Hogan’s Alley has posted a wonderful and in-depth interview with the late Johnny Hart. The discussion covers a lot of ground: both the writing and drawing process of cartooning, the structure of jokes, Johnny’s artistic influences, religion, and some biographical topics. I was particularly drawn to the discussion of the creative process. Some stand-out quotes from Hart include:
Yeah, a lot of times we draw more than we need to draw. It’s always really classy to let the reader in on it, let him do most of the work.
And on the subject of using a comic strip to spread a religious message:
It reaches a good audience, the kids. You have the gimmick that attracts an audience and you can either… you’re talking about going for broke, putting out that message in comic books? Yeah, this is one of those ideas that I’ve been entertaining . . . like a comic book or even maybe a children’s book.