I think I first came across David on Kids Comics Unite. When I saw his upcoming book Pizza Pickles And Apple Pie: The Stories Behind The Foods We Love, I was sold. It’s the kind of book I’m surprised didn’t exist beforehand but glad it does now. He’s a fellow Sergio Aragones fan, so he obviously has good taste. I’m going to need to see that Groo cake.
David is a teacher and began combining his love of drawing with creating educational comics for other teachers to use. This led to Pizza, Pickles, And Apple Pie. He lives in Columbus, Ohio (the fast food capital of the U.S.) with his family and his dogs. When he isn’t creating comics, he loves to read (of course!) and play guitar.
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Why illustrated books? (What compels you to create in this medium?) I have always loved to draw, and it has always been one of things that I not only could get better at, but knew what I needed to work on to improve my skills. I am heavily influenced by the stuff I read and watched as a kid: Carl Barks’s duck stories, MAD Magazine, Hanna Barbera and Warner Brothers cartoons. All stuff for kids. I think that was what inspired me to want to create a book for children, which has been a lifelong goal of mine. I also have to give a shout out to Jeff Smith. I first discovered his work when I was a kid at the Ohio State University Homecoming Parade when I grabbed an issue of the Lantern that had his comic strip “Thorn” in it. Here was a guy that was creating the type of artwork I wanted to do! And then Bone came out. I knew this guy had the kind of career I would like to have, one for which kids were primarily the target audience, but could be enjoyed by all ages.
What has (pleasantly) surprised you about creating books that you didn’t anticipate when you first started out? That it was as much fun as it was. Certainly parts of writing and illustrating a book are stressful, and I was concerned I would grow to resent my work, or at least feel overwhelmed. But the opposite actually happened. I always looked forward to working on it, and it was in most cases a good stress reliever once I got into the flow. In the past drawing wasn’t something I did everyday, but now it is, and the day usually goes better when I’m doing something creative.
What was the book or comic that you fell in love with when you were a kid/teen? I had the advantage of growing up in the eighties when there was a lot of great stuff coming out. I have probably read Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons more than any other graphic novel out there, even if I don’t consider it a big influence. I collected Bloom County strips and have all the collections of those. But by far my favorite was MAD Magazine, and the paperback Son of MAD was a large part of the reason I wanted to write and draw comics. Everything I do is infused with that irreverent sensibility and awareness of how absurd the world really is. I was also big into Sergio Aragones and anything he did. I even had a Groo birthday cake one time. I got to meet him a few years ago, and my teenage self would have been blown away at the opportunity to do that. |
You can find David and his work at:
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