Canadian Web Comic Interviews

Greg Older Co-Author of "Dela the Hooda"

I was born in Toronto but raised out in Merrickville, Ontario. Style Wager is an Ottawa boy who went to schools in Bells Corners, a suburb. We met at Trent University in Peterborough, the original Peabow seen in the Dela comic.

What was the first online comic you ever read?
Sabrina Online.

What were your favorite comics growing up?
Peanuts, Asterix, Archie, Uncle Scrooge (Carl Barks), Furtree High (local paper strip), Bloom County, and Dr. Strange Style's were For Better or For Worse, Bloom County, Archie, Tintin, Doonesbury, Moon Knight, Howard the Duck, and Cerebus

Tell us how you landed began working on your web comic.
I started to scribble rough gags in Jr. High School.
Jason in the Dela comics was based off of one of my friends and his antics. Style started earlier and though seriously of a career one point in the comics industry in High School but was too cartoony for serious Marvel comics and gave up for a while.

What other writing or comics have you worked on?
I have written short stories for various small publications in print and on the web. When I was younger, back in high school and in university I wrote a very rough comic "It isn't easy being Punk" based on my high school and university experiences, but seen through Jason's eyes, as if he was there with me. Style tried his hand at various slice of life and SF stuff before we collaberated on what became "Dela". We are also currently starting work on a manga-ish book called "DragonQuest" and Style has recently published a story in last years annual for "Extinctioners" from Shanda Graphics.

For readers not familiar with your work, can you tell us something about this web comic?
"Dela the Hooda" is a SF comic that can be best described as a "Howard the Duck" meets "Bloom County" with a blend of comic-opera and social commentary. Dela is a character from another universe where a fantasy world and its various races progressed to near furture technology. One of the races are the hood, a species of humanoid vulpines. Dela is a hooda (a female hood), ergo she is a fox-woman. Working for a hobbit mad-scientist, Dela was caught in a temporal field and sent adrift into the muti-universal cosmos only to end up in the obscure Canadian city of Peabow. The comic chronicals her adventures on Earth with her circle of friends as they try to live, work, and try to keep a low profile.

Tell us how you acquired your artistic skills.
Both of us are, in a word, hacks. Its all self taught and the "practice, practice, practice" learning curve. No formal training since our High School classes in fiction writing or art except from a few books and from some advice from fellow writers and artists.

What artists have inspired/influenced your artistic and writing styles?
For me, in terms of writing, Robert Asprin, Chris Clairmont, JRR Tolkien. Raymond E Fiest, Nick Polletti, Carl Barks For Style, in terms of art: Dan DeCarlo, Carl Barks, Phil Foglio, Berkley Breathed, Gary Truedeau, Dave Sim.

Where do you get your ideas for story archs or comedic relief in your comic?
The characters and their personalities often provide the fuel for a lot of the story and comedy within the story. After being with these characters for five years, they have developed a lot of depth in their personalities that gets drawn out in our writing/concept sessions. It's amazing how much a good character can just take over and fuel the action from there. If the writing doesn't work, stepping into the character's shoes like this will let you know fairly soon.

Your thoughts on the online comic community?
Online comics are a wide and diverse community. The good part is that a strip is not limited to the impositions set down by the comic book syndicates. The advice from a newspaper about our comic was to (a) not make Sue a lesbian (which would kill a lot of potential humor in the story) and (b) drop Dela and do characters like Francine (Frank's cat). The idea of SF/Fantasy and "furry" characters mixing with everyday people seemed to farfetched it seems and thereby missed the point of the comic.
The downside to the web has been three fold. Firstly content. It's amazing what sort of crap you have to wade through to find a good comic although what constitutes "good" is a matter of taste, which leads to two, that is the specialized interest which tends to keep readership of many comics somewhat small since its generally a select few that read a comic and word about a comic tends to move by word of mouth through the community.
The third, and biggest problem is that most online comics tend to empoverish their artists. It takes time to do comics but it also costs the artist money, especially if traffic to the comic becomes too high and there is little financial compensation for online cartoonists beyond panhandling (often inadiquite) or forcing people to pay to read (unpopular).

Being non-american, do you feel somewhat removed from many of the more mainstream web comics?
No. Dela is primarily a english comic, so most readers have little problem with the comic, although one or two "Canadian-sms" do create a couple of cross-cultural problems for non-Canadian readers. If anything, we are often more removed from Canadian audiences who are not aware of the existance of the comic. For example, we attend a number of US conventions but only one Canadian one.

Does anything set you appart, being a Canadian comic artist, from other American web comics?
As mentioned, a few Canadian-American cross-cultural references are the biggest online issues.

Have you ever attended any Canadian or American Comic Conventions?
Several US conventions, including a couple regularly when we can afford to. Only one Canadian event, CACE, really covers what we do (and since we were volunteers for the con, it behoved us to go :D )

Do you believe that popular cultures preoccupation with the Anime-style of art has diluted the overall quality of web comics, or improved it?
Anime is a mixed blessing. It has made comics less "kiddie" but has had a slight negative effect on North American comics trying to ape mangas thinking that financial success menas looking like a manga. I think in time that will change once some of the novelty wears off and artists will find their own voice again. Speaking as a writer, I don't think the writing in comics will change in the long run for the worst because of manga.

How do you feel about the vast increase in web comics sporting the 'Sprite Comic' (or 'Cookie-Cutter') style?
While I find the artwork lazy that way, as a I writer I think that the story or the gag should drive the story, not the art. Take a look at the early "Knights of the Dinner Table". Simple art reproduced on a computer but absolutely hilarious stuff.

What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites?
Me? Star Trek, Night Court, Babylon 5, BBC Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, I Claudius, various PBS, Discovery, and History shows. Record of the Lodass War (anime), Spirited Away & Princess Monioki, Dark City, DragonSlayer, and Lady Hawk are my fav movies.
Style's favorites are Star Trek (original, DS9), first 3 Star Wars movies, Pink Panther movies, anything Monty Python, Batman animated series and Batman Beyond, Gargoyles, Mulan, Secret of NIMH, M*A*S*H (tv), Tenchi (OAV and TV), El Hazard, Bubblegum Crisis (OAV), Slayers (anime), Wallice and Gromit.

What books do you read?
Fantasy, History, some SF, some mystery.

How can somebody contact you?
You emailed me didn't you?
golder [at] netcom [dot] ca

That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom?
Keep the Faith.

-Greg Older
http://www.delathehooda.com/

Posted by B.Scott
Return to The Main Page - Canadian Web Comic Ezine



	Canadian Web Comic Interviews Greg Older Co-Author of "Dela the Hooda" I was born in Toronto but raised out in Merrickville, Ontario. Style Wager is an Ottawa boy who went to schools in Bells Corners, a suburb. We met at Trent University in Peterborough, the original Peabow seen in the Dela comic. What was the first online comic you ever read? Sabrina Online. What were your favorite comics growing up? Peanuts, Asterix, Archie, Uncle Scrooge (Carl Barks), Furtree High (local paper strip), Bloom County, and Dr. Strange Style's were For Better or For Worse, Bloom County, Archie, Tintin, Doonesbury, Moon Knight, Howard the Duck, and Cerebus Tell us how you landed began working on your web comic. I started to scribble rough gags in Jr. High School. Jason in the Dela comics was based off of one of my friends and his antics. Style started earlier and though seriously of a career one point in the comics industry in High School but was too cartoony for serious Marvel comics and gave up for a while. What other writing or comics have you worked on? I have written short stories for various small publications in print and on the web. When I was younger, back in high school and in university I wrote a very rough comic "It isn't easy being Punk" based on my high school and university experiences, but seen through Jason's eyes, as if he was there with me. Style tried his hand at various slice of life and SF stuff before we collaberated on what became "Dela". We are also currently starting work on a manga-ish book called "DragonQuest" and Style has recently published a story in last years annual for "Extinctioners" from Shanda Graphics. For readers not familiar with your work, can you tell us something about this web comic? "Dela the Hooda" is a SF comic that can be best described as a "Howard the Duck" meets "Bloom County" with a blend of comic-opera and social commentary. Dela is a character from another universe where a fantasy world and its various races progressed to near furture technology. One of the races are the hood, a species of humanoid vulpines. Dela is a hooda (a female hood), ergo she is a fox-woman. Working for a hobbit mad-scientist, Dela was caught in a temporal field and sent adrift into the muti-universal cosmos only to end up in the obscure Canadian city of Peabow. The comic chronicals her adventures on Earth with her circle of friends as they try to live, work, and try to keep a low profile. Tell us how you acquired your artistic skills. Both of us are, in a word, hacks. Its all self taught and the "practice, practice, practice" learning curve. No formal training since our High School classes in fiction writing or art except from a few books and from some advice from fellow writers and artists. What artists have inspired/influenced your artistic and writing styles? For me, in terms of writing, Robert Asprin, Chris Clairmont, JRR Tolkien. Raymond E Fiest, Nick Polletti, Carl Barks For Style, in terms of art: Dan DeCarlo, Carl Barks, Phil Foglio, Berkley Breathed, Gary Truedeau, Dave Sim. Where do you get your ideas for story archs or comedic relief in your comic? The characters and their personalities often provide the fuel for a lot of the story and comedy within the story. After being with these characters for five years, they have developed a lot of depth in their personalities that gets drawn out in our writing/concept sessions. It's amazing how much a good character can just take over and fuel the action from there. If the writing doesn't work, stepping into the character's shoes like this will let you know fairly soon. Your thoughts on the online comic community? Online comics are a wide and diverse community. The good part is that a strip is not limited to the impositions set down by the comic book syndicates. The advice from a newspaper about our comic was to (a) not make Sue a lesbian (which would kill a lot of potential humor in the story) and (b) drop Dela and do characters like Francine (Frank's cat). The idea of SF/Fantasy and "furry" characters mixing with everyday people seemed to farfetched it seems and thereby missed the point of the comic. The downside to the web has been three fold. Firstly content. It's amazing what sort of crap you have to wade through to find a good comic although what constitutes "good" is a matter of taste, which leads to two, that is the specialized interest which tends to keep readership of many comics somewhat small since its generally a select few that read a comic and word about a comic tends to move by word of mouth through the community. The third, and biggest problem is that most online comics tend to empoverish their artists. It takes time to do comics but it also costs the artist money, especially if traffic to the comic becomes too high and there is little financial compensation for online cartoonists beyond panhandling (often inadiquite) or forcing people to pay to read (unpopular). Being non-american, do you feel somewhat removed from many of the more mainstream web comics? No. Dela is primarily a english comic, so most readers have little problem with the comic, although one or two "Canadian-sms" do create a couple of cross-cultural problems for non-Canadian readers. If anything, we are often more removed from Canadian audiences who are not aware of the existance of the comic. For example, we attend a number of US conventions but only one Canadian one. Does anything set you appart, being a Canadian comic artist, from other American web comics? As mentioned, a few Canadian-American cross-cultural references are the biggest online issues. Have you ever attended any Canadian or American Comic Conventions? Several US conventions, including a couple regularly when we can afford to. Only one Canadian event, CACE, really covers what we do (and since we were volunteers for the con, it behoved us to go :D ) Do you believe that popular cultures preoccupation with the Anime-style of art has diluted the overall quality of web comics, or improved it? Anime is a mixed blessing. It has made comics less "kiddie" but has had a slight negative effect on North American comics trying to ape mangas thinking that financial success menas looking like a manga. I think in time that will change once some of the novelty wears off and artists will find their own voice again. Speaking as a writer, I don't think the writing in comics will change in the long run for the worst because of manga. How do you feel about the vast increase in web comics sporting the 'Sprite Comic' (or 'Cookie-Cutter') style? While I find the artwork lazy that way, as a I writer I think that the story or the gag should drive the story, not the art. Take a look at the early "Knights of the Dinner Table". Simple art reproduced on a computer but absolutely hilarious stuff. What movies, cartoons and TV shows are your favorites? Me? Star Trek, Night Court, Babylon 5, BBC Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes, Brother Cadfael, I Claudius, various PBS, Discovery, and History shows. Record of the Lodass War (anime), Spirited Away & Princess Monioki, Dark City, DragonSlayer, and Lady Hawk are my fav movies. Style's favorites are Star Trek (original, DS9), first 3 Star Wars movies, Pink Panther movies, anything Monty Python, Batman animated series and Batman Beyond, Gargoyles, Mulan, Secret of NIMH, MASH* (tv), Tenchi (OAV and TV), El Hazard, Bubblegum Crisis (OAV), Slayers (anime), Wallice and Gromit. What books do you read? Fantasy, History, some SF, some mystery. How can somebody contact you? You emailed me didn't you? golder [at] netcom [dot] ca That ends the interview, any last words of wisdom? Keep the Faith. -Greg Older http://www.delathehooda.com/ Posted by B.Scott Return to The Main Page - Canadian Web Comic Ezine