Michael Ventrella has posted an interview with Candorville creator Darrin Bell.
Excerpt:
VENTRELLA: How did that get you into doing comics as a career?
BELL: In a roundabout way…
I was in gifted and talented programs in Jr. High and High School, and I realized my interest in history and civics was outpacing my interest in art (I’d been drawing since the age of three). That’s when the man who sparked my interest in politics (Pat Buchanan) became the same man who sparked my interest in journalism. In 1988, a Pat Buchanan ad where he portrayed a Gay Pride parade as proof we were going to hell, pissed me off. I had barely noticed politics before this, but I sure as hell paid attention to it afterward. It just seemed so monstrously unfair, and the prospect of someone like him leading the country scared the shit out of me.
Anyhow, four years later, I was flipping through channels looking for coverage of the Clinton-Bush campaign, when I saw that same guy on TV. Pat Buchanan. He was so smug and full of his own opinion, but I noticed he looked really, really happy. And it occurred to me, I’d be happy too if millions of people were listening to my bullshit ideas and taking me seriously.
I love this quote:
“He was so smug and full of his own opinion, but I noticed he looked really, really happy. And it occurred to me, I?d be happy too if millions of people were listening to my bullshit ideas and taking me seriously.”
It’s an excellent interview. Go and read it if you haven’t already!