Amongst the great talents found at Alternative Comics you are likely to be entranced by the story telling gifts of Graham Annable. With his tales found in GRICKLE and HICKEE, his simple but oh so expressive figures delve deeply into the human foibles and graces that other more mainstream writers and artists elsewhere would beg for. In his day job he works at Lucas Arts and he is filled with interesting ideas and wit. Thanks to Jeff Mason for suggesting an interview and for Graham Annable for his time and answers.
AN: Tell my readers if you will, where you are from? where you live? married? kids? pets?
GA: Well let's see, I grew up in Northern Ontario, Canada. In Sault Ste. Marie to be exact. I currently live just outside of San Francisco, Califoria with my girlfriend. No children as of yet, I used to have some goldfish but they unfortunately died and so I find myself without any pets right now either.
AN: You are a fine cartoonist, how are you trained in this field?
GA: I've been doodling on any scrap of paper I could get my hands on since I was a wee lad. I graduated from the Classical Animation program offered at Sheridan College in Toronto some time ago so I guess that would count as some formal training. I've been honing my craft ever since as a professional animator in TV, film, and computer games.
AN: Who/what are your greatest art influences?
GA: It seems to be always shifting as I'm sure is the case for most folks. For cartoonists I've really loved just about anything I've ever seen done by Ronald Searle. His work is always so inspiring to look at. I really enjoy the various books I've been able to round up by Sempe as well. From the world of comics I can never get enough of Kurtzman's art and stories. I really wished he'd had the opportunity to make about 20 more Jungle book style novels. He's got such a great sense of pacing for storytelling.
AN: Same question but broadened to life in general
GA: My family and friends have always provided the biggest and best influences in my life. I've been a fortunate person to have had such great people be a part of my every day doings.
As a kid I always wanted to be Ken Dryden ( a stellar goalie for the Montreal Canadiens hockey team in the 70's ) and I played a lot of hockey thinking one day I'd be wearing a goalie mask and playing in the NHL. When I joined a house league team at the tender age of 11 they didn't have a spot for a new goalie so I played defense instead. I gave up on the NHL goalie dream soon after but I never stopped playing ice hockey and I'm very thankful to have that outlet in my life. Cartoons and hockey feel like a good balance for me.
AN: In addition to Hickee and Grickle what comic work have you done?
GA: The very first comic work I officially had published were a bunch of short strips for a magazine called "Snicker" in the mid-nineties. They were mostly one page gags with a character called "Bobby Jo Bones of the Catacombs". I've been thinking I'd like to revive that little guy but so far haven't hit upon the proper venue to do so with.
In more recent times I've had stories printed in Alternative Comics 9-11 Emergency Relief, Too much Coffee man magazine, Bogus Dead, Typewriter #5 and Expo 2001.
AN: You are Canadian, how do you think this affects how your humor and insights work for an American audience?
GA: I've spent so many years living and working in the United States now that I'm not sure how affected my perspective on things really is. I suppose it gives me somewhat more of an outsider's view but the longer I've stayed here the more I'm inclined to think that people really aren't all that different no matter where you are. Although folks here still look at me funny when I tell them I'm going to put my "toque" on because it's cold out.
AN: You now work for Lucas Arts... What projects have you worked on there? Any scoop about Episode III?
GA: For those who may or may not know, LucasArts is the computer game division of George Lucas's entertainment companies. I wanted to make that distinction because I think a lot of folks assume I work on the movie stuff but in actuality it's the games I'm involved with. I've been animating there for nearly ten years and have had a hand in completing Curse of Monkey Island, The Dig, OutLaws, AfterLife, Obi-Wan, and RTX Red Rock. Most recently I've been working as the
Lead Animator on Sam and Max: Freelance Police.
Being on the non-Star Wars game in the company I'm unfortunately a poor source for the latest bits of news on Episode III. But I can give you all the latest scoops on Steve Purcell and his dynamic duo of a dog detective and rabbity thing!
AN: As longtime readers of my work know I LOVED your two volumes of Grickle, can we look forward to more?
GA: Yes, I would believe so. I'm working out with Jeff Mason ( publisher of Alternative Comics ) what's next on the horizon. Nothing definite yet but these days I'm leaning towards the idea of doing a single story in a book format. I enjoyed the experience of putting together the slightly bigger tale, "by necessity", in further Grickle and I'd like to try my luck at doing a longer single work. I need to hammer out the details with Jeff first before I dive into it. Of course I also have a bunch of short ideas that still haven't seen the light of day yet so who knows ?
But yes, you can count on there being more Grickle type work published in the world !
AN: Woo hoo!!! Is it all real life influenced or is it simply excellent story telling on your part?
GA: Hmmmm... A little of both I suppose. I'm not sure if the story telling part is necessarily excellent but I'm flattered you think so. I really try hard to write the types of stories I personally would want to read. There's been a lot of really excellent stories showing up in comics in recent years and I'd like to do my part to hopefully further expand the variety of subjects and themes tried in the art form.
AN: Is life really so bittersweet?
GA: Probably not, so that's where the excellent storytelling part has to get added in ! :)
AN: I find it hard to watch comedies because they rarely make me laugh. When I am asked about Grickle I rarely call it humor because the reason it is so funny is because there is so much other content. Is that the true aspect of comedy, that the reason it is funny is that it is real first? What comedy makes you laugh?
GA: I'm not sure I could ever distill down exactly what comedy is. It's really a very personal thing that varies wildly from one human being to the next. Certainly getting a reader to sympathize or relate closely to a character I've drawn presents a better opportunity for me to have folks laugh, cry or react to a story. But I sure couldn't explain explicitly what the true nature of comedy really is. I just know what I find funny myself and hopefully others do too.
Comedy work that makes me laugh ? I really enjoy the Coen brothers' sense of humor in their films. The Big Lebowski just seems to get funnier with each viewing. I'm always, like the rest of the country, entertained by the Simpsons and Futurama. Lately I've been watching Marx brothers movies and Peter Sellers stuff too.
AN: With Hickee you work with many artists/cartoonists, how does being an editor as well as contributor affect your overall feelings towards the product. Do you feel more like a parent than a ceo, or what exactly?
GA: I don't have the faintest idea what a ceo feels like but I can't imagine that I operate like one. And since I have yet to lay claim to any children I don't know that I feel like a parent either.
I do have to say the Hickee group does feel like a family though. It's been a great experience working together on the books and a total blast to travel the country with these fellas to promote the work. Perhaps I'm more like the older brother who figured out how to put little booklets together and is getting all his siblings to put stuff in 'em. But in a non-bullying way, at least most of the time.
AN: Are there any future projects you can tell us about?
GA: Currently I'm focusing my time on a web comic called "the odyssey of Winton Woral" for serializer.net. It should debut on the site in the next few weeks. I'm also figuring out my next piece for Hickee vol.2 #2 due out for MOCCA this June !
AN: Hey! how come when I go to Grickle.com it is just a pageholder, was there something there and is now gone or will there be something or is my computer a piece of CRAP!!!!!!???
GA: I'm sure your computer is just fine. It's more to do with me being a piece of CRAP because I've got the website in a state of transition right now and I should have at least put up a proper title card explaining what was going on ! In the meantime if you type in www.grickle.net you'll be able to see the old version of the site which has a few images and things to peruse. Including a little animated short I did some time ago.
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