zole.org

Back when I was a little bolder, and perhaps a little less ashamed to be a blubbering fan, I used to email people whose Internet work I enjoyed and pimp out my little comic. Here are some of the responses I found while I was recovering some of my old mail archives. Hopefully these people won’t mind the violation of their privacy, but I wanted to boast and didn’t feel like I could wait until after I die.

Dorothy Gambrell of Cat and Girl

I used to like to ask people how they drew their comic, as if I could somehow relate. Years later Dorothy and I were interviewed in the same book, but she’s still more talented than ten of me.

Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2001 17:23:49 -0400 (EDT)
To: Zole
From: Dorothy Gambrell
Subject: Re: That comic you draw

oh, well thanks. i had no idea i was still in the planetcartoonist list, actually.

i draw with the olde-timey (and time-consuming) pencil, pen, eraser, white-out method. After I scan it in I clean it up a bit, and the word bubbles/panels/greys are all done in photoshop.

so, yeah. glad you like it. especially as you’re a fellow member of the burgeoning marginalized interweb cartoonist association.

dorothy

Matt Groening’s assistant

From what I’ve heard Matt goes to Comic-Con and regularly buys books from up-and-coming talent, so maybe I should have aimed higher. But I couldn’t afford to go to San Diego.

Date: Wed, 27 Mar 2002 21:48:13 -0800
To: Zole
From: Sondra Gatewood
Subject: Re:

Hi Michael-

Thanks for your interest in Life in Hell.

And yes, sadly, the last Life in Hell book published was The Huge Book.

More sadly, there is no Official Life in Hell website as of this moment. I have been nagging Mr. G. for several years to let me get one going, but we are at an impasse — if we do one Matt wants it to be spectacular (which means expensive.) I’m willing to settle for less just to have one.

And there you have it.

I’m trying to put some ideas together for the next book — so there is nothing in the works as of this moment.

Thank you for your interest in Life in Hell.

–
Sondra Gatewood
Executive Hellcat and Proud Peacenik
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes,
but in having new eyes.” - Proust

Tycho of Penny Arcade

Some early validation, on this strip.

Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 13:51:50 -0700
To: “Zole”
From: “(CW)Tycho Brahe”
Subject: Re: That Linux craziness!

your comic for today is a god damned riot.