Mason shared with us more about his initial inspiration to pursue comic art professionally: “In high school a friend who worked for the paper pressed me for content where I first began drawing public-facing comics. It was nerve-wracking at first but I liked the feedback and became hooked on trying to make people laugh. I then worked for several college papers and have been drawing a new webcomic weekly since 2007.”
Asked how he comes up with ideas for new comic strips, the creator of ‘At Random Comics’ answered: “Most ideas occur while listening to music and simultaneously focusing and letting my mind wander. Some comics require a lot of reshaping while others spring up intact. During the day I write down spontaneous ideas for future drawing sessions and sometimes if enough time passes, the prompts can become undecipherable mysteries. Lately I’ve been using voice-to-text memos, while making sure I’m not within earshot of others who will think I’m a weirdo.”
Ryan’s told us more about the strips he creates: “I like the limitations of using a single panel to tell a joke and the flexibility of exploring any topic. Some of my favorite comics to draw are the ones that may take a second or two for the joke to land. I also like ones that are purely visual.”
Then, we wanted to find out how the artist would describe ‘At Random Comics’, and he said: “Awhile back a reader described my work as ‘Happy sad’ and it stuck with me. My work often leans towards schadenfreude humor, but I don’t believe I’m overly pessimistic. I like to use humor to confront and take the steam out of difficult topics like death and disappointment.”
Lastly, Ryan Mason shared with us: “My hope for At Random is to continue steadily growing an audience and making people laugh. I am a freelance illustrator/designer and the more Patreon support I receive, the more time I can dedicate to drawing comics and increase their frequency. I recently tried unsuccessfully to appear in The New Yorker, but made lemonade by compiling a new ebook, ‘At Random Comics’: The New Yorker Rejects for Patreon supporters.”
