I’m scheduled to interview B.C. cartoonist Mason Mastroianni tonight. If you have any questions about B.C. or Mason’s work on the feature, feel free to email them to me or add them into the comments and I’ll be sure to ask him.
UPDATE: Had a good interview with Mason and he was very open to all our questions. He’s agreed to answer any more that you might have. I’ll report on my interview on Monday, leaving you this weekend to post/email your questions.
Here’s mine:
Mason, just wondering if you ever consider creating your own strip someday when time permits.
Alan, I’ve got a whole list of questions for Mason! How full-blown of an interview will it be, and how much will you run here on the site?
John, feel free to e-mail them to me and I’ll try to work as many in as I can. I don’t want to abuse the time I have with him, but I do want to give the TDC community a chance to ask him any specific questions they may have. I won’t know what I’ll publish until I know what we talked about. 🙂
Mason, I have been encouraged and inspired by Johnny Hart’s comic strips based on his Christian faith, even though he received much criticism about them.
How are you and the Hart family planning to carry on that part of B.C. or are you planning on keeping that part of the strip? Thanks.
Alan, per your prior article here, it sounds like they are putting their own spin on the strip, although subtle. I’m interested in the other side of it. What aspects of the strip do they hope to maintain/preserve? How?
Also, a stupid fan question – are they planning to do some more snake gags? I used to love those!
I have a question. Is there alot of pressure in carrying on the look and feel of the strip? Do you have to hold yourself back sometimes if you find your style deviating from the original look of the strip, or can you just go with it and add your own unique style and vision to the strip?
Okay, I guess that was more than one question.
Hi Masons, How much of this strip is actually drawn, and how much of it is stock art, from Johnny’s archive?
Mason went through high school (Chenango Forks) with my son (Micha Conover) and graduated in 1996.
On October 23, 1999 my son was killed in an auto accident.
Micha and Mason were friends.
My question is:
Has Mason ever visited a web site I created in Micha’s memory. If not, he is more than welcome to at
http://www.michalee.homestead.com/html
Thanks
Marvin Conover
Micha’s Dad
mconover56@frontiernet.net
My father, B.C. Smith was a huge fan of B. C. He was a natural-born story and joke teller and an engineer on the B&O railroad. When he left on a trip, he would leave a note signed with a little ant hill and two ants. For his 80th birthday in 1994 my brother got in contact with Johnny Hart and arranged for Johnny to send my Dad an original strip. He loved it. Even though my Dad died in January 2000, it still hangs predominantly in my mother’s dining room. My father’s gravestone has “B.C.” engraved in the style of the strip. I always wanted to send a picture of the gravestone to Johnny, but when I inquired through the syndicate how to contact him, I got no reply. Could you give me an address where I could send the picture to Mason. I think he would get a kick out of it. I would also like to tell him some of my father’s favorite strips.
Hi Mason, I wanted to let you know that you’re doing a outstanding job carrying on your Grandfather’s strip. Keep up the good work! I look forward to reading the strip every day.
Mason:
Johnny was one of a kind- brilliant,funny like no other. I kept up w/him from day one until some moron here decided to have him on Sunday only.
Please tell me where I can get an archival copy of one of my all time favorites where the last panel had Wiley declaring “behold the atom.” Wiley was pointing at the other 2 tangled, spinning and tethered spinning in a defined orbit as electrons. What a hoot- I’ve never quit laughing at that issue. It should be in the National Archives. How may I get a copy.
Thank you……………
Mason:
Johnny was one of a kind- brilliant,funny like no other. I kept up w/him from day one until some moron here decided to have him on Sunday only.
Please tell me where I can get an archival copy of one of my all time favorites where the last panel had Wiley declaring “behold the atom.” Wiley was pointing at the other 2 tangled, spinning and tethered spinning in a defined orbit as electrons. What a hoot- I’ve never quit laughing at that issue. It should be in the National Archives. How may I get a copy.
Thank you……………
Mason,
I’d been a while Buddy. I was wondering what you’ve been up to and also if I could get your contact info. I would like to keep in touch. We have a lot of catching up to do and I know you’re busy with the strip and all. Do you ever go to church with your grandma? Those were some fun times. : )
Let me know what else you’ve been upto. Bill “Fletch” Fletcher
Mason, I guess I am a little slow. I didn’t notice until today that you were drawing B.C. I assumed that I was seeing “The best of.” I think that means you are doing a stupendous job. Please continue to do so with God’s blessings.
Rocks are not flat on the bottom, as drawn for 9/l4/06! More of a large rock is under the ground, than above. Therefore, it would not be possible to carry such a large rock to a new site, by hand; as it would be much too heavy. Please keep this believable. Watch an old Road Runner cartoon, The Classic Chase, Warner Bros., noting catapult position, when Wile E. Coyote gets funny, unexpected results. Mason, please draw real rocks, not stage props. Thanks. You always start my day with hope and joy.
Hey, Mason? Please keep drawing the rocks flat on the bottom. I think it’s a funny break from reality, and really enjoy it and if I’m not mistaken, J Hart drew them that way, too, didn’t he? Good job, and cheers to you.