Ian Stacey | Wet Paint
The Flak Comics Interview
By James Norton

Ian Stacey's Wet Paint is a rare trans-Atlantic contribution to the Flak Comics page. Sometimes autobiographical, usually dryly witty, and often shockingly surprising in its punchlines, the strip constantly covers new ground. Ian Stacey chatted with Flak via e-mail.

FLAK: In what city do you live? And, assuming you're not a full-time cartoonist, what do you do for a living?

IAN STACEY: I currently live in a tiny sea-side town on the south east of England called Clacton-on-Sea and have been here for a few years. Prior to that I've lived in London. I spent most of my school years in the States in Massachusetts and try not to stay away from Boston for too long. I work as a teacher in a primary (what Americans call elementary) school. I have spent some time as a street caricaturist as a summer job.

FLAK: Tell me a little bit about the history of Wet Paint — what's its genesis?

IS: Not sure if it really has a genesis other than me wanting to do cartoons. As a youngster I did draw a character based cartoon strip based around a super-hero but found that pretty constrictive. So I've gone for anything I've found funny.

I also noticed in some of my least favorite cartoon strips that the jokes got pretty repetitous and predicatable — always based on the small cast's same habits.

The upside of this is that if I think I can make a decent cartoon I don't have to force it to fit a small cast of characters.

The downside: ideally I would like to make a living out of cartoons, but the syndicates would prefer a theme or a character. I did approach one of the big syndicates a while back and got the standard rejection letter, but at the bottom I got a handwritten note stating that they had liked my work but without main characters it would be hard to sell. They invited me to try again once I'd created some.

This is something I've thought about, but it's not something that I find easy and I think the cartoons world be worse. I have started to draw myself into a lot more of my cartoons as a narrator to give them some kind of continuity. I'm not sure I agree with the need for central characters in a strip. Okay, they're easier to market, but from a reader's point of view I just want a strip that will at least make me smile. So many newspaper strips today don't do that. However, The Far Side, The Neighborhood and Mr. Boffo all managed it. The first two without any recurring characters and not all Mr. Boffo strips featured Mr. Boffo.

As for the name, it'd could have been anything really. I just thought Wet Paint sounded good.

FLAK: Describe a couple of writers and/or cartoonists and/or illustrators who have inspired your voice. On a possibly related note I've noticed the strip has an almost relentlessly British feel to it, something that you could have easily played down, but you've instead embraced.

IS: I haven't really been inspired by cartoonists. I liked The Far Side, The Neighborhood, Calvin and Hobbes and Mr. Boffo. These are the things which made me want to draw 'toons in the first place but these haven't been around for a long time. Around about the same age I liked Monty Python, but I'd watched all of those to death by the time i was in my mid-teens.

I'd guess I'm more influenced by comics, in particular Judge Dredd and 2000ad which I've read since I can remember reading. They're often funny but are always crammed full of new and imaginative ideas.

I'm also a big Bill Hicks fan, but I can't see any of his ideas translating into a family newspaper strip soon.

British feel? You got me. I didn't realize it was that obvious and far from embracing it I've tried to hide it. The spellings are American and if i need to draw anything specific to a country (eg. a policeman) then I'll draw the American version. My reasoning is this: there isn't a huge market for cartoon strips in England as it's not as part of the culture as it is in the States. Coming home from elementary school the only part of the newspaper I'd check out would be the two pages of "funnies." Over here some papers only run one gag strip.

So, if I want to have any success I reckon I've got more chance States side. This seems to be true as Wet Paint has had the occasional spot in newspapers there but not so much here. FLAK: On a similar note: are there any online cartoonists currently working whose work your follow and admire? What makes their strips compelling?

IS: I'm not as aware of on-line cartoons as I perhaps should be. I do however, enjoy Wondermark and Dinosaur Comics.

FLAK: There's an ongoing knife-fight between clip-art cartoonists who do largely dialogue-driven strips and more traditional artists such as yourself. What would you say to people who argue that if your writing is good, the art can be whatever you want it to be — even if that's a single scavenged image repeatedly cut and pasted?

IS: My opinion is that the joke is the main thing. Obviously, some nice drawings make it more presentable, but the joke's the thing. I reckon that Dinosaur Comics is better than many of the 'toons you find in newspapers despite being the same repeated clip-art pictures. Scott Adams' Dilbert is not only funny but also incredibly successful, despite Adams, by his own admission, not being the greatest artist. Adams actually reckons that if he'd started Dibert today he wouldn't have got a look — due to the quality of the drawing.

FLAK: Any plans for future work? Something longer or print-based, perhaps?

IS: I'm going to carry on with Wet Paint. At some point in the future there'll be a website and also a small collection of 'toons in aid of a homeless charity. I'm also contributing some comic artwork for the small press comics omnivistascope and the award winning Solar Wind.

Finally, I'm hoping to find a home for my childrens' book, The League of Mad Scientists.

FLAK: Anything else you'd like to add that I failed to elicit?

IS: I guess not.

Cheers.

E-mail James Norton at jim@flakmag.com.