So, You Want to be a Comic Book Artist?

I got my copy of So, You Want to Be a Comic Book Artist? the other day from Beyond Words Press written by one-time Dark Horse editor Phil Amara, a revision of a previously published book. It's an instructional book for grade-school children about how to break into the business and features mini-interviews with artists like Eleanor Davis, Bryan Lee O'Malley, and J. Bone. I'm in it for my work in Nickelodeon magazine and my tenure on SpongeBob Squarepants. People who check out this blog frequently know I do both kids' work and work “blue”. The one good thing about Nickelodeon being canceled a few years ago is I no longer have the problem at conventions of children walking by my table, recognizing my art, and having to be told they can't buy the comics because of drawings of penises or whatever. Now the kids' entertainment I do is mostly drawn by others in a different style, and those kids are now grown up and able to buy whatever they damn well please.

Here is the interview I did for it where I'm not the pottymouth you all know and love:

name: Sam Henderson

age: 43

gender: M

from: Woodstock,NY

Where do you reside now: between New York, NY and Woodstock, NY

current job: freelance

comic books you've created or worked on: A series called The Magic Whistle, feature called 'Scene But Not Heard' for Nickelodeon 1993-2009, writer for SpongeBob Squarepants in 2001.

What was your first or favorite comic when you were younger?

I was into MAD and if a new one wasn't out I'd get one if its competitors. My mother worked for the local paper so I'd see all the funnies through that. Like most eventual cartoonists I especially liked Peanuts. My father saved all sorts of things most people throw away so as a result I saw all the comics he collected in the fifties like ECs before they were reprinted multiple times. From kindergarten to twelfth grade I'd rush home to see animation from the major Hollywood studios 1940-1960. A local store didn't mind me buying underground comics as a kid.

When did you know you wanted to make comics?

After seeing the above I decided that's what I wanted to do. I assumed everything I saw was known in every household and anybody who did a comic was famous.

What kind of things inspire your comic book creations?

Life around me. Like when I see my fan out of the corner of my eye I think of situations that would involve fans. Right now I'm working on a longer comic about my childhood and spend enough time in my hometown to remember specific locations from more than thirty years ago.

What tools do you use to create your comics?

Mostly Microns, which are kind of a combination of felt tips and rapidographs, You don't have to clean them like rapidographs, and they don't bleed or change point sizes like with markers.

What are great ways for kids to create comics, right now/today?

Keep a sketchbook with you so when you come up with an idea, you can execute it. The final comic is a more legible version of what you've done before. Computers are good now to scan the work and make files.

How do you use technology to create comics?

In high school and college, I used to make a xerox comic and mail it to 30-50 people, now you can put it on the internet and get feedback right away without having to buy stamps or go to the post office. You can also instantly fix it if necessary. If you're messy like I am, you can Photoshop it to clean up any smudges or erasures, and forget ever having to do color on paper unless you want to.

Why is telling a story with comics important to you?

For me, it's easier to communicate an idea using words and pictures without having to use either of those methods alone. It's also something possible to do without having to have people cooperate exactly the way you want them to.

how did making comics prepare you for a job writing for Spongebob SquarePants

When I worked on Spongebob, it was from seeing my comics that they decided they wanted to use my sense of humor and aesthetics.

How do you use social media to create or promote your work?

Facebook is good for publicity and get feedback so you'll know what people think. There have been times when I've redrawn something because of what somebody suggested and it turned out to be a better solution. It's easier to promote or show what your working on without having to pay money or wait until you can get together with somebody.

And here's a sample of Scene But Not Heard that was used in the book.

Comics: Not Just For Eyes Anymore

See Comics Aren't Just For Eyes in Comics Journal this week:

Squilliam's Yacht

People seem to think because I worked on SpongeBob, I'm rolling in cash. Sometimes they think I have something to do with the merchandising. It's not the case unless answering yes will benefit me.

I do some writing occasionally for the comic, though. It's one of the only non-superhero periodical comics still being published, and one of the many projects my former Nickelodeon editor Chris Duffy in the wake of the magazine's demise.

One of the stories I wrote was written in comics form rather than script form. It looked like this:

Rather than use the symmetrical Kurtzman/Stanley format I usually use, the layouts were changed, and this was the eventual result. The name of the story has also been changed to Squilliam's Yacht

The layouts are by co-creator Derek Drymon, art by Stephen DeStefano, coloring by Scott Roberts, the lettering will eventually be done by Comicraft. My former writing partner Jay Lender saw this without the dialogue and said “I don't ever want to know why SpongeBob is in Patrick's mouth. The explanation could only be a letdown.”

Viacom is strict about enforcing Spongebob's copyright on YouTube, so it's interesting what gets by. Here are the search results for the episode Rock-a-Bye Bivalve I worked on ten years ago.




And I didn't know this, but another episode, Just One Bite, has a scene which was deleted from reruns, presumably because of “imitative behavior”

SPONGEBOB COMICS #4

I've said before I hate it when one thing you do is at the expense of everything else, but I had to give a plug for one of my paying gigs, even though it's work-for-hire.

Editor Chris Duffy, formerly of Nickelodeon magazine that was my bread and butter for so many years, has brought the people he's worked with along with him for this when he can. This cover, for example, was conceived by Graham Annable and colored by Mark Martin.

Besides them, there are also Spongebob comics by James Kochalka, Corey Barba, and former co-editor Dave Roman. Future issues will have Tony Millionaire and Hilary Barta. I've heard Jules Feiffer and S.Clay Wilson will be doing pages.(*)

R. Sikoryak, best known for his chameleonic skills, gets to do the contents page in his own style, in addition to conforming to the “house style”. He's imitated me many times before, but it's weird now to see him imitating me imitating someone else. Did I just blow your mind?

I drew the back cover for this issue. I originally did it like this.

Chris and creator Stephen Hillenburg said they didn't want every page to look the same and wanted me to use the flat style I usually use. Union rules forbade me from doing my own lettering.

Even in my own style, I had to be on model somewhat. My first draft had Spongebob with no eyelashes or stripes on his socks, and Patrick didn't have spots.


I have stories in future issues. I did a six-page story to be drawn by Stephen DeStefano. The title has been changed to something like Squilliam's Yacht.


I'm not sure when this other story, in which the characters go bungee jumping, will be printed, since the stories are stockpiled months in advance, and approval and editing has to be coordinated between New York and LA and then between Hillenburg's people and Nickelodeon's. I've done a few more stories I don't expect to be approved for another few months. It's because they're so overbooked I haven't pitched stories in a while.

Ironically, even though I was one of the writers on the show for a year, that was ten years ago and I haven't watched it as much since then. As a result, I have no idea what's been done with the characters since then. Luckily a Wiki has been made so I can check. I also decided to stop thinking along the lines of “What would they do?” and just do strips I would normally do when I pitch them. Almost every Scene But Not Heard strip I did for Nickelodeon could have been done for this.

Any show that outrages the right is okay in my book. Especially one they're too stupid to understand.

For some reason, people seem to think I created Spongebob despite any publicity material only making a passing reference to having worked on the show. Maybe it's because I have the same initials. My stock answer, if they have a sense of humor, is usually, "If I were, would you be talking to me?"

And it would be remiss of me not to mention that Spongebob Squarepants was created by Stephen Hillenburg and is TM and ©Viacom International, Inc. Any look at this blog shows I almost always hide behind fair use and squatters' rights when it comes to posting other peoples' material, but I know how vigilant lawyers for both parties are in this case, and as a penniless cartoonist I'd rather not face the possibility of going against a billion-dollar juggernaut.

(*)Not really. I just want to spread a rumor that it was going to happen.

RIP Nickelodeon

Before finding out the bad news I had already planned to put these up. It's sort of the process by which I do a strip for NICKELODEON. This strip wasn't going into the upcoming collection but we've talked about expanding it now that the party's over.

First I submit a rough with occasional notes because my initial sketches aren't always legible.

Once approved, I do the final art.

Then I scan it in and touch it up. Sometimes pencil marks or dust on the scanner can't be seen until you see the image on the computer. You have to make sure the black lines are closed before coloring them in Photoshop.

After that,I color it all in. I change the mode to CMYK and color anything that's not already black.

This isn't one of my regular strips. It was a feature about mobius strips, where you can cut the art out and turn it around and can start at any point. The final image was about half an inch.

I just found out this weekend that the magazine is folding. They weren't getting enough in advertising revenue to justify continuing. It was one of my main clients for 16 years. Chris Duffy and Dave Roman (and Anne Bernstein before them) were some of the best editors I've worked with. They have a few months left and I know they'll land on their feet. They've always printed work by Michael Kupperman, Johnny Ryan, Bobby London, Kim Deitch, R. Sikoryak, Mark Martin, and many others. Probably anyone (any sole creator) in comics you can think of was in there at least once. It was bread and butter for so many freelancers. Maybe we'll all start our own magazine.

Scene But Not Heard

Here's the front cover for a collection of the strips I've been doing for Nickelodeon the past 16 years. Top Shelf will publish it and it's coming out sometime next year. Price as yet undetermined, but it will be full color.