RTFM

Scott Meyer has quite the track record. From a stand up comedy career to meeting almost everyone worth knowing back in the day. Scott now produces Basic Instructions, a webcomic that describes how to handle almost every possible instance a person could think of. Scott was kind enough to sit down for an interview a short time ago:


Do A Barrel Roll Blog: First off, why do you tell us a bit about yourself. You have quite the track record for a Web Cartoonist.

Scott Meyer: Well, where to begin...

DABRB: The beginning usually.

Scott Meyer: I was born and raised in a little town in the middle of the scab-land deserts of Eastern Washington state. I usually give my hometown as Sunnyside, but really I started out in a positively minuscule town next to Sunnyside called "Outlook, WA." Sunnyside made national news several times in the 80's for being a small town with a big city style gang and drug problem. Also 1000's of people made a religious pilgrimage there in the early 90's to see an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in the back of a highway sign. So, I fled from Sunnyside and went to Broadcasting school. I loved comics at the time, but never felt my artistic abilities were up to the standards they'd need to be. This was the era of Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes, mind you. I knew I wanted to be a comedian, and since the liquor laws wouldn't allow me anywhere near a comedy club, I went for radio.

I met Gary Larson once. When I was a comic I auditioned to do a voice on the Far Side Halloween Special. I had this dufus who was calling himself my agent. He calls me one day and says they're doing a recording session for the Far Side Halloween special, and there's a part that's perfect for me. I get the script and he's highlighted the part "elderly headhunter." I did not get the part, but I got to shake Gary Larson's hand, which was great.

DABRB: That's not something many can claim. You've met quite a few notable figures in the comedy world.

Scott Meyer: Yeah, most of them weren't famous at the time. I spent a week palling around with Chris Titus when we were working a club in Green Bay. He was a great guy, but really intense. Patton Oswalt took me and another comic to a piano bar in Seattle that was rumored to be the last place Cobain was seen alive. He was very patient with the two of us. He was just on a different level.

I worked with Mitch Hedberg. He was a genius, but when he started talking about doing heroin I suspected he wouldn't be around long. I did a comedy contest with Aisha Tyler. She trounced me. Bare in mind, few of these people could pick me out of a lineup now. Doug Stanhope would probably know who I was if you asked him, but that's about it.

Oh, and I toured with Weird Al, who is the most underrated comedy writer of our time. He's just tremendous and he never gets the credit he deserves. The thing that sets him apart is that there's no filler. Every other person who writes funny songs occasionally has a line or two that are just there to fill space until the next joke. With Al, everything is either set-up or punchline.

So, anyway. I got fired from my first radio job and couldn't land another, but by then I was twenty one. I moved to Seattle and tried my hand at both Stand-up and comics. I got a raft of rejection letters. The gist was that my writing was good but my art wasn't. It came down to a three day period where I had to decide whether to do art school in the day and work nights, or work days and do stand-up nights.

I chose stand-up.

That lasted 12 or so years until I burned out. Toward the end I was trying to come up with something to draw people to my website, and Basic Instructions was born. I did a few, and enjoyed them, but they didn't really generate any real buzz or traffic, and by then I was fed up with comedy, so I took a day job. After a while I started missing one aspect of stand-up. My friend Ric used to call it the "bully-pulpit." Which he got from Teddy Roosevelt. When you do stand up, if you get a funny idea, you have something to do with it. You can share it with people and see if they agree, which you hope they will. I missed having that, and realized Basic Instructions could serve that purpose.

DABRB: I'm sure that this has been asked of you many times, but where do you draw your inspiration for your material?

Scott Meyer: The easy answer is "from my life." Sometimes I'll get an idea that I think is funny and I'll have to construct a subject and a set of instructions around it. (Ghandi's Gun is an example.) Other times I'll find myself in a situation I think has potential and I'll have to come up with a strip to fit the situation ("How to Explain Something to Someone who Doesn't Get it."). Other times a strip will just come almost fully formed out of a conversation I'm having with someone. Usually my wife, or my friend Ric. That's why he's in the strip. It's a form of credit where it's due. Also, if I can't figure out how to make a joke work, usually I can just phrase it in the form of an insult to Ric and it'll work.

DABRB: Now about Ric; there are some reoccurring characters in the strip. Is it safe to assume that they are all based on people you know?

Scott Meyer: Many are. My wife is an exaggerated version of my wife. Rick is pretty much Ric. I digitized him by adding a k to his name. Brilliant, I know. Mullet Boss is based on several people I've worked for. He's partially a great guy I worked for who wore suit jackets without ties and used to be a musician, a really personable guy. He's also partially this miserable, mullet wearing racist I worked for. There's also part of the guy I worked for in radio, who only had his job because his parents owned the station.

Many of the more occasional characters are members of my wife's old improv troupe in Seattle. I work from photographs, and they were really good at giving me poses that conveyed the emotions I needed. Those emotions are usually irritation, disgust and confusion.

DABRB: So what is your day to day drawing process like?

Scott Meyer: Interesting you should ask right now. I'm in the process of changing things a little.

DABRB: Do tell.

Scott Meyer: My art abilities have never quite been what I want them to be. I use computers to prop myself up in that regard. When I need a fresh piece of art, I start with a photo. Many of the characters are based on people I know, but a few of them are me disguised. I take the photo I need, then I drop it into the computer and draw over the top of it. I've been asked if I feel like this is cheating, but I never claimed to be doing anything else. If I'm not hiding it, how can it really be dishonest?

Anyway, I work in Adobe Illustrator, which is a vector graphics program. The advantage of that is that I can take a drawing and display it as a full body shot, or I can zoom all the way into one eyeball and it'll still look smooth. I've always repeated artwork. Lately I'm getting a little self conscious about it though. I set out to do more fresh artwork, but there was a snag. My wife and I still look pretty much the same, but Ric has totally changed his look. I'm going to be unveiling the "New Rick" tonight, and am bracing for the reaction.

As for putting the strip together, I have a library of existing poses for all of the major characters. I write the strip, get the words to where I'm happy with them, then I plug in and arrange the artwork.

DABRB: So it's more about the writing than the art.

Scott Meyer: Yes. I'd love to be a great artist, but sadly I just don't see it happening. Good writing can prop up bad art much better than great art can support terrible writing.

DABRB: You have to stick to what you know.

Scott Meyer: Indeed.

DABRB: You've had the same premise from some time now. How do you find new ways to keep things fresh?

Scott Meyer: That's a challenge. I've done something like four variations on pointing out the flaws in someone's plan. There are several ways to change it up. You've done one where it's someone elses plan and you're correcting it (How to correct someone), so have it be your plan and someone else is correcting it (how to take a note). Or you're correcting correcting it super-politely (how to offer constructive criticism) or you're being rude (How to shut down a moron before he does real damage). There's always a way. It's just a matter of finding it.
Scott Meyer: I also have several relationships in the strip that I use often. Me and my wife. Me and my boss. Me and the client who hates me. Me and Ric. Rocket-Hat vs. the Moon Men. If I'm using one of those too heavily I'll try to steer for to one of the others.

DABRB: I was browsing through your info page and I couldn't help but notice that one of your cats is supposedly a communist. What's the story behind that?

Scott Meyer: Back when we lived in Seattle, my wife and I decided to get a cat or two. We go to the humane society a little kitten that got out attention. We take it into the little room where you can play with the cat and get to know it. I think it's called the champagne room. It immediately walks up into my lap and falls asleep. Clearly, we had to have this cat. We adopt it and get some extra paperwork from the state department. Turns out that there was a Russian fishing trawler that was sized in the north Pacific for some reason. The crew was deported. The ship was sold off. There were several animals on board, including a cat that was the ship's pet and her litter of newborn kittens. Our cat was one of the kittens. We named him Comrade. Commie for short.

DABRB: Now something I like to do is to find out what webcomics that the various figures that I interview read. Do you have any favorites floating about in the interwebs?

Scott Meyer: Let's see. The webcomics I read regularly are Sinfest, Wondermark, Don't Eat Any Bugs, Moe comics, Penny Arcade, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, and White Ninja. I also read Dilbert, Monty, Pearls Before Swine and What the Duck. I'm also an avid reader of the Comics Crumudgeon.

DABRB: Now I understand that you have an interesting story about getting started in by the one and only Scott Adams of Dilbert. What's going on with that?

Scott Meyer: Scott Adams contacted me out of the blue and promoted my comic on his website for no reason other than because he could. My daily traffic skyrocketed overnight. I have no idea how much traffic I'd be getting right now if he hadn't stepped in, but it'd be a lot less.

DABRB: Yeah, if would be great if someone did something like that here. *Hint Hint*

DABRB: Well Scott, I must say it has been a pleasure.

Scott Meyer: Same here.


Got questions, death threats, or suggestions for further interviews? Then drop a line to doabarrelrollblog@gmail.com or follow "DABRB" on Twitter. Stumblers don't forget to rate this sucker a thumbs up.

The Man, the Amorph, and the Mercenaries.

Do a Barrel Roll Blog: Today I have a real treat for you. Howard Tayler, a "rising figure in the webcomics world", has been drawing Schlock Mercenary for the better part of 9 years. He has been kind enough to "sit down" to do an interview with me. How are you Howard?

Howard: I'm fine.

DABRB: So, tell us about the man behind the mercenaries. Who are you exactly?

Howard: I'm a 40-year old father of four with a penchant for fantastic stories and twisted laughter. Fortunately the mother of those four shares most of my tastes.

DABRB: Spoken for eh? I'm sure your female fans are devastated.

Howard: Crushed to the last woman and girl. So sad.

DABRB: You’ve been drawing Schlock Mercenary for 9 years. That's quite the haul, and with no missed days to boot. Two words come to mind: “Why?” and “How?”

Howard: Why? Because it seemed like a fun way to tell a story, and because once I started I realized I needed to set high standards for myself. How? By working ahead, and doing careful failure analysis of the process.

DABRB: A webcomic artist that plans ahead and doesn't procrastinate? That's a first.

Howard: Bear in mind I started this job when I was 31 years old, and had a failed record production company under my belt. Most webcomics are started by teenagers who have no idea what a "decade" looks like. Most successful webcomics are not, however.
Or at least that's my read on it. Somebody needs to go check birthdates now, I guess.

DABRB: Speaking of jobs, do you make a living off of Schlock and the gang or do you moonlight as something else?

Howard: 100% of our family income is derived from the Schlock Mercenary business.
DABRB: That's quite the accomplishment.

Howard: Well... 99.9%. Sandra sold a couple of short stories last year.

DABRB: I seem to recall that she is a children's author, correct?

Howard: She's a lot of things. She's written and self-published a children's book, illustrated by Angela Call. She's also written numerous short stories in a couple of genres, and she's an extraordinary blogger, focusing mostly on issues specific to being a Mom.

DABRB: Well back to the comic. How does your day to day comic making process go?

Howard: Monday -- script in the morning, pencil in the afternoon.
Tuesday, color last week, pencil and ink in the afternoon.
Wednesday. Business tasks, maybe coloring, maybe book tasks.
Thursday, ink the whole week of comics.
Friday and Saturday, business stuff. Conventions. Work on books. Whatever.
The strip itself takes three days out of a six-day work week.

DABRB: fatum asks- How do you find time for the daily updates and other aspects of your life like your family?

Howard: Ummm... I work about 60 hours per week, and make time for family with the rest of it. It's not hard now that I don't have a day job.

DABRB: What did you do before Schlock? Draw other comics?

Howard: Nope. Schlock Mercenary was my very first comic strip. I majored in music composition and sound recording, I started a record production company with a friend, I spent a decade-point-one at Novell doing tech support, then consulting, then product management and marketing. I've done lots of stuff. But not much drawing before March of 2000. I was a SF reviewer for The Internet Mining Company, which became "About.com" sometime after they decided I was too whiney.

DABRB: About.com? That's quite the resume.

Howard: Well... they replaced me, combining the Fantasy and Sci-Fi domains. Nothing impressive there. Bear in mind this was 1996 or thereabouts.

DABRB: When the boy bands roamed wild and free.....

Howard: I considered starting a webcomic in 1995, but I thought I'd need to hire an artist, and I had no idea how images could be made small enough to work over dial-up.

DABRB: Thank God for high speed connections. So how exactly did Schlock start and how would you recommend that aspiring WCAs (Webcomic artists) get their start?

Howard: It started with me thinking that a webcomic looked like a fun way to tell a story. I picked "mercenaries" because that allowed for rapid movement between disparate plot devices. Recommendations? Plan to work really, really hard, and fail a LOT. I've got close to $200,000 in "failures" under my belt. I still owe money on some of that, too. Rolled into the mortgage, though. WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?

DABRB: In this economy? Nothing comes to mind. I've noticed you publish under Blank Label Comics. What can you tell us about that?

Howard: Blank Label Comics is a collective, incorporated as an LLC, that allows several of us like-minded cartoonists to streamline some of our business operations and do things we wouldn't be able to do individually. These people are all friends of mine. That's how it got its start.

DABRB: LLC?

Howard: Limited Liability Corporation.

DABRB: Sort of a web equivalent of a comics syndicate?

Howard: It's not really a syndicate. We don't do the distribution thing as a group. We've considered it, but the model doesn't seem to fit.

DABRB: Would you recommend this sort of thing to others?

Howard: Yes and no.

DABRB: Do tell.

Howard: I do recommend that cartoonists (and artists of ANY ilk) get together with like-minded artists, including some more senior folks in their field. Learn from each other. Learn at the feet of your betters. Practice what you're bad at, and let them tell you what you're worst at.



DABRB: Speaking of distribution, have you ever fantasized about SM going into the printed [newspaper] format.

Howard: Yes. Like most fantasies of mine, once I start contemplating the details required to make it a profitable reality I discovered some gaping problems with it. First: I don't want to work in b/w or greyscale. Second: I don't want an editor. Third: Peers of mine have done it, and the newspaper business was not good for their bottom line.

DABRB: I suppose we should talk about the actual comic at some point. In the latest/current story arc, politics play an important role in the story. Is this commentary on the Obama or Bush administrations?

Howard: HAH. No. My satire is a bit broader than that. I strongly disapprove of "entitlement," the thought that somehow the world (or the gummint) "owes" you something. But that sentiment is going to get exactly ONE strip of screaming theming, and then we'll move on. Mostly I'm just in it to tell a good story, and conflicts of political ideal make for especially good ones.

DABRB: In the past you have had a tendency to kill off characters. Aside from some convent time travel and a certain bear, these characters have remained dead. Does this present any obstacles in writing?

Howard: No. It presents obstacles in franchising. "Superman" is a franchise. So is "Tony the Tiger." They'll never die, and the comic book companies will continue to milk them. My characters have life-spans, though. It makes them more interesting. It makes them EASIER to write.

DABRB: It makes the fans rage.

Howard: Meh. They're in this for the story, too. I got nothing but positive email when Tagon died. I saved all of it just to be sure. There was some negative commentary when I brought him back, but since I knew I'd always planned to bring him back the "you chickened out" criticism fell kind of flat on me.

DABRB: You don't mean to say that everyone's favorite carbosilicate amorph (Schlock for my readers) might bite the big one?

Howard: Probably not. But he'll have character development. You've seen some of it in the current story.

DABRB: It has been noted that all your characters are dynamic rather than the standard static comic character. No wonder that you have as many readers as you do. How many do you have exactly?

Howard: 200,000 monthly uniques, maybe 40,000 daily readers. Not sure how many loyal irregulars there are.

DABRB: That's astounding. I have somewhere around....... 5, and I’m one of them.

Howard: You're probably off by at least two orders of magnitude for this interview.

DABRB: We can only hope. 40,000 a day, geez. How do you rely on "getting the word out" and buffing reader numbers?

Howard: Word of mouth. It's the most powerful form of marketing, and for my work it's also the most effective.

DABRB: The viral method. A tried and true means of advertising on the internet.

Howard: My loyal, zealous readers are my greatest asset. I worship them. (From afar.)

DABRB: I saw some fans discussing their favorite lines from the comic on the Schlock Facebook group. What are your favorite lines?



Howard: Any time I can work the title of the book or a Pirate Rule into a punchline I'm particularly pleased with myself. Those may not be fan favorites, but I sure like 'em.

DABRB: I'm glad you mentioned that. Amanda Doerr wants to know if you ever intend to make an actual book of rules.

Howard: Yup. Not before Spring of 2010, though.

DABRB: You heard it here first folks, a Do A Barrel Roll Blog exclusive! You can expect The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates around 2010!

DABRB: So, what webcomics do you like? Other than Schlock that is.

Howard: I don't read all that many anymore. I read all the BLC titles, The Whiteboard, Order of the Stick, Atland... several others. Mostly I've run out of time to sit in front of the computer and trawl entertainment. And now you know WTASF.

DABRB: Alright, just a few more. Amanda would also like to know if you intend to release a Box Set of your work for Schlock's 10th anniversary.

Howard: You won't have to wait that long.

DABRB: So is that a yes?

Howard: There will be a five-book box-set available with the release of book five, "The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance." The slipcase box will also be available separately, for those who already have the books.

DABRB: And you will naturally be giving signed copies to your friendly neighborhood bloggers I assume.

Howard: There are a few gift copies set aside with each release. I'm not completely sure who Sandra has on the list. She maintains it. Not me.

DABRB: Have I told you how much I love her work?

Howard: Your butter needs more butter. Maybe with a side of butter. We'll see.



DABRB: You can’t blame me for trying.
Amanda would also (also) like to know where you get your sources for the science implemented in your comic.

Howard: Science journalism, and of course I raid the vast piles of science fiction books in my own home. As John Cage said, "Well stolen is half-composed."

DABRB: The motto of the national media from what I understand.

Howard: No, theirs is more like "Well stolen is 90% composed. 95% if you have stock photos to add."

DABRB: I expect to see a bastardized version of this on CNN tomorrow morning. Cynicism aside, I have just a couple of questions left.

Howard: Sure.

DABRB: Amanda would also (she's persistent) like to know who you would like to act in the Schlock Mercenary movie.

Howard: I want a walk-on part. It's okay if my character dies. Tagon would be best played by a Stargate (the motion picture)-era Kurt Russell. Kevyn would be well served by a young, Jaws-era Richard Dreyfuss. Ennesby could be played by a just-finished Anne Boleyn.

DABRB: And Schlock?

Howard: Roseanne Barr.
No, wait.
John Goodman.
Hang on... Oprah Winfrey.

DABRB: ......

Howard: Rosie O'Donnell. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.

DABRB: With plasma.

Howard: Seriously? The guy who voiced Skull the Troll for the PvP animations... Dino Andrade. He'd do a great job. There are lots of really, really talented voice actors out there who could probably pull it off. Or maybe the guy who voiced Gollum. Andy Serkis.

DABRB: That would make for an interesting movie.

Howard: That's just actors, and one gorey dead ex-royal. An interesting movie would require a good writer. And a good director, who shares the vision of the writer. And a good producer, willing to fund that vision appropriately, without excess or cutting corners.

DABRB: I'd pay to see that. (Remember kids, illegally downloading movies is bad.) fatum would like to know- Do you feel like you need to improve the world (or your readers) or do you just go along with the ride?

Howard: Like any self-respecting person I try to improve the world around me. I'm not an activist, though. That's too much work. Also, annoying.

DABRB: A good philosophy if I ever heard one. And one more question from fatum. Did you ever fell (or almost) in the soap trap ? With soap I mean when you deviate from the origin of the strip to solely focus on character development and human interactions (as in: no more thooomp in the strip).

Howard: Discovering that character development is interesting is not a trap. Doing it wrong, or at the exclusion of other, equally interesting things might be. I think World-Builder's Disease is much more dangerous in my line of work. I think I've struck the right balance by creating the strip I want to read. Check out www.writingexcuses.com for hours upon hours of discussion with me and others on this subject.

DABRB: Well Howard, it's been great having you (and your 200,000 fans) here. I hope we can do it again sometime. There is one last question though.

Howard: Yes?

DABRB: do you leik mudkipz?

Howard: Love 'em. But only if they're on fire, thanks.

DABRB: Talented and a sense of humor. How about that?

Well there you have it folks. One jumbo sized interview with a few exclusives to boot. If you liked this take a look at my other interviews including: Moose and Kitty of Clyde Winters, Dave and Psy of GG-Guys, and Scott Meyer of Basic Instructions (Coming Soon).

Got questions, rants, suggestions for interviews, or death threats? Then please comment or contact me at DoABarrelRollBlog@gmail.com.

(Special thanks to gark32, Amanda, fatum, and, of course, Howard)