Bored Panda spoke with the author of the ‘Zoolies’ series to learn more about the origins of his comics: “What initially inspired me to make my comics - my mother was a painter and she and my dad had a wonderful sense of humor and they both got me to want to make them laugh. Both had big laughs. My Dad's face would turn red like a tomato when he would laugh hard at a cartoon. My mother's art was so awesome and faith-lifting. It inspired me to want to draw, but a funny thing happened on my drawing journey.” Hawkins jokingly added: “Perhaps I like to play on words and draw because I was born in Pencil-vania.”
The cartoonist shared with us more: “Where do I come up with new ideas for comics? My office, mostly, but sometimes in the shower, other parts of the restroom, libraries, cafes, bookstores and occasionally even in my sleep. Zzzzz.”
We were also curious to learn which cartoonists and comedians Jonny admires and draws inspiration from. He kindly shared: “Disney, Dr. Seuss, Charles Schulz and more recently, Gary Larson, Tom Cheney, Nurit Karlin, Harley Schwadron, Liz Climo, Liana Finck, Rex May aka ‘Baloo’ and Bob Vojtko. I love so many cartoonists! Hard to narrow it down. Add P.C. Vey to that list. As for comedians - I love Steven Wright's clever monotonic wit. Always enjoyed Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Michael Junior, Jonathan Winters and Jerry Seinfeld.”
Lastly, the author of ‘Zoolies’ shared more about his personal favorite cartoons he has created so far: “I like the cartoon of the yellow fruit getting counsel where he says, ‘I want to be with ice cream.’ and in another balloon: ‘I want to be left alone.’ The title says Banana Split Personality. That one I find appealing. And it's sold many times and is in my recent 2025 Punny Cartoon a Day box desktop calendar.”
