Bored Panda reached out to Andrew again to ask more questions regarding his recent works. First, we were wondering if the author of Crustacean Singles could tell us more about the inspiration behind Lobsterman and the Floating Head of Salvador Dalí. We wanted to know how these characters came to life in Andrew’s comics. He said: “Lobsterman is essentially an amoral, chaotic creature, human enough to interact with humans but monstrous and uninhibited and, in a very '00s way, ~random~. His main schtick of chaotic violence is seldom funny to me these days, so the character appears only a few times a year now, and only when I can come up with a joke beyond ‘Lobsterman kills and eats people and pets’.”
The artist continued: “As for the Floating Head of Salvador Dalí, he took on a role as a sort of trickster god of art. A terrible roommate, too, but still a source of creative encouragement. Of course, this was before I knew the real SD was a fascist; one of these days, I'm going to have to make an in-universe explanation of just how the Floating Head of Salvador Dalí is a completely different entity from the defunct SD. And maybe he'll consider taking the form of a cooler dead surrealist, as much fun as it is to draw the gigantic prehensile mustache.”
Next, we wanted to know more about the characters featured in his comics which are very often nameless stick figures without much context. We asked the artist to elaborate on why he prefers to distill stories down to their essential parts. Andrew shared with us that: “I do have a creative interest in distilling stories down (and I think that's the right word, too), but the form my comics take is also a result of the constraints I'm working under. When I started out, I was a student and a teacher and a member of one and a half bands who also happened to be recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Now I'm a full-time dad with multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and a whole jumble of psychological biz. I've always had to squeeze drafting, drawing, and editing my cartoons into a full schedule. It's a challenge to create anything at all, but I've adapted to the constraints and evolved in the direction of (mostly) single panels with almost no recurring characters. It's a tradeoff; a comic like Val and Isaac gets to mine a ton of comedy out of the characterizations and interactions and contexts it set up, but that setup requires a lot of time and energy to create and maintain.
During our previous interview, Andrew mentioned that he has been creating daily comics for almost eleven years. We were curious how his artistic style evolved during this time, and what are some key lessons he has learned along the way. We were told that: “There is a tremendous value to showing up and making an effort every day, then putting what you've made in front of other people. Each attempt is lower-pressure, but the work accumulates. Slow but sustainable progress is the way to go.”
Last time, the author of Crustacean Singles also mentioned that his comics have reached a much larger audience than before. Now, we asked how this affected his creative process and the way Andrew approaches his work. The artist told us: “Well, it's not hard to get much larger than the couple dozen readers I had for the first year or two. I'd still say Crustacean Singles is somewhat obscure, but it's true that a handful of my comics have made it to millions of screens. It's encouraging to know people are reading and relating to what I'm making. Probably the highest compliment I get is when someone says, ‘I'm taking this one to my next therapy session.’”
Lastly, we wanted to find out if there is anything Andrew would like to explore or experiment with in the comics that he has not had the chance to do yet. He shared with us: “Someday—probably not until my toddler is a little older and more independent—I would like to explore longer-form comics with characters and continuity. I've been wanting to expand and improve the visual side of things, too. I'm currently working hard to get back into writing short fiction, and I do have several longer stories I hope to tell before my brains turn completely to mush. Keeping Crustacean Singles daily is challenging enough these days, but I'm posting short fiction, essays, reviews, and more on the Crustacean Singles Patreon when I'm able.”
