Stephanie O'Donnell Interview!

Stephanie O’Donnell recently spoke with Project Fanboy about her latest publication, Nutty Funsters “A list of Grievances” and her career in the comics industry.

<img src="http://www.projectfanboy.com/images/odonnell.jpg" align="left" hspace="10">[B]PF: Thanks for joining us today Stephanie. Your new book published through Free Lunch Comics is a collection of excerpts from your comic strip “The Original Nutty Funsters”. I understand that you came up with the character Poley Polarity in the 5th grade? How did The Original Nutty Funsters come about?[/B]

It was a natural progression through the rest of elementary, middle school and most of high school. That's how boring public education is. I started with Poley, figured "Hmm, maybe I'll give him a friend." Then came Henry. So for a while it was the two of them as just generally goofy characters, as opposed to the reserved, yet sarcastic tones they have now.

I came up with Dee in the 10th grade. Around that time is when I started using "The Original Nutty Funsters" to describe them. "Nutty Funsters" is an "Animaniacs" reference that stuck in my head for years, and this was also around the time that the film "Original Gangstas" came out. Somehow it stuck out to me, and decided that would be a great amalgamation.

[B]PF: Where did you come up with the ideas for the personalities of the characters? Did you base any of them off of yourself or perhaps people you know?[/B]

It's a bit of both. All the characters in some way reflect how I feel or have felt at certain times. If I had to choose though, I think definitely Poley is the one closest to my demeanor. Henry's a close second. Dee is based off of many different people, like my brother during his metalhead years, his friends, stereotypical wrestling fans (Fun Fact: Dee was initially named D-Lo, after former WWF/E European champ D-Lo Brown!), guys you'd probably see at a monster truck show already blitzed, stuff like that.

[B]PF: The strip debuted in a limited run in the K-State Collegian's summer edition in 2004. Do you plan to try and get The Original Nutty Funsters published in a weekly newspaper or will you stick with your online work and publishing’s of your collections through Free Lunch Comics?[/B]

That would be great! I'd love to see my stuff in a paper again. It's a bit of a crap shoot though, especially where syndication is concerned. I did recently though get a nicely put rejection letter from King Features. They basically said "We're not looking at the moment, but you seem to have a very good understanding of the comic strip art form." To read that from a big time company was strangely liberating.

Right now, I'm just concerned about getting it out any way I can, and getting people to look at it, and hopefully like it!

[B]PF: You’ve also done some artwork for Free Lunch Comics titles, what projects have you worked on?[/B]

I did the artwork for a story in "Only In Whispers" #1, entitled "One Nibble At A Time". That was a lot of fun to work on. Especially the character sketches for the Imp. I also plan on putting out a series of my own through them soon, called "Cookie Bear". The Nutty Funsters will pop up here and there as short stories as well.

[B]PF: Do you plan to move more into the mainstream comic book world or stick with comic strips?[/B]

<img src="http://www.projectfanboy.com/images/reviews/nutty_funsters.jpg" align="right" hspace="10">I'm really open to anything at this point. I have so many ideas, and I like to be as diverse as I can be in terms of getting my work out, and expressing myself in different formats. I like playing around with both comic books and comic strips at the moment, and shifting between those two worlds. Keeps me on my toes.

[B]PF: What are some of your previous works and which project has been the most fun for you?[/B]

For the past year or so, I've done tons of collaborations and still chuggin' along! Some stuff for Futurius' "Tales From The Plex" series, and currently working on the title "Vlad" for Dark Ocean Studios.

I also did the artwork for a story in "Jesus Hates Zombies", called "We Need A Hero". I had a blast doing that. There's nothing quite like spending Easter Sunday drawing a living dead farmer and his wife chewing on a mangled cow in their barn.

[B]PF: Where can people find more of your work?[/B]

Through my ComicSpace, MySpace, and DeviantArt accounts. I also just launched an official website for the Nutty Funsters. I'm all over the place!

[url]http://comicspace.com/nuttyfunsters[/url]
[url]http://myspace.com/nuttyfunsters[/url]
[url]http://kitschfactor.deviantart.com[/url]
[url]http://theairingcupboard.net/tonf[/url]

[B]PF: You seem to fly solo with your work on The Original Nutty Funsters, is there anyone you’d like to work with?[/B]

Definitely! I'd love to maybe do some guest strips for some series that I enjoy. I really love "Lucid TV" lately. And since it's done in a style entirely different from mine, I'd like to try my hand at it to see how close I get. It'd be a nice little artistic challenge/workout for me.

[B]PF: On your website you say you were inspired by comics such as “Peanuts” and “Calvin and Hobbes”, but you’re also a comic book artist. Who you credit for inspiring your work in that genre?[/B]

I'm not sure exactly. I do remember admiring a lot of the artwork in the comics I did read at the time. Bill Sienckewicz's covers always got my attention. I loved how it looked, just the tone and the feel of the pieces. I think they made what was inside seem much more mysterious and intriguing.

[B]PF: Did you read comic books growing up? If so, what titles did you read and do you still read comics?[/B]

Yeah, I was really into X-Men. The cartoon series got me hooked, so I ended up reading it all the time. Rogue was my favorite because she had cool hair. Nice criteria, right? The whole "draining people's energy and taking on their powers" thing seemed like an okay benefit too. You get used to the Isotoners.

Right now, I actually don't read them as much. Comic book stores are unfortunately very scarce in my area. The last thing I did read though that I really enjoyed was "The Milkman Murders", a Dark Horse horror title. I've been getting more and more into the horror genre lately.

[B]PF: Anything you’d like to plug?[/B]

Well, "The Original Nutty Funsters" updates weekly, and the book will be out real soon! I'll be at New York Comic Con with the rest of Free Lunch Comics at booth #2265, April 18-20. I'll be selling the book and some other good stuff there. So if you're going, feel free to drop by, get some things signed, and maybe a nice little doodle courtesy of me!

[B]PF: Thanks for speaking with us Stephanie, and good luck with your new book![/B]

Thanks for the opportunity, and the kind words!