(A FAQ Sheet About
The Ivory Tower)
Q: Who are
you?
Q: Why
do you do this comic strip thing?
Q: But why
a comic strip?
Q: What
makes you think your comic strip is any good?
Q: Don't
you have anything better to do?
Q: So, it's
a comic strip about yourself?
Q: Um, won't
The Daily Texan get upset when they find out you're graduating in
December?
Q: The
characters are anthropomorphic animals. Are there going to be any
uncomfortable Goofy/Pluto dichotomies?
Q: Is there
any significance to the species of the anthropomorphic animals?
Q: How
did you come up with the title for the strip?
Q: Come
on, 'fess up. This page is nothing more than a shameless bit of self-aggrandizement.
Q:
So how do I get to ask you questions?
Q: Get
me the hell out of here.
Q:
Who are you?
|
I'm Kris Austen Andrews,
a Computer Sciences senior. Like David in the comic strip, I'm a
30-year-old student who feels a bit out-of-synch with UT society.
I've worked for the last two years as a Senior Office Assistant for the
UT Genetics Institute. I'm married to a wonderful woman named Elizabeth.
We're planning on having our first child next year. I'm a writer
and artist of debatable talents. I suppose I'd like champagne and
long walks on the beach, if anybody offered. (If you want to know
more, have a gander at my personal web page.)
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Q:
Why do you do this comic strip thing?
|
Just about every comic strip I've seen in The
Daily Texan has been targeted at a specific audience -- 18- to 22-year-old
college kids. It seems to me there are two very large segments of UT's
population who are routinely neglected -- older students and staff members.
Being part of both groups, I've always wanted to see a comic strip that addresses them.
I finally came to the realization that it wasn't going to happen unless I
did it myself. So, I did it myself.
|
Q:
But why a comic strip?
|
I dunno. I've always
wanted to produce a daily comic strip. It's a fun medium. My
father (also a writer) nearly convinced me to collaborate on a regular
strip back in the early '80's. I didn't take him up on it.
I sometimes wonder what would have come of it by now, if I had.
And anyway, it's a college
paper. The audience is fairly forgiving. Sure, I'm still feeling
my way around the medium; sure, my dialog gets jumbled up in the panels
sometimes; sure, I often substitute black swatches for real backgrounds;
but what the heck. It's better than a whole lot of comic strips I've
seen the Texan publish in the past.
|
Q:
What makes you think your comic strip is any good?
|
I do have some experience
with comic art and writing. As a matter of fact I was published in
my own "graphic novel" in the early '80's. I bought my first car
with the money. It was an Opel GT. What a great looking car.
I loved that car. I had it towed more miles than I drove it.
(Yes, I'm purposefully not telling you the name of my book. You're
on the Web; if you're really curious, do the research.)
But the nice thing is,
my comic strip doesn't have to be very good. It's a college
paper. It's like fantasy publishing. It's not the really real
world.
|
Q:
Don't you have anything better to do?
|
Well, I am in class full-time,
of course. Ironically, however, just when I'm starting to publish
a comic strip about a UT staff member, I've stopped working for UT.
The funding for the Genetics Institute has vanished as of September the
first of this year. While it removes me from my source material,
it also gives me a little extra time to produce the comic strip.
I'll just have to rely on two years as a staff member and going-on seven
years as an undergrad to supply me with examples of the humor and irony
of the UT experience.
|
Q:
So, it's a comic strip about yourself?
|
Kind of. A frightening
percentage of the strangeness that David encounters in the comic strip
is taken from my actual experiences as a student and staff member.
I, like David, am married to a cuddly wife name Beth. However, David
is entering college at 30. I'm graduating at 30 (this December, in
fact). David will explore the current Computer Science curriculum,
which means he gets to learn C++ from day one. I came in two years
ago, when they taught you Pascal as a freshman and expected you to learn
C++ all on your own by the time you were a junior. Also, David is
an anthropomorphic mouse. I am a mousy human being.
|
Q:
Um, won't The Daily Texan get upset when they find out you're graduating
in December?
|
I'm not sure. Maybe.
I'm not going to tell them, of course. We'll see if they surf across
this web page and learn on their own.
|
Q:
The characters are anthropomorphic animals. Are there going to be
any uncomfortable Goofy/Pluto dichotomies?
|
Roll with it, man.
Life is short.
|
Q:
Is there any significance to the species of the anthropomorphic animals?
|
Significance? Besides
just being fun and easy to draw, you mean? Well, sure there is.
But I leave it up to you to figure out what that significance is.
|
Q:
How did you come up with the title for the strip?
|
With difficulty.
My working title was simply "Non-Traditional," but that lacked punch.
I also considered "Back To the Wall" and "The Beaten Path," a reference
to the building a better mousetrap and having the world beat a path to
your door (see, David's a mouse ... get it?). But "The Ivory Tower"
was the most accessible of the bunch.
|
Q:
Come on, 'fess up. This page is nothing but a shameless bit of self-aggrandizement.
|
No way! These are
all real questions, sent in by readers. Honest.
|
Q:
So how do I get to ask you questions?
Q:
Get me the hell out of here.
|
All right, all right.
Don't get your panties in a wad. Why don't you pick something from the button bar down there, or,
I dunno, maybe one
of these
other places?
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