5 Questions from Dean Trippe

Dean gives me the 5 Question interview treatment...

1. What's the dumbest thing that happened in comics in the last year?
Wow. What a year to ask that question. If you'd asked me a week or two ago, I'd probably have a different answer, but I guess since it's so fresh on my mind I have to go with Marvel "killing" Captain America. Wait, I take that back, I think what they've done to Speedball is a lot dumber. I mean, come on.

2. Who is your favorite non-superhero fictional character of all time?
Wow. That's another tough one. There are so many. I'm going to keep it simple and say either Bugs Bunny or Calvin & Hobbes (inseperable).
If I could though I'd include characters like Robin Hood, The Simpsons, Peter Pan, Daffy Duck, "The Last Martian" from The Martian Chronicles, I could go on for hours I'm sure.

3. Who are your major artistic influences?
I guess "heroes" and "influences" are two different words.
I think there are definitely people who have influenced me in a big way that you'd never be able to see in how I draw. I chalk most of that up to them being so many light years above me. The first names that start leaping to mind are Art Adams, Mignola, Kirby, Ben Caldwell, Darwyn Cooke, Jon Morris, Adam Hughes, Mike Wieringo, Ed McGuinness, Mike Allred, Frank Cho, Cory Walker, Nate Bellegarde, Jeff Smith, Bill Watterson, Bruce Timm, Alex Ross, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Ryan Sook, Gabe from Penny Arcade, Scott Kurtz, .. I could keep going.
Like I said, none of those names probably show up too obviously in the quality of my work, but they're the people who inspire(d) me.
I'd also like to add that honestly, Dean and Joel are probably the people I've tried to learn the most from over the last however long. Anytime they put something new up, I try to see what I can learn from it and how I can somehow better myself from their awesomeness.

4. What was your first comic and what happened in it?
Oh, wow, again. These are great questions, Dean.
I'm not sure if I have any idea aside from it being a Superman comic. For whatever reason, my parents got me started on Superman right away. My first birthday cake was one of those kind that's like a bust of Superman (Anyone know the kind I'm talking about?), "Superman" was my third word (No kidding) after "mom" and "dad".
I think the earliest ones I remember having was one where he fought someone called "The Yellow Peri". I remember one where he went crazy from some kind of Kryptonian fungus and was fighting with Swamp Thing and had a beard. I had some of the "Super Powers" comics. I specifically remember these two..


5. You have a cool girlfriend. High five. I realize this is not a question.
And how. High five!