Stephen Beals shared with Bored Panda that he has been creating comics for as long as he can remember, driven by his passion for art. Although his degree is in animation, he found himself more drawn to print and graphic art.
During college, he enjoyed working with people, except when he was exhausted, unwell, or dealing with difficult customers. He humorously referred to these challenging customers as "uppity raccoons." He said, "Sometimes customers are uppity raccoons, and love has left the air."
According to Beals, he titled his comic series "Adult Children" because being an adult seems like a made-up story we tell kids to make them behave. "Sometimes it works and a child will master the art of pretending to be responsible. They become politicians, incarcerated, or potentially both."
For Beals, the trickiest part of his work is often the message he wants to convey. Some cartoonists compare writing comics to poetry, which might sound odd at first, but it makes sense. According to the artist, getting the pacing and dialogue right is crucial. He has learned this through trial and error, admitting to making countless comics that just didn't click. "Honestly, that's the way I learn everything. A few hundred failures equal success."
"I receive more personal responses to my comics about retail than anything I've ever made in the past. People have written me to share some very hilarious stories as well as others that describe painful work scenarios. Really, that's more rewarding than any amount of money. As far as I know. I'd like to test that theory by getting a large amount of money and comparing the two, but this experiment lacks funding."
