A comic strip is a musing somewhere between a doodle and a letter. There’s no need for comic strip characters to be elaborate, animation-like images when all they really need to do is tell the truth. Ideally, drawing a comic strip character should be no more difficult than signing one’s name. If an artist has put in his/her time, drawing should be next to effortless.
Children love to see grown-ups draw comics, especially on napkins, because the effect is always magical.
To take out a pen, doodle a line down, and have it look like a dog or spaceship is a trick second to none. I’m glad there are so many young people interested in drawing comics now. It reaffirms my faith in the general use and goodness of comics as an art form.
The greatest thrills I’ve had in my career have had nothing to do with money or celebrity, and everything to do with smiles and good cheer. I have drawn rockets and dogs for children, and being of use in that way has been priceless. I wish more aspiring cartoonists would have more faith in themselves and their abilities to “get there,” wherever there is. If you can make your doodles and your doodles make others smile while making you smile, then that’s all the “there” you’ll truly ever need.
Being a cartoonist, or any kind of artist, is a godawful way to make money and pay the bills.
That said, it’s absolutely the most wonderful way to be alive and remind yourself what being human is all about.