Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Adis says: Here's the pending Quicksketch Spotlight, with no othert than Chris Paluszeck, author of Carzorthade. So, here it is!

So, dude, what's your comic about?
My comic is about the day-to-day adventures of three of the same person, all living under the same roof.

How old are you, anyway?
I’m 17, and about to graduate from High School (senior year! Woo!)

What's up with the Trmtnrkid, by the way? I think you could have easily done more jokes about the Governator, and yet you didn't. Why?
terminatrkid is a robot. Well, a terminator to be precise, from the Cameronian future in the "Terminator" series of films. As far as the Governator goes, I wish I did more strips about that. Unfortunately, I was late on an update, and that idea came to me at the last minute. Who knows, though? Next time Ah-nuld’s in the news for something, maybe I’ll look more into it.

What class were you sleeping in when the idea for Carzorthade came to you?
No class, actually. I was about to go to sleep for the night, when all of sudden, I thought, "Say… I use three different names on the internet… what if they were all different people, and they lived together?" And then I fell asleep. The idea resurfaced about a week after the word "Carzorthade" showed up.
And just what does "Carzorthade" mean?
The term "Carzorthade" has a very interesting origin. Originally, I used the aliases "Chris Paluszek", "terminatrkid", and "Slate" on the internet, for e-mail, chatting, and message boards, respectively. Unfortunately, using three separate names on the same internet, with three different passwords, can get somewhat excessive. Eventually, I came across an internet name generator, with slots for "First name", "Middle name", and "Last name". When you entered the criteria, the generator would mix up all the letters, and make a whole new name. I tried my real name, but the result wasn’t all that exciting. So instead, I tried my three internet names. Lo and behold, what should appear before me, but the word "Carzorthade". At first, I didn’t really understand it, but it sounded cool, so I stuck with it. I had no idea it was eventually to become the name for my webcomic (however, in the comic, the term "Carzorthade" means something very different, which I’ll explain in an upcoming series of strips)

What do you have against Shakespeare, fiend?
I have nothing against Shakespeare. However, I have everything against High Schools that teach Shakespeare. Not in the fact that they teach it, but in the way they teach it. Sure, Shakespeare’s plays are great, but why must schools destroy them by making us students analyze every single freaking line in the play, picking it apart with a fine tooth comb, looking for any and every trace of symbolism?! Ugh, that’s 11th grade English for you.

Are you the pop culture encyclopedia you seem to be, judging from your comic, or do you do research?
I try to make my strips accessible to the masses, yes… actually, between a younger brother and sister, and several very cool friends, I have a viable wealth of pop culture information that I can tap into at any time. But, if it’s on a topic I’m not too familiar with, I’ll do research, just to make sure I have my details straight.

What webcomic artists you wish you had met in High School?
I’d have to say, above all, John Allison, of Scary Go Round fame. Other than that, I’m sure Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade were cool kids back when they were in High School… definitely some good gaming buddies. Oh! And Desmond Seah, from Bigger Than Cheeses… his comic’s hilarious, and he is too.

I like how sometimes you experiment with your strip. What's the process of creating each one?
Since I use Flash, I have the option of saving different basic parts of each character, so I don’t have to repeatedly draw them (in Flash, doing so is a bit of a hassle). Instead, I have the characters’ basic torsos and heads and eyes saved as templates. After that, I pretty draw everything else with the mouse. Unfortunately, this "simple process" of using templates is starting to show its drawbacks, since I have a hard time venturing into any other angle of view. I tried different approaches by drawing completely by hand (with the mouse in that hand), but I have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of you crazy freehand artists.

What do you think people in your class say about Count Your Sheep?
I think they love it. The girls obviously like it, because, well, it’s cute. And the guys like it because there’s something beyond the cuteness… it has a humor that works on many levels. It’s a great comic... wish I’d met the guy in High School, though.

And that's it! Carzorthade is quite entertaining and funny, so I suggest you all go check it out, and I'll see you here tomorrow for a Very Special CYS Episode.
Now go to bed!
Adis!



Count Your Sheep is © Adrian Ramos.