Da liberdade

Imagem do Stuff noone told me, seguida de uma entrevista do cartunista responsável por esse site, Alex Noriega:

"Transcript of ”Behind Every Line: Alex Noriega:

A picture on a tumblr feed was all I needed, then I got hooked. ”Stuff No One Told Me” is a webcomic about the world, everything that is difficult, everything that is wonderful. And most of all ”Stuff No One Told Me” is small simple wisdoms from everyday life combined with wonderful drawings. Alex Noriega is the man behind this comic and I decided to interview him about his intreats in comics and how he see upon the future of his new webcomic


Tell the readers a bit about yourself

I´m Alex Noriega, a 29 years old illustrator from Barcelona. I like to call myself an illustrator, but in reality I´m many things: I´m a rock, I´m an island. Kidding!

For the last 8 years I´ve been working in the fashion industry designing T-shirts and I hate it with all my soul. I hope all fashion brands burn in hell except ”Sirena Con Jersey”, they can stay. I´m still single and I think it´s because I hate the idea of having to agree with someone else but me in all my decisions. It´s already hard to convince myself to move my ass.My english grammar and spelling skills are very limited, but considering english is my 3rd language I´m doing pretty good. I´m socially handicapped.

How did your interest for comics start?

My grandfather was a landscape painter in his free time and he used to take me out with him when I was 4 to draw. I still remember him sketching on his pad. I could look at him draw for hours, although I was just 4, I still remember it very clearly. Then, the first comics that I remember were among others the weekly satirical magazines ”el jueves”, a spanish magazine that my parents used to read (I still love it).

As you can see I´ve been drawing pretty much always. I remember being 10 and already wondering if I should draw comics or paint. I already knew Picasso, Miró and a few more painters that I really liked. I can´t remember wanting to be anything else in my life. Well, for a short period I wanted to play chess. But it faded away pretty fast.

Do you have any favorite comics?

Lots! In print I´m reading a lot of ”the far side” by Gary Larson lately (you gotta love his sense of humor), I also like Sascha Hommer a lot, he published a couple graphic novels and both are wonderful. Adrian Tomine, Jason… LOTS. Regarding webcomics, I´m not an expert, I´ve started to follow a few just lately, but there great talents out there. I read ”Mythfits”, ”Cyanide and Happiness”, ”Alberto Montt”, ”Bellen by Box Brown”, ”Cat and Girl”, ”Thingpart”

How did you get the idea for ”Stuff No One Told Me”
I´ve been thinking about making a daily comic for some time, and when the idea of SNOTM came to me I simply pushed myself into doing it. The concept is very easy and it isn´t anything new, but I guess it´s fun to do and easy to think about in a daily basis for me.

In a short period of time lots and lots of people have start to read your comic. What’s your view on the response you have gotten from the community, has it effected you in any way?

I have around 10.000 RSS subscribers,It´s been crazy so far. I never expected such a great response, especially not so fast! I´ve just been doing the comic for a couple months and I get emails everyday from people telling me that they love it, and that it touched them somehow. This hasn´t really changed my day to day life (yet)… but I´m hoping this great response will lead to a change where I can some how live just drawing comics and making books. That´d be great.

What comes first when you make your comics, the wisdoms or the illustration?

It´s usually first the text. I try to come up with something relevant for me at that time, I try to be honest with my self and talk about things that matter or I find very funny. So, first I think of a phrase then I picture it in my mind. SInce I´m not working with a closed set of characters or anything like that, I can work very freely and wander around anything that I find interesting… I try to make sure that it´s relevant to me, though. I don´t like to speak with no particular reason.

Do you have any favorite of your published comics?

Hmmmm, that´s hard. I would say my favorite so far is ”you can´t get rid of your fears but you can learn to live with them”… I like how it came out.

Whats the future like for ”Stuff No One Told Me”, What plans do you have?

Well, I see clearly two possibilities. One, just making the comic for a year or so and then publish a hardcover book with the best cartoons. And two, changing the tone of the comic to something more satirical little by little and keep it a ”window” where I can talk about anything that might be funny or interesting no matter what. I´m pretty sure that if I keep it simply as some sort of ”life advices” it will be boring after a very short time… so, I´m aware that I have to change it. Its a great challenge.

And finally, Where can you get the best coup of tea?

Don’t know, I’m not a tea person and Spain is a coffee country, I drink tons of coffee if that helps!"


Agora? Manu Chao.