Bored Panda got in touch with Dave Coverly to chat about his new book, his love of drawing dogs, and the inspiration behind some of his most popular cartoons. We were curious to hear how he chose the cartoons for the collection, and whether any old favorites surprised him along the way. He kindly shared: “The cartoons selected are a combination of my personal favorites and those that received a lot of love online from readers. Humor is so subjective that I really value feedback - sometimes readers' favorites are mine as well, but sometimes I'm quite surprised by a cartoon becoming popular. It's extremely helpful to get this information when I have to think of yet another dog cartoon, haha.”
When asked what makes dogs such a great source of ideas and humor, the artist told us: “Dogs are incredible - and incredibly perfect for cartoons. Besides the fact that I absolutely love drawing them more than anything else, there's also the fact that every dog has a unique personality. I think the humor comes from that personality. Most people know a lot about dogs, too, even if they don't have one, so there are a lot of aspects of canine behavior to play with (and to compare to human behavior, of course). Also, I've been the principle cartoonist for BarkBox for years so creating cartoons about dogs comes very naturally to me now.”
We were also curious about the story behind the book’s funny title, and Coverly explained: “Thank you! The cover was indeed a stand-alone cartoon for Speed Bump and was part of my submission to Andrews McMeel. My cool editor, Lucas Wetzel, thought this cartoon also made for a catchy title, something I hadn't thought of and now love. It was really a stroke of brilliance on his part, not mine. I think another aspect of why it works so well was pointed out to me by another friend - she said she thought the sentiment captured a bit of how people are feeling these days in a humorous way. I can't take credit for that analogy but I have to say I agree with it.”
Finally, we wanted to know what still excites him about creating Speed Bump after more than three decades. He kindly shared: “Turning nothing into something never gets old for me - the thrill I feel when the spark of a good idea hits me is still why I do it. But also, there's something so human and primal about sharing ideas and connecting with people through that, and then getting a reaction that cements the connection is special. Even if that connection is just for the six seconds it takes someone to read one of these!”
