Sunday, March 14, 2004

Adis says:Hey Adis! Today's Quicksketch Spotlight focuses on Kelly Ferguson's one panel comic, Basket Case. It's a comic full of zany humor with the ocassional political slant. His non-political strips feature humor that could very well fit as Adrianisms, so I chose one of my favorites, and I drew a cover version of it! Anyway, Here's what Kelly had to say for himself:

Who are you and what's your comic about?
Hey, Kelly Ferguson here, the guy (that's right I'm a guy, don?t let the name fool you) behind Basketcase Comix. I guess I'm your typical mechanical engineer who also happens to draw a one-panel comic strip which has no recurring characters, no plot, & the occasional political rant.

Why make a political comic?
When I initially began drawing Basketcase way back in high school, I had no intention of covering political material, but occasionally I'd get an idea for a political comic & just jot it down in my notebook with my other "regular" cartoon ideas. There are more than a few problems with drawing political comics & the fact that they can become dated so quickly kept me from finishing very many of my political ideas early on, especially since I had no immediate way to get them before an audience. However, now that I have the website, I can upload a cartoon before the headlines fade or the issue becomes stale.

Did you ever think of integrating political humor into a strip with continuing characters or has this always been the way you wanted to do it?
For some odd reason, I've always been more inclined to do the one-panel cartoons; I guess they just better fit my style of humor. However, if you look thru my archives, you'll find "the Usual Suspects" keep coming back: Dubya, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft (& now Kerry). Typically, with politics I go after whoever making the biggest mistakes or deserves a little ridicule.

Who are your favorite editorial cartoonists?
I've always been a big fan of Tom Tommorrow who does This Modern World. He also has a pretty informative blog on his website, which I try to visit regularly. Rubin Bolling, who draws Tom the Dancing Bug usually does some great social commentary, as well, & always seems to make me laugh.

Who are your favorite ONLINE editorial cartoonists?
Fellow Comic Sherpa artist Matt Bors who draws Idiot Box has really impressed me & I've noticed that more often than not, Elftor (while not truly an editorial cartoon) can drive home social/political issues in his own demented (& hilarious) way.

Does the state the world is in scare you?
Very much so. I think I'm frightened the most by the state of things right here in America: John Ashcroft, The Patriot Act, Donald Rumsfeld *Gets up on soapbox* In the past few years, I've seen my government erode my civil liberties & most people seem more than willingly to surrender their constitutional rights for the illusion of security.

Who's gonna save us?
I'm not real sure. I just know it's not going to be George W. Bush.

I really enjoy the non-political strips. Ever thought about doing those exclusively?
When I started the website, I thought long & hard about whether I should include the political cartoons. I knew that for the most part, I'd be alienating half of my audience, but at the same time I felt that some of these things had to be said (even if it was just on some obscure webcomic site).

What are your plans for Basketcase?
I'd like to make the experience a little more interactive by promoting my Comic-On-Demand gimmick a bit more, & hopefully making it a weekly feature. In the past I've had readers suggest a topic or setting & then I have a day or two to come up with a cartoon using their suggestion. I think it's a fun way to get people interested in the site.

Pogo did it, do you think Ship could run for President?
Ship definitely has my vote, but I'm just not sure if America's ready for an intelligent, witty president.

And that's it! Thanks to Kelly for his time. So, if the mood suits you, go check out Basketcase today!
Now go to bed!
Adis!



Count Your Sheep is © Adrian Ramos.