“Dumb Comics for Smart People. Making sense of Life, Love and Videogames, one comic strip at a time”—that’s the way that the talented founders of Respawn comics present themselves to the world. Illustrator Harold works with his best friend and partner-in-crime writer Devakumar to make hilarious comic strips (and they both like to point out that, yes, they have heard of the movie titled ‘Respawn’).
Their newest cartoon drawings, ‘Things Babies Can Do That You Can’t,’ took the internet by storm. It offers a fresh and funny take on what exactly we miss out on when we grow up. Our verdict? Being an adorable baby sounds so much better.
Bored Panda spoke with illustrator Harold about the inspiration behind the funny comic, what challenges he personally faced along the way to becoming a professional, as well as what he’d tell other comic artists to help them improve their craft. Scroll down for the full interview!
Things Babies Can Do That You Can't
Image credits: respawncomic
From the get-go, Harold showed us how charismatic and in love with the comedy he is. When we asked him what inspired the illustrator-writer duo to make the ‘Things Babies Can Do But You Can’t' comic strip, he joked that, “Well, funny babies, can be very inspirational for awkward situations. Also, many, many dank nights on 9gag and Reddit.”
According to Harold, each comic strip takes anywhere from 5 to 10 hours to draw. “But I usually spread it out over the week because of my day job as a video game artist. That said, we're almost 5 years in so we've devised a neat little system by this point.”
Image credits: respawncomic
“The secret is to draw faster,” he noted. As simple as it sounds, he’s right. And this small bit of advice is applicable in all fields, not just drawing. If you want to get results faster, you have to work faster. More efficiently. Streamline your process!
Bored Panda was also curious to find out whether Harold always wanted to be an artist: “Like most kids, I always wanted to be a Royal Food Taster. Unfortunately, the career prospects weren't all that great and they probably didn't have much in the way of health insurance. Then my mom got me a Genesis and it was Artist all the way!”
Image credits: respawncomic
According to Harold, he’s pretty sure that he and Devakumar face “many” of the same challenges that other comic creators end up struggling with.
“How do we get the word out? How do we get ideas? How do we not burn out? I guess the biggest challenge I myself faced was when we were first starting out. A few months in, I would lie awake at night wondering if we were just comicking into a giant, gaping void of apathy (which, incidentally, also describes my ex-wife). Were we even funny? Was anyone reading? Did anyone even care?”
Image credits: respawncomic
He continued: “It took me a while, but I've since learned to cope by doing strips that, at the very least, make me laugh. If no one else got it, well, it wasn't all that bad. But it's a big ol' world and it turns out there were a bunch of weirdos laughing with me all along.”
“I now have the coolest readers in the world, folks who totally get me, and their comments always make my day,” Harold complimented the fans of Respawn.
Image credits: respawncomic
Now, this part is very important for all of you creative Pandas out there. Harold said that you shouldn’t lose yourself trying to be what you think everyone else wants you to be.
“Define yourself by the things you love, not what others hate, and you'll always find your way,” he highlighted. “Also, learn how to invest or something, man, 'cause the money is crap.”
The internet had some other great ideas about what babies can do that grown-ups can't
