Tim, when we read the recent story about you in the Warwick Beacon, it was a no-brainer to interview you. Let’s start with Sour Grapes, the cartoon strip you write and draw. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, how about a quick overview?
Sour Grapes is a comic strip about ‘Aesop’, a miserable flying dog. He finds himself in the midst of these characters’ “Sour Grapes” and reluctantly tries to give advice, help or be just an ear to listen, in his own miserable way.
In addition to being published in the Warwick Beacon and many other Rhode Island newspapers, Sour Grapes is published in papers in several other states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida and Texas. How did you pick those papers up – and are you looking to further expand the strip’s reach?
Currently, Sour Grapes is published in 46 newspapers, nationally along with some news websites. I hope to add more papers as time goes along. It’s not easy, that’s for sure. I normally do cold calling, but lately, I send an email to the editor and then follow-up with a phone call. I’ve found that editors appreciate a conversation instead off just an email. Emails alone tend to find themselves lost because editors get so many.
Now, please tell us about the everyday situations that the strip captures so well.
Sour Grapes is based on my daily life experiences. My formula is that I reflect on what happened to me that week or something I heard someone say and then find the humor in it and then throw it at the characters and let them deal with it in their world. It’s kind of like Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood where he would have a theme and then send the Trolley into the land of make believe and they would have their own experience with that theme.
Humor is a big part of Sour Grapes. Many of the strips are laugh-out-loud funny. Is that one of your intentions? I strive for a baseline of a chuckle. If I try to have a really funny episode every time, it’s that much harder to top the last one. I’ve been lucky enough to have consistently funny strips.
Do you yourself ever laugh when writing and drawing the strip?
It’s funny (pun intended) I actually do laugh…most of the time. I write and draw at the same time and I kind of play with the strip as I go along. If you make doing a comic strip as a task instead of making it a part of you, it’ll come out forced.
As someone who has appreciated (and spoken and written) puns for many years, I love the ones that fill the strip. How do you come up with them?
Over the years, I found the “voice” of Aesop and it seems to me that a “miserable dog” would be the product of puns. I tend to lean to a play on words or simple puns, but they have to work within the confines of the episode. It’s important, to me anyway, that consistency is key.
You have several recurring characters. Who are they?
There’s Aesop of course, his pet cloud “Ominous”; “Maddy”, a not-so-bright scientist; “Constance” Maddy’s 16 year old, brat little sister, thinking the world revolves around her; and “Stewart”, Constance’s lazy-annoying boyfriend who’s over all the time. There’ are also recurring snow men and snow women friends that come around (they’re the “unsuspecting” characters).
When did the strip start and what was the inspiration?
Sour Grapes started in 2014. I wanted to do an original comic strip, so I thought a strip that was about a miserable, flying dog did the trick.
The Beacon story told of a partnership with another Rhode Island-based institution, Yacht Club Soda. What is that?
Yacht Club Soda is a 110 year old, Rhode Island soda company. I was interested in landing a licensing opportunity, so I thought a Sour Grape flavor soda with Aesop on the bottle was a great idea. The strip started publication in Rhode Island. I’m a Rhode Island Resident and Yacht Club Soda is a Rhode Island staple, so it made sense. I approached the company and they loved the idea.
What were you doing before Sour Grapes? We’d like to hear some of your background.
I had two consecutive comic strips: Every Blue Moon, with the same characters and then a strip called Job Shop, about the life and times of a machine shop, drawn by me and written by a local comedian. Both strips ran in about 6 local papers, each for a couple of years.
You have also published in book form many collections of the strips. A few words about those please.
Every year or so, I put together a compilation of the past years’ strips into a book, each a little different. I also have a couple of Sour Grapes coloring books.
Any advice for aspiring cartoonists?
Practice, practice, practice. Don’t be afraid to think out of the box and write what you know.
What’s next for you – and Sour Grapes?
I’m hoping to see Sour Grapes with a major syndicate. Right now, though, I enjoy driving my own car.
