We were curious about what themes and motifs the artist likes to feature in his series in particular. Steve shared with us: “I'm a big fan of horror movies, so a lot of jokes about spooky films and characters appear in my work. I like putting those characters in absurd or everyday situations. I draw comics about a certain hockey-masked fellow every Friday the 13th, for example.”
The author of “Skull Pizza” told us more about the characters featured in his strips: “My comics don't really have a set cast, but I have a lot of recurring characters, sort of like sketch comedy. Reader favorites seem to be The Agents of S.N.A.R.C., who show up at ridiculous crime scenes to make bad jokes; President Bear, a literal bear who was somehow elected commander-in-chief; Dracula, who has terrible luck with ladies; Krampus always shows up around the Holidays; and of course my ‘Shork Week’ comics that I've drawn every summer for six years running. There are always new characters being added or resurrected.”
Next, the artist revealed more details related to his creative process while working on the new strips: “I mostly work digitally these days on an iPad Pro. I'll hop around between Procreate, Clip Studio, Art Studio Pro, and Adobe Fresco. Each have their strengths, and I like experimenting with them all. I'll still do comics on paper once in a while, just for the fun of it. Sometimes I'll doodle an idea with a pencil on paper, then bring it onto the iPad to ink and color.”
Lastly, Steve told us about his biggest influences in the world of comedy and humor: “As a kid, I devoured Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Bloom County, and The Far Side. I also grew up watching reruns of The Kids in the Hall, which probably influenced my sense of the absurd. Now there's so much inspiration everywhere. You can't throw a rock without finding a brilliant comic on social media. This has led to meeting lots of hilarious artists who continue to influence my comics and let me bounce ideas off of them and (hopefully) make them better. Every Friday, I livestream a Drink & Doodle with Brian Gordon from Fowl Language Comics on FB Live (and soon probably Twitch), if you ever want to give us a silly prompt.”
