The cartoons started with a passing thought:
“…And maybe Nick could draw an icon to go with it,” an editor suggested to Carolyn Hax, my wife at the time, as they were discussing Carolyn’s new advice column in The Washington Post.
A quarter-century later, I have yet to draw an “icon” to go with the column.
The original idea was that I would create five, maybe seven, general images that would rotate through the column depending on the subject: breakups, weddings, family, etc. I was excited for Carolyn’s opportunity and wanted to do whatever I could to help its success.
But somewhere inside me was also a 5-year-old boy, eviscerating a half-foot thick Sunday Washington Post to get at the explosively colorful middle, spreading the giant comics pages on the floor, reading from the first cartoon to the last before breaking out crayon and paper to copy my favorite characters.
Nick Galifianakis reflects on his 25 year gig illustrating Carolyn Hax‘s column.
