Greatest gift=greatest curse

I just scanned in the first Moe. I’m actually happy with it. Anyone who knows me well, knows that for me to say that is significant. I’m never satisfied with what I create. It is this perfectionism that has held me back and kept me from doing the only thing I truly love doing…drawing comic strips.

I’ve never submitted a strip to a syndicate because I’ve always known my work was not good enough. The inevitable rejection letter was already received in my mind. I could look at my ink lines and see the shaky hand. I read my ideas and heard the forced joke straining against the black lines of the panels, weighing down on my lightly drawn guidelines. And the concepts were only good for a few months of material. I knew what the problems were. I could see them right in front of me. Especially when I put mine next to Peanuts, Bloom County, Foxtrot, Doonesbury, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Far Side.

Those were my standards. And I never lived up to those standards. So I just saved my postage and never bothered.

But Moe feels different. In every mistake and poorly inked line and can see what is good about her. I don’t feel disappointed by my lack of skill; instead, I feel beholden to try harder to get it right because the character deserves it. I feel sense of responsibility to get it right. She deserves it.

I’ve wanted to be a cartoonist since I was 8 years old. Unfortunately I read more of them than I actually wrote/drew. And in doing so, I’ve spent my time studying the greats, not drawing and writing great stuff.

Maybe Moe is different. This might be good enough.

Here it is. If there is anyone out there, let me know what you think.