"Why you decided to be a
cartoonist?" As a student, I was better at doodling. Doug Shannon, creator of Claire
"Why you decided to be a
cartoonist?" As a student, I was better at doodling.
"What did you do to get syndicated?" I sent in 30 sample editorial cartoons to 100 top newspapers and all the syndicates. Jay Kennedy at King (Features Syndicate) was the only one who responded seriously, and to my surprise he suggested I try doing a strip.
"How long did it take you to get syndicated?" About 6 months of work later I got a contract offer, and after about a year of development I was launched. I was unusually fortunate, but then after freelancing for 23 years, maybe I deserved some luck.
Originally your strip was called "Claire and Webber." Why did you decide to drop Webber? Weber the frog was Claire's whimsically wise connection to the natural world. It was an ambitious undertaking to sell him to a human population increasingly content to sit indoors staring at our computer screens. I decided to put Claire among her peers, where hopefully she would strike a chord with more readers.Was it hard to lose a character you'd spent
time creating? There was a
mourning period. I got a lot of mail. I second-guessed myself a bit.
How has the strip done since it was reformatted?
I've gained new readers online at girls' sites, but the core adult audience you
need to grow newspapers has not materialized. For two years now I'm still in virtually the
same handful of newspapers. I keep working on it as if suddenly people are going to take
notice.
Where do you get your ideas and inspiration for "Claire" from?
Staring out the window...
What other projects are you working on besides "Claire?" I've developed about six new strip concepts over the past year. They are all good, but I'm still looking for the angle that newspapers will be receptive to. I've learned from Claire that doing good work isn't enough. You've got to know your audience.
Any plans for a "Claire" or
"Claire and Webber" book? No.
Do you think a weekly publication containing
nothing but comic strips would do well? No. Comics are
like seasoning. They do better with a main dish.
What is your favorite comic strip(s)? Doonesbury.
What's the one piece of advice you'd give to someone trying to get a foot in the door? Pay attention to your audience. We creators are so used to putting out all the time, we're often lousy at taking in. Even though it's often painful, I watch and listen to how people react to my stuff. When it's not working, I troubleshoot to try see where the problem is.
Anything else you'd like to say? Get your strip published locally first and build up from there. Gaining production experience and discovering your audience is worth more than money. The biggest missed opportunity of my life was when, at age 14, I got my cartoons published regularly in my hometown cabletv supplement. Since it didn't pay much, I wound up dropping it. If I'd stuck with it, who knows what would have happened?
Thanks Doug!
Note: "Claire" went away back in 2000. The last time I talked to him, he was working on a new project. I'll have to set up a new interview with Doug soon.