As I'm sure is the case with many beginning cartoonists, there's a mental incubation period where ideas are floating around in your head. The point where Kick Irrational was reborn from college strip to its current form interestingly took place on the way to the Miami airport in 2002. Krista and I stopped off at Borders on the way to the airport and I came across a book called "The Parables of the Peanuts" by Robert L. Short. It talked about how Charles Schulz not only wanted to make people laugh, he also wanted to make them think- about faith, love, the meaning of life- all sorts of things. It helped me crystallize what I wanted to accomplish with Kick Irrational. I decided I wanted people to be better off for having read Kick that day.
Whether it was thinking about their spouse, their faith, their job, or just having a good laugh, I wanted Kick to make a difference with people. One of my favorite comments from readers is "Your strip is the highlight of my Tuesday morning." Armed with a mission, I drew and emailed out my first strips that next Monday night.
I'm a big believer in setting yourself up for success, so when I started, I tried to find ways to do just that. I read several articles about cartoonists in publications like Susanna McLeod's column, Cagle, and the Washington Post to learn how top cartoonists got started. One of the common themes was dealing with rejection, so I decided to make sure I had firm supporters when I started. I emailed 50 friends and family and told them that because they'd been such an encouragement in the past, I needed their encouragement for something new. I promised them that I'd email them two new comics every Monday night. Of course, if you tell people they've encouraged you in the past, they're more likely to encourage you in the future. The first strips I emailed out were terrible, but the recipients were all kind and lied to me and said they were great. Also, since I'd promised to send out two new strips every Monday night, I had to write them whether I felt like it or not. This forced me to keep at it, which helped me get better.
Drawing the strip is very simple. I draw the comic, scan, and fill it in to make both a black and white version (for editors who print in black and white), and a color version for email subscribers. Krista proof-reads everything. She does provide helpful feedback like: "This is too wordy. If I wanted to read this much, I'd get a book." Then I figure out a way to make it shorter, and its usually better.
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