Interview With Lennie Peterson of The Big Picture (part one)

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Many people have asked me, how did you land an interview with Lennie Peterson? Well, it was actually kind of simple. I asked him. But that's not really the whole story... Why Lennie Peterson? Why interview him? What's so great about his strip The Big Picture? Well, I'll tell you why and how.

It all started about a year ago. I took a break from art for about 3 to 4 years and got into computers. I was really starting to itch to get back into drawing and doing cartoons again and I wanted to get a strip going. I was reading this strip online called "The Big Picture" of course it was created by Lennie Peterson. I really liked the strip and decided to send him an email praising his strip and asking for some insight on getting back into cartooning. Well he sent me a LONG winded response about what I could do, books I could buy, etc. So I started on my long trip to get back into what I loved to do, cartooning.

After I started The Normal Guy on the internet, it made me remember that time when I asked Lennie about cartooning and the advice he gave me. I mean, he was the motivation I needed, the kick in the butt I needed, to get started again, and I'm loving every minute of it. So I decided to send him another email thanking him for what he has done. I wasn't really expecting a response, I was just hoping he'd read it and make his day a little better knowing that he's helped someone. Well, he did respond, and we started exchanging emails. He looked at my site, gave me some words of encouragement and I asked him for an interview. That's how it happened! He agreed and here we are. Anyway, enough of my babbling, here's the good stuff.

By the way, to learn more about Lennie, his strip, or his band, here's some helpful links:
-- ucomics.com -- His syndication. They run several strips that can be emailed to you everyday, including The Big Picture, Garfield, Fox Trot... just to name some of my favorites.
-- Planet Lennie -- His website where you can find information on The Big Picture, his band, or his other art work that he has for sale!

Part One
J. R. -- Just mostly to start things off. I'd like you to describe your comic and what it's about to our readers, several of whom may have never read your strip, feel free to be as elaborate as you wish.

Lennie -- well. right to the point, the strip is completely autobiographical. it's not only about stuff that happens to me, it actually IS me. i look, talk, act like and am that person in the strip. stoopid cat and all. i try to treat my strip as sort of a "look in the mirror" . seeing the humor in everyday situations of living life from getting dumped by a girlfriend to getting older to drinking a morning coffee. every comic strip creator takes material from their own lives obviously but, in my case, it's stuff that happens to me directly. i am the guy. i'm not making stuff up for "fluffy the comic strip puppy" to do. when things happen in my life, they go straight into the comic strip and show up in the newspaper 4 weeks later.

J. R. -- How long have you been drawing? Was it something you've always wanted to do?

Lennie -- i honestly can't remember not drawing and not only is it something i've always "wanted" to do, but i do it because i can't help it.

J. R. -- How long has The Big Picture been in syndication and how long did you do it before it became syndicated?

Lennie -- i was doing the big picture on a monthly basis first for an underground publisher of comic books here in boston aboout seven years ago. it was called "daily diary' back then. i found it a really great outlet so i decided to try to see if i could sell it on a weekly basis to some local weekly alternative newspapers. after about two years, i had only snagged about 6 or 7 papers because i really didn't have the time and energy to throw myself into it that far because i was still teaching at berklee [college of music] full time. but i really enjoyed doing a strip so i started submitting ideas for other strips because i didn't think "the big picture", as it was, was "mainstream" enough for syndication. the vice president of universal press syndicate, lee salem, took notice of the big picture after it had won a "best unsigned comic strip" competition through a magazine so he contacted me. it took awhile, but they finally decided to take the plunge which was great obviously. they arranged to get a book published of all the strips i had done weekly [the big picture; a comic strip collection-published by andrews/mccmeel] and that led to the daily syndication. i've been doing the strip in daily syndication for about 16 months or so. i'm just a baby in those terms. the strip as a daily is just over a year old.

J. R. -- I've been reading The Big Picture for a little over a year now and have noticed it increasing in readership and becoming more and more popular. How many readers does The Big Picture have and how many newspapers does it appear in? Does The Big Picture get printed internationally as well?

Lennie -- i don't really keep track of how many papers i'm in. it builds each week a little at a time which is really cool. i think it's probably around a hundred right now but i'd have to check. the numbers don't interest me all that much though. as far as the overseas markets, i have a few papers in europe but most of my overseas readership is a result of the internet both from on-line news services like bayarea.com or a result of the fans that check in at ucomics.com to read the comics there.the book has done pretty well there, too, so that helps gain new fans. there's a company in sweden that publishes the strip in swedish. that's a real trip for me to see it in swedish. i do well in canada as well. the toronto sun has been really good for me.

J. R. -- I first heard about The Big Picture on the internet, our newspapers here don't print it. How big of an influence do you think the internet has to your to your strip and how many readers do you believe read it online (such as I do)? Do you contribute some of the success to your comic to the web or not?

Lennie -- the internet has been the most valuable tool for the big picture i can think of. right friom the start. even before my book got published, universal press put my strip on their website just to kind of test out whether people would like it or not and it turned out to be one of their most popular features. of the mail i get every week, i'd say about half of it comes from people on the web. and that leads to them rallying their local papers for me so yeah..god bless the world wide web!!

J. R. -- Being on the Internet topic let's move to just webcomics in general. What are your feelings of webcomics (such as The Normal Guy)? Do you feel webcomics are the wave of the future or do you feel printed comics will hold their ground? Do you ever read webcomics, or are they something the "syndicated artists" don't think about or read? Do you think syndicated comics will have to move to the web to survive? Such as several strips I read have done (The Big Picture, Garfield, Pickles, heck you can even read Calvin and Hobbes on the net)

Lennie -- all the comics i read, i read on the web everyday. calvin and hobbes reruns included. i've customized my own bookmarks so i can go first thing in the morning, coffee in hand and read all my comics. the only time i read the comics in the newspaper are when i'm a way from my computer and on sundays. i enjoy the sunday comics hard copy. it's a sacred ritual for me. i don't DISlike reading the dailies in the paper. it's just like anything else, the computer is more connvenient. plus, they're in color every day. i read the paper too but my first dose of comics every day are on the internet. i think the internet is the perfect medium for comic strips. they're layed out perfectly for a quick hit and animation is the next logical step to all of this. i think the printed page will just change in its dynamic. the papers are just going to have to get used to sharing the readership. and ultimately, the competition will make for better more exciting newspapers hopefully geared toward a younger readershoip. the papers need to do that.

J. R. -- I noticed in your strip everyday that in the spacing between panels you always have a birthday wish to someone, I thought this was kind of neat and interesting. When did you start doing this and why? (By the way, my birthday is April 28th)

Lennie -- ha! sorry. i have to wait until you're a celebrity or a family member! i get requests from people everyday to have their names in. if i started to do that, i'd be leaving out a half dozen people a day. i've been doing the celebrity and family birthdays since i started the strip as a weekly. i just think it's a nice little touch for the people who are REALLY paying attention to the details. just a nice little extra touch for the readers that give a crap. for me, this is all about the readers that give a crap.

J. R. -- You have a band called "Clutch Grabwell" that you work with on the side of drawing The Big Picture. Can you tell our readers about your band, what type of music, and where you play? Also do you have any music samples available to download to listen to? Plus where can we find more information on your band or buy your albums?

Lennie -- clutch grabwell is a band that's best described, as it was by the boston globe, as a "maniacal, horn driven, high energy rock band".we work every weekend and then some. it's mostly original music and it's fun and crazed from start to finish, every gig. we play mostly in new england but we get to california and new york more and more these days. i think there are soundbites available at our website, grabwell.com. the c.d. is available in northeast stores and you can order it through cdbaby.com and a couple of others. i think there are links on our site.

J. R. -- Also I noticed you have Prints for sale and also original strips. Where may the readers find more information on this and how much do they sell for?

Lennie -- i've been wanting to update that section of my site for awhile. i've gotta do that soon. the best thing to do is go to planetlennie.com and check out the "fine art" section of the site. the site will guide you to the purchase of original strips as well. original strips sell for about a hundred bucks apiece and my fine art prints sell anywhere from 50 to 200 bucks. i don't sell the originals of my fine art, just prints. they mean too much for me to let go of the originals. the nice thing about all the sales of my work is i give about 20% of the revenue to various charities so that makes it worhwhile for me as well.

J. R. -- I know you do a lot of charity type work and donating. If I'm correct you give 20% of your sales to charity. What charities are these that you give to and why do you give to them? Also where can we find more information on these charities?

Lennie -- thanks for asking. 10% of the revenue goes to a charity called "why me, inc" which is a charity that helps kids with cancer and their families. people can check that out at www.whyme.org. it's a great organization. i run a benefit for them every year with a bunch of bands.. it's great because it's one of those charities where the money goes directly to helping out the kids. i donate another 5% to to the prevention of cruelty to animals and another 5 to greenpeace.

J. R. -- I know you probably get many emails a day about The Big Picture. and I know you reply to every single email you get. About how many emails do you get a day? And about how many of those are hate emails?

Lennie -- i do reply to every single email i get but unfortunately that's getting more and more difficult as the strip grows in popularity so i don't know how much longer i can keep that up. i really love staying in touch with my readers and, as i said, it's all about the reader for me. right now i get an average of 20 emails a day from readers to keep up with. that, along with the snail mail and the mail having to do with the usual running of the businesses, gets a little wacky now and then. depending on the content of the strip that day, it can reach 50 or so. i make a lot of my hate mail in the strip but honestly, i get very little negative mail but i like to exploit what i do get. people have been really great. i'm blown away almost daily by the mail that people send and how they can relate to my strip. i really do the strip for me. the fact that people enjoy it is gravy, hell, the fact that people HATE it is gravy. as long as they're feeling SOMEthing!

J. R. -- Speaking of emails, when did you get the idea to do the "email Monday strip"? This is one of my most favorite strips I look forward to every week. How do you determine which emails you are going to use for the strip? Do you do it on a weekly basis or just save emails that you wish to respond to in your strip?

Lennie -- this is my favorite part of the strip as well. in fact, i'm going to start a"catching up on the mail" feature every six weeks or so and do an entire weeks worth of that feature. i keep a file of the emails i get that i think i can use in the future then just kind of sift through those to see which one kind of stands out for that particular week. i have hundreds of them on file so i just go for the first one that stands out.

J. R. -- I know it really bugs you when people ask why you're cat isn't the main character (as I can see why) but I've noticed a lot lately that your cat HAS been the main focus in your strip. I was just curious if you were gonna start using your cat more and more as the main focus or if it was just something you'd do for a while to do something different until you thought of "Lennie" material?

Lennie -- ha! good question. that's a random thing. i'm not that well thought out! you'll notice that she sometimes isn't the subject of the strip for a long time and then will be for awhile. the one change i've made is that i always try to have her present in the strip whether it revolves around her or not. i like to have her "there" when i can.

J. R. -- Has the Big Picture ever won any awards?

Lennie. -- the lennie peterson award- dopiest comic strip, 2001. seriously, one so far, and that's the one, "best unsigned comic strip" that led to my book and syndication.

J. R. -- I've noticed you use Garfield a lot in your strip every once in a while. Are you friends with Jim Davis or do you know him personally? Do you have to call him up every time you use his character? I was just curious on the relationship since he IS practically my idol and has been my whole life.

Lennie -- i don't know jim davis personally but we are with the same syndication. i admire the garfield work as well. a lot of people think it's become stale after 20 years but i disagree. i think it still holds up. if it started brand new tomorrow, it would still work. a lot of times i HOPE it will suck just cuz i consider him a competition but it always holds up. i do use a lot of other comic strip characters in my strip but i don't get permission. if it was something negative toward those characters, i'd have to get permission but parody usually is a loophole in the use of other images. plus i always give them copyright credits in the margins. i'll get in trouble eventually but, whatever.

J. R. -- I've also noticed how Garfield gets a lot of "bad talk" lately, I noticed in your FAQ section of your website that you said "Yes I still like Garfield, sue me". I'm kind of confused on why people wouldn't like Garfield. do you know the whole story about it and if so could you explain it to the rest of us?

Lennie -- i think that a lot of people just start to go against the grain on something when it's been around too long or it's "too popular". it's pretty easy to bash stuff that successful. sort of the "conformity of being a non-conformist". plus, garfield has become a huge, huge industry. maybe people see that as kind of "manufactured" and pre fab. as i said, i read and enjoy it everyday along with a lot of others.

J. R. -- My last question for part one of the interview is mostly about my website and my comic, The Normal Guy. What is your opinion on the comic, please feel free to criticize the art, writing, anything you can. As an artist yourself you should know how important something like this is as it can only make the artist being criticized better at what he does. Also it's important to me because it will be coming from a professional already in the business (which not everyone can say they've had done).

Lennie -- dood, i like your strip a lot. first of all, the art is "clean" and fits the style of your writing which, to me , is one of the most important qualities in any art form including film making. there's not a whole lot of stuff cluttering up your art (unlike mine at times!) which makes for a lot of good "space". it's well written and, as you know, my favorite art forms are those that draw (oops, pun...) on personal experiences directly. plus i feel like "the normal guy" and it's layout and bold colors are a perfect suit for the internet read. plus you get to say the word "sucks" so i'm a little jealous. my one criticism is that your dialogue can be, in a few strips here and there, a bit too lengthy and rambling but you might not want to take that advice froom me because, more often than not, my dialogue is VERY lengthy and rambling. it's a lifetime of self editing and saying more with less and working at that every day. i'm not interested in readers that have the attention span of a toaster and certainly don't want my strip to be "sight gags" but, then again, i try to understand that not every reader is going to put the time into reading my strip that i want them to. other that that, this business, as is ANY business, is a matter of persistence, persistence and then more persistence...eat, drink, sleep, poop persistence. so keep it up.

J. R. -- Well, that ends it this week. Stay "tooned" next week as I'll have part 2 of the interview up! Next week me and Lennie talk about the syndication process and other general syndication questions! And the look at the future of cartooning!