen, wie schließlich die göttliche Fügung den Künstler mit sicherem Griff aus der Masse von Käsefahrern, Gymnasiallehrern usw. herausgepickt und in sein Atelier gesetzt hat, in dem er dann die unsterblichen Meisterwerke machen konnte, die z.B. auf Toonpool zu sehen sind.

Wenn man’s banaler betrachtet, kann man auch sagen: Ich hab mir das Künstlersein erst mal nicht zugetraut und bin Beamter geworden. Ich war sehr gerne Lehrer, habe aber doch gedacht: ‘Das kann es doch nicht gewesen sein!’ Der nächste Schritt, Theater, war dann wenigstens noch eine Institution.

Wie kam es, dass du Schauspieler geworden bist ?

Theater war für mich schon von Kindheit an was Faszinierendes, erst Kasperle-Theater, dann Schultheater. Als ich dann mutig genug war, selbst ans Profitheater zu gehen, war ich erst Bühnenbildner, wollte dann aber in die Regie. Da fängt man als Assistent an und hat an den meisten Theatern auch Spielverpflichtung. Schauspieler war ich also nur in kleinen Nebenrollen.

Würdest du sagen, dass die Schauspielerei einen Einfluss auf deine Arbeit als Cartoonist hat?

Das Theater wurde aus einem Nebeneffekt heraus wichtig für mich als Cartoonist: Ich habe dort viele Schauspieler kennengelernt, die einfach großen Mut in der Selbstverwirklichung hatten, die aus Verträgen ausgebrochen sind, weil es ihnen nicht mehr gepasst hat, die neue Projekte mit völlig unsicherer Finanzierung in Angriff genommen haben und so weiter.

Irgendwann habe ich mir dann gesagt: ‘Warum bist du eigentlich so feige und versuchst nicht mal das wirklich professionell zu machen, was du immer schon kannst, nämlich zeichnen?’ Das lag mir dann auch sehr viel mehr, als die fanatische, intrigen-verseuchte Teamworkerei mit lauter Egomanen am Theater.

Dann, am Zeichentisch, hatte ich allerdings erst einmal die völlig verkehrte Vorstellung, man müsse nur zeichnen können, um es als Cartoonist zu was zu bringen. Man muss aber vor allem die Selbstvermarktung können und lieben. Und das ist leider bis heute nicht mein Ding.

Woran genau hast du gemerkt, dass Selbstvermarktung ein wesentlicher Teil des Berufs Cartoonist ist?

Ich lege ziemlich strenge Maßstäbe an meine eigenen Cartoons hinsichtlich Darstellung und Pointe an und sehe dann, was für ein Mist statt meiner Cartoons abgedruckt wird. Das kann dann ja nur an meinem Marketing liegen. Zugegeben: Ich

bin da echt faul, unfähig, inkonsequent, arrogant, selbstmitleidig, weltfremd und unprofessionell – habe ich etwas vergessen? Im Grunde würde ich mir einen Agenten wünschen, der vor allem. mich im Auge hat und sich nicht zu schade ist, mich immer und immer wieder in den Arsch zu treten.

Ich würde jedem, der was von Selbstvermarktung versteht, zuraten, Cartoonist zu werden. So schlecht kann niemand zeichnen, als dass er mit einem entsprechend programmierten Ego nicht doch veröffentlicht würde. Allerdings bringt man’s mit so einem Ego als Chefarzt oder bei der Bank oder in der Politik eventuell zu mehr Kohle. Und ich hab einen Konkurrenten weniger.

Deine Cartoons haben oft eine seltsame Perspektive, von der zumindest ich ein bisschen Nackenprobleme bekomme – wie wenn ich Claus Kleber angucke. Wie ist diese Perspektive entstanden?

Claus Kleber? Ist der so winzig?

Nee, aber er hat so eine seltsame Kombination aus einem asymmetrischen Gesicht und einer schiefen Haltung, dass ich es immer ein bisschen anstrengend finde, ihn anzugucken.

Ich finde jedenfalls, dass man auf meine Figuren und Räume immer eher von oben runter guckt. Das erleichtert mir die räumliche Staffelung der Gestalten. Außerdem mag ich es, wenn man bei den Köpfen möglichst beide Augen sieht. Das wirkt bei der Draufsicht am natürlichsten, bringt aber sonst auch eine netten Picasso-Effekt.

Deinen Cartoon mit der kotzenden Titanic finde ich großartig aber auch sehr seltsam. Wie kam der denn denn zustande?

Meine Bilder entstehen meist ziemlich vollständig im Kopf. Bei der Titanic fand ich interessant, den arglosen Kreuzfahrern mal zu zeigen, was unter der Wasserlinie wirklich vor sich geht. Kunst sollte ja immer zeigen, was dem normalen Auge verborgen ist.

Dass das Schiff selbst unter dem Seegang leidet, kam erst beim Zeichnen dazu. Aber auch viele Seeleute werden immer wieder seekrank, das Ausüben der immer gleichen Tätigkeit bringt einen eben nicht unbedingt weiter. Das gilt auch für Cartoonisten.

Ist es nicht ein bisschen widersprüchlich wenn du einerseits schreibst, dass deine Bilder vollständig im Kopf entstehen, die Leiden des Schiffes aber erst beim Zeichnen dazu kamen. Ist der Cartoon jetzt eine Ausnahme?

Ja, das ist eher die Ausnahme. Von anderen Zeichnern hört man immer mal: Ich fang einfach an zu kritzeln, und dann wird schon was draus. Das muss nicht schlecht sein, funktioniert bei mir aber nicht

Ich muss die Grundidee im Kopf entwickeln, dann kann natürlich beim Zeichnen noch der eine oder andere Schnörkel dazu wachsen. Die Texte mache ich oft erst später.

Stammen deine schwarz-weißen Cartoons und die farbigen aus unterschiedlichen Schaffensperioden oder hast du gewissermaßen zwei unterschiedliche Zeichenstile?

Zwei Stile? Das wäre ja nett! Vor allem viel besser zum Vermarkten! Inzwischen habe ich – glaube ich – fünf bis sechs Stile.

Erstens wären da Cartoons, die ich mit Tuschefeder zeichne, mit und ohne Aquarellfarbe. Dann benutze ich manchmal einen schmalen Filzer für die Konturzeichnung, und mache die Farbfüllung mit einem Bildbearbeitungsprogramm. In einer dritten Kategorie benutze ich einen Tuschepinsel für Konturzeichnung und Bildbearbeitung für die Farbfüllung. Bei diesen Cartoons sind die Themen immer etwas komplex und der Text ist nie im Bild sondern nur in der Unterschrift. Dann gibt es Cartoons, die ähnlich aufgebaut sind, aber rein schwarz-weiß. Ich habe für die Bilder aus den letzten beiden Kategorien die Schublade “Ebene 2″, weil sie halt ein bissel “abgehoben” sind.

Eine fünfte Variante zeichne ich mit Tuschepinsel und male sie mit dem Computer aus. Das sind aber typischere Cartoons, wo der Text oft im Bild steht. Eine Sonderform sind die Blätter, die ich “Cartoon-Stories” . Die tauchen immer mal wieder im Schweizer “Nebelspalter” auf und sind eine Art cartoonistischer Essay.

Ich finde es interessant, dass du deine Cartoons selbst in klar umgrenzte Kategorien steckst – nach Witztyp, Materialien & Aufteilung. Wie beeinflusst das deine Arbeit?

Ein großer Teil meiner Arbeit sind nicht Cartoons, sondern Illustrationen oder illustrierende Cartoons, die vom Stil her zum Auftraggeber passen müssen. Wenn ich dann frei arbeite, nehme ich mir tatsächlich vor, dass ich jetzt mal Ideen für einen meiner Stile “gebären” will.

Wenn ich mir ein Thema vornehme, geht das auch ganz gut. Es gehört für mich zur Professionalität, dass ich auch unter Zeitdruck Ideen zu allen möglichen Vorgaben entwickeln kann, eben auch zu Vorgaben, die ich mir selbst gebe.

Danke, dass du dir die Zeit genommen hast!

Paul Hellmich

Cartoons are all about information. If you don’t know certain things, they won’t work. Admittedly, a lot of cartoons won’t work even though you might get the joke because they just aren’t funny. But let’s stick with the information part. On toonpool.com you can usually get along quite well if you know your pop culture and have some idea about recent news items from a cartoon’s country of origin (language barriers left aside, that is).

“Special interest” cartoons, on the other hand, demand knowledge held by comparably smaller groups of people. They offer a kind of in-crowd bonus (“Ha! There are only twenty people in the world who will get this joke. And I am one of them.”) and, perhaps more important, enable people to discuss parts of their lives that do not get covered in general public discourse. Special interest gags have been around a long time, both in oral culture (“What does it say on a blues singer’s tombstone?”) and in cartoons published in journals or fanzines.

Of course their numbers have increased greatly through the internet. There are webcomics for PhD students, History majors, and programmers. As well as many, many others. My choice of examples, however, apart from displaying my own geekiness points to a major bias in special interest cartoons and Internet culture in general: A lot of it is made by and meant for people with higher education. There aren’t too many cartoons about plumbing, although I am sure that there must be lots of inside jokes. Taking an optimistic view on the democratic potential of the internet, you could argue that this will change in the next couple of years. I definitely hope it will. Staring at esoteric cartoons is a great (although not necessarily successful) way of learning about society.

Sports cartoons are a bit of an exception to the  bias I mentioned earlier. While I would still count them as special interest, they cater to a much wider range of people. Omar “Omomani” Momani is a 30-year-old cartoonist and animator from Jordan. He is an animation team leader at a company called Crazy Piranha Studios and draws football-themed cartoons for a website called goal.com. We talked about his own fandom, about how he became a football cartoonist and about players who simply look funny.

Omar, since you do a lot of cartoons on football, I guess that you are a fan.. What’s your team?

Of course am a fan! I am a big fan of AC Milan. I support them since childhood, Milan is part of my life indeed.

What was it about Milan that made you – someone who grew up in a different country – a fan?

It was in 1989 and 1990 when I first noticed football. Milan was then the best team on the planet. So, as a child, I became obsessed with their magic. I liked the understanding between the lines – Baresi – Maldini, Rijkaard – Gullit – Van Basten.

What did you think about them this season? They won the Serie A but didn’t do too well in the Champion’s league…

Honestly, I was not that happy. Milan just lacked the spirit. In the past Milan has had the same soul in its various eras – Sacchi Milan, Cappelo Milan, Ancelotti Milan. When you saw them play you knew it was Milan, I didn’t feel that this season. And, besides, I am sad about the departure of Pirlo. He was my favorite player in Milan.

How many games do you watch in a week?

Well, it’s impossible to watch all the games in the world. I focus on the major European leagues. If I can make it, I will watch the most important matches of the week. Usually three games a week, but I also follow all the summaries in these leagues as well as the news.

How did you end up drawing football cartoons?

This came up during the last World Cup. My friends asked me to start drawing cartoons in general. I found that football was a good subject for me as an animator. Football gives you all the actions and ideas you need. Well.. then I contacted Goal.com. They liked the idea and signed me up to be their cartoonist.

Do you follow football cartoons by other people?

I have been searching for other colleagues but I didn’t find many. Maybe because I am new at this. I like Caye‘s sports cartoons but they are so biased with Barcelona. I try to be neutral when drawing a cartoon.

Which football personality is most fun to draw and/or to use for a cartoon?

I love classic playerslike Valderrama and Gullit, they are hip and cool. As for modern football there are Messi, Gatusso, Puyol and Rooney.

What is it that makes them suited for cartoons?

Their funny looks. When you hear Puyol’s name you always remember his hair. Its like he is the “hairy man”. Gullit is the same but with a funny mustache. Other players look much less unique. Xavi for instance. From a cartoonist’s point of view, of course.

Are you going to draw cartoons about the Women’s World Cup?

If and idea pops up, of course i will!

Thanks for your time!

Paul Hellmich

Jan, wie bist du eigentlich zum Zeichnen gekommen?

Wahrscheinlich wie die meisten anderen Cartoonisten auch: Ich habe als Kind gezeichnet und fand Comics gut – wobei es die in der Tschechoslowakei kaum gab. Dort habe ich gelebt, bis ich 15 war. Ende der 60er Jahre sind meine Eltern dann nach Westdeutschland gegangen.

In Deutschland habe ich Abitur gemacht. Dann habe ich durchgesetzt, dass ich an der Kunstakademie Düsseldorf studieren durfte. Ich bin aber nur ein Semester geblieben und war danach völlig frustriert.

Warum?

Damals war in der Kunstszene alles im Umbruch. Joseph Beuys hat in Düsseldorf unterrichtet und wer Bilder malte galt als völlig veralteter Idiot. Man stellte einen Gegenstand in die Ecke, mache eine Aktion darum und filmte das eventuell noch.

Ich war mir auch nicht darüber im Klaren, dass man als Künstler ein bisschen Ellenbogen braucht und sich verkaufen muss. Ich habe gedacht: “Ich bin jetzt ein guter Schüler, lerne etwas und wenn ich es gut mache, bin ich erfolgreich. Das ist in der Kunstszene natürlich völlig blöd.

Dann haben mir meine Eltern zugeredet – nach dem Motto ‘Mach doch was Vernünftiges, von dem man leben kann.’ Ich habe dann Medizin studiert, meine Mutter war auch Ärztin. Richtig gepackt hat mich aber erst die Psychiatrie. Das war auch etwas Künstlerisches.

Gezeichnet hast du dann nicht mehr?

Doch, schon. Ich habe immer Ideen gesammelt und dann am Wochenende gezeichnet. Irgendwann in den 70ern habe ich angefangen, Karikaturen an Zeitungen zu schicken. Das Deutsche Allgemeine Sonntagsblatt hat dann auch tatsächlich ein paar Sachen von mir abgedruckt. Das Honorar waren damals 40 Mark.

Wann hast du angefangen, tagesaktuelle Cartoons zu zeichnen?

Hier in Düsseldorf erscheint die Rheinische Post, die habe ich auch angeschrieben. Deren Karikaturist war ein älterer Herr, der es nett fand, dass ich als junger Medizinstudent zeichne . Eines Tages ist er in die Ferien gefahren und hat mich gefragt, ob ich nicht mal für vier Wochen in die Redaktion kommen will und versuchen will, Karikaturen zum Tagesgeschehen zu zeichnen. Da war ich vielleicht 25.

Ich saß also morgens in der Redaktionskonferenz, habe Themen vorgeschlagen und hatte dann bis zwei Uhr Zeit, etwas zu zeichnen. Die haben mir unglaublich in die Cartoons reingeredet. Das war schon anstrengend, aber ich war schon stolz, jeden Morgen die Zeitung aufzuschlagen und meine eigene Zeichnung zu sehen.

Danach habe ich aber jahrelang nichts mehr zu Tagespolitik gemacht, bis vor etwa zehn Jahren die Welt bei mir anfragte.

Sind die Karikaturen für dich finanziell wichtig?

Naja, ich bin Arzt. Man hat ja – was immer man jammert – auf diesem Gebiet ein Einkommen und ich muss auch keine Angst haben, dass ich in den nächsten Jahren keine Stelle mehr finde.

Das Einkommen als Zeichner war eher ein schönes Beiwerk, von dem ich zum Beispiel mal einen Urlaub finanzieren konnte.

Wie viel Zeit verbringst du am Tag mit Cartoons?

Früher waren das ungefähr ein bis zwei Stunden. Zur Zeit mache ich nicht so viel – ich sitze vielleicht am Wochenende drei bis vier Stunden daran. Mittwochs habe ich mittags frei, da mache ich dann manchmal auch noch etwas.

Wie viele Karikaturen entstehen in den zwei Stunden?

Das ist ein bisschen peinlich… Wenn die Idee da ist, geht das relativ schnell. Künstlerisch gesehen ist das natürlich sehr dahingerotzt.

Zeit zum Überlegen, Nachdenken, Ändern nehme ich mir höchstens hin und wieder, wenn ich etwas mit Farbe mache. In der Woche kommen so etwa zehn allgemeine Cartoons zusammen und vier bis fünf medizinische. Also drei bis vier Cartoons in einer Zwei-Stunden-Session.

Du sagst, deine Cartoons seien “hingerotzt”.. das klingt ja sehr negativ. Stört es dich, dass du keine Zeit für Korrekturen hast?

Nein, eigentlich nicht. Von Zeit zu Zeit kommt es allerdings vor, dass Verlage alte Zeichnungen von mir veröffentlichen wollen, die mir gar nicht mehr gefallen – zeichnerisch oder von der Aufteilung her. Es kommt dann schon vor, dass ich mich selber kopiere.

Wie archivierst du denn deine Cartoons?

Ganz altertümlich in Kartons. Als meine Kinder noch klein waren konnten sie sich damit ein Taschengeld verdienen. Der Auftrag lautete dann in etwa: “Im Karton von 1998 ist eine Zeichnung mit einem Mann auf einem Motorrad. Wenn du die findest, kriegst du zehn Euro.

Zeichnest du eigentlich digital?

Ich arbeite sehr konservativ mit Stiften, Wasserfarbe und Wachsmalern. Am Computer speichere ich die Cartoons eigentlich nur und verschicke sie – höchstens mache ich ein Bild mal heller oder dunkler.

Hier in Düsseldorf gibt es einen Cartoonisten-Stammtisch und die lachen mich alle dafür aus, dass ich der einzige bin, der noch Letraset Rasterfolien sammelt. Die gibt es, glaube ich, gar nicht mehr in Geschäften zu kaufen. Ich habe noch einen Vorrat, den ich mir immer kopiere und dann schneide und klebe. Das liegt wohl daran, dass ich noch aus der ‘Generation Bleistift’ bin.

Ich hatte vor einiger Zeit mal ein Interview mit Klaus Stuttmann vom Tagesspiegel geführt. Der ist ja ungefähr dein Jahrgang und zeichnet inzwischen alles digital…

Richtig. Wir trafen uns mal mit ein paar anderen Zeichnern in Würzburg und er hatte sein Zeichentablett dabei, das er ganz stolz vorgeführt hat. Ich hab es aber nicht ausprobiert. Irgendwie reizt mich das nicht.

Wenn du mit deiner Praxis aufhörst, wirst du dann noch weiterzeichnen?

Ja, ich würde das gerne ausweiten. Es kommt aber natürlich auch darauf an, ob ich Abnehmer finde. Ich habe das Gefühl, dass sich im Moment sehr Viele zum Zeichnen berufen fühlen, dass aber weniger gebraucht wird.

Was planst du für die Zeit als quasi-hauptberuflicher Zeichner?

Ich hatte mal überlegt eine Serie mit wiederkehrenden Figuren zu zeichnen. Aber mir ist nichts richtiges eingefallen. Zum Beispiel habe ich mir eine Familie ausgedacht, die beim Abendessend das Tagesgeschehen kommentiert. Das war dann aber total langweilig ,weil in dem Bild nichts passiert. Dann hatte ich überlegt, etwas mit Tieren zu machen. Katzen, Hunde, Enten. Das gab es aber schon alles. Ich kam einfach nicht weiter.

Möglicherweise lag es daran, dass ich nicht die gleiche Ruhe habe, wie jemand, der das hauptberuflich macht. Vielleicht wird mir dann als Rentner diese Gnade zuteil, dass mir Comicfiguren einfallen.

Danke, dass du dir die Zeit genommen hast!

Paul Hellmich