Backstage Pass

In an effort to be more transparent to you, the discerning comics reader, Falling Rock National Park is lifting the curtain on our secret operation. Josh Shalek, cartoonist extraordinaire, has generously agreed to answer a few questions about himself and Welcome to Falling Rock National Park. We cannot call them Frequently Asked Questions, as there have never been questions asked with anything approaching frequency. But hopefully they will prove illuminating.

Why set the strip in the Southwest, in a National Park?

I lived in Arizona and Colorado for most of my life. I only started writing about the Southwest when I left it. This seems to be the case of my writing. I need some time and distance to think about what I have to say about a place. I live in Oregon now; maybe in ten years I'll be writing about the Great Northwest.

I love open space, and I think there is a peculiar culture that exists within every National Park. It's an alchemy of park rangers, scientists, volunteers, hardcore nature lovers, weekend road warriors, locals, and more. I think it's wonderful. All these people make the outdoors a destination. A rock can be your destination, or a tree, or a waterfall.

Do you use computers in your drawing?

No. I draw everything on good old-fashioned Bristol board using good old-fashioned PITT pens. I sometimes use a brush pen, but lately I've been drawing with the M (for medium?) size pen. Brushes are great, but I like the level of control I have with a pen.

Once the drawing is done, I scan in the finished strip and email it to the McClatchy-Tribune Campus. They post it on their website for subscribing papers to download.

(Want to see Welcome to Falling Rock National Park in your newspaper? Send your newspaper editor an email!)

All of the drawings on this website have been done by hand as well. The background images are watercolors. I will occasionally color a comic, or a panel, on the computer. When I finally get syndicated, I plan on using Photoshop for my Sunday coloring. I'm already working on ways to make it look less "Photoshoppy." The trick is to make it look as hand-drawn as possible, still utilizing the computer for it's strengths. For instance, I never have to wait for paint to dry and the Undo command is so incredibly useful. I wish I had an Undo command when I'm drawing on paper. Alas, White Out is still my best friend when it comes to that.

If you want to see how to color a Sunday comic strip without the aid of a computer, see Mutts: The Comic Art of Patrick McDonnell. I was amazed when I saw the amount of work it took to color a single day's strip. It looked a bit like banging one's head repeatedly against a wall, but the outcome was worth it.

What are your main themes when writing?

As readers of this strip and my previous comic, The Family Monster, can attest, I like Pirates, Robots, Zombies, and Dinosaurs. I try to fit them in as much as possible. Also, I give myself extra credit for oblique Beatles references.

I don't use situations from my life in my comic. This helps stave off debilitating litigation. Really, I just like to make stuff up. It's more fun than telling the truth. If I wanted the truth, I would have been a Buddhist monk.

Why a comic strip? Why not write short stories, or paint pictures?

One of the best things about comics is the disdain for the laws of real life. You get to mess with timing; you get to mess with the scale of objects and characters. You can have a pirate in a National Park, even if that area that has not seen standing water in five million years.

The best comic strips are pure fun. Look at Calvin and Hobbes. Look at Pogo or Krazy Kat. Every panel is enjoyable as a piece of art, even before you read the dialog. When you do read the comic, do so with a sense of anticipation. You know there is a joke coming - you can see the last panel your peripheral vision even as you begin to read the first one. Sometimes the trip is the best part. The funniest panel might be the second. A character might be doing something hilarious in the background. There's more to a comic strip than a punchline, just as there is more to a pop song than a hook.

My comics are probably not edgy enough for a weekly newspaper, but they have been called too "abstract" for dailies. I'm in a weird middle ground, still trying to find my place. That can be frustrating, but I'd rather still be searching than to have landed. The day I land will be the day I stop drawing the strip. If you read comics in the newspaper, you'll notice that some have landed, a long time ago. Cartoonists who keep searching (Richard Thompson, Jim Meddick, Mark Tatulli, Garry Trudeau, Patrick McDonnell, Darby Conley - there are lots of them) keep their strips vibrant and fresh.

Comics are so energetic. They're like a revolution; they violate the laws of physics, math, storytelling. The best comics stay with you longer than your morning coffee because you can relate to something a character said or did. Maybe something happens at work that reminds you of an interesting phrase from the comics. Maybe you remember, opening the paper or turning on the computer, that there's a story that is going to be resolved today and you wonder how it will end. Comics are a powerful medium. Comics continue to live because people still love them. They love the idea of a good drawing and a funny story. I love that idea, too.

What influences you?

Everything. My family. My wife. My teachers, my gurus. The Beatles. Bob Dylan. Raymond Carver. Bill Watterson! Wes Anderson. Jimmy Carter. Ed Abbey. Hours of the Discovery Channel when I was a kid. Urban legends. Folk tales. Looney Tunes. Every lecture I've ever attended. The statues of Easter Island. Squirrels. Clean, dry desert air. Old men with beards. Old women with hats. Everything.

Be my friend!

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