The Cartoonist’s Cartoonists: Rick Kirkman

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Let me preface this by apologizing for so much of this being repetitive from others’ lists. On reflection, it also looks pretty provincial, but what can I say, most of these people were childhood influences.

Charles Schulz – Sparky was my all-time hero. I love looking at his pen work. From reading Peanuts, I think I absorbed pathos, especially as expressed through the face. And simple staging.

Bill Watterson – More than anything, I learned from C&H was how you can imply so much within a drawing without having to actually draw it. I still can’t do it, but I aspire to it. I came to that realization once when I was enlarging one of his strips to give to my wife because it reminded me of a story from her childhood. When I saw the drawing so big, I realized that what I thought was detail, really wasn’t. It was only the merest suggestion of detail. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the magic of Bill Watterson.

Jerry Scott – He is the most innately talented cartoonist I know. He can draw anything and make it look funny and effortless. If only I could be as loose with my drawings and as disciplined in my work habits…(sigh)

Garry Trudeau – He’s more than a cartoonist hero to me, just as Doonesbury is more than a comic strip. Ranging from viciously funny to heartbreaking, Garry has created something that’s not only always relevant to its time, but important and necessary as impetus for debate. I also admire his ability to maintain his razor-thin deadline for such a long time and survive

Bill Mayer – A fantastic freelance illustrator who spawned dozens of imitators. He switched to an airbrush (now digital) style and had an influence on me by opening up my eyes to unconventional anatomy-sort of like a cartoonist’s Picasso to me.

Johnny Hart – I went through a long period of trying to channel his style of drawing-that wispy, spontaneous line. And I loved the snappy dialogue.

Bill Plympton – I think his animation is so inspiring. It’s like watching visual free association. His stuff looks like it just pumped out of his brain right onto the screen.

Walt Kelly – was a childhood (and come to think of it, adulthood) inspiration with drawings you can lose yourself in.

(cheating) Mad magazine: Sergio Aragones -just sheer fun of drawing and playfulness; Don Martin – crazy,crazy,crazy and dark; Paul Coker,Jr. – clean style and character shapes; and Al Jaffee – the whole package.

(cheating again) Jack Ziegler and George Booth – I group them together because my exposure to them was in the same period. They’re able to go that one step extra into goofiness, but still keep a foot in reality.

(cheating yet again-I can’t help it!) – three men who showed me that a guy like me could make it in this business: Chuck Vadun – who died too young; Jared Lee – who took me under his wing in NYC and showed me the possibilities in freelance illustration; and the late Irv Phillips – who showed me how to make a buck at this.

Unfortunately, this list has to leave out a bunch-like Jay Ward, Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, B. Kliban, Sam Gross, Theodor Geisel, Peter Arno, James Thurber, Al Capp, Tom K. Ryan, Roz Chast, John Caldwell, who all had a shot at the list, but I had to draw the line somewhere (and I’ve cheated so much already).