The Knave Interviews Absurdity at Its Best's Victor Bonilla!

In the first of a series of interviews with the masterminds behind the series competing this month at Zuda, the Knave had a chat with Victor Bonilla, the creator of Absurdity at Its Best.



Knave of Krypton: So what do you think is the draw of absurdist, non-sequitur humor? If you've seen previous Zuda competitions you'd know these series don't necessarily fare that well.
Victor Bonilla: As with most things it was a decision based on many factors. I for one obviously find it entertaining. I also had a pretty good amount of "screens" written out. The strength of it is its very weakness, because they're is no continuity to it. Any person can jump in at any time without being lost. On the other hand it has no continuity, no recurring characters, no overall longer story arcs. I have a couple of traditional stories in the works but: 1-they're further from being done 2- I would rather do them on my own 3- I would like to improve my art (drawing, inking, coloring) and craft (sequential storytelling). This was another attraction since in this type of series I could experiment with layouts, timing, using color, without it feeling jarring, interupting some "continuity"... Oh, and I also submitted this way back, I think November, but before the end of the November competition, so I actually had not seen the outcome of November or December Zuda Competitions.
KofK: So it seems like you have a lot of freedom with this method. But what goes into your decision making process when creating a strip? Are you putting a deceptive amount of thought into each strip, or are they whatever makes you laugh, whatever demented idea pops into your head?

VB: I would say both. Probably leaning to deceptive amount of work. Moreso because most don't realize the amount of work that goes into one comic , especially when one person is doing all the work (penciling, inking, coloring, writing). I did think about panel composition, leaving space for word balloons, color, timing i.e. using a longer horizontal panel can seem as more "time" or a pause than a vertical panel. Comedic timing and all that. I also tried some things with color going almost mono-chromatic in panels to describe a feeling like anger or disgust. Of course none of this is new; I'm simply experimenting with ideas others who I look up to use. I would add, since I'm rather new to sequential storytelling, it also took more time just finding what was best. Changing the number of panels to find how short could I make it while still retaining a pause before the punchline. They're are of course as always compromises, many of mine I felt were done with the lettering , and the words chosen , the speech not feeling probably as naturalistic as it should be. Example: in the "Cigarettes Kill" strip, the child should be saying, "Cigarettes kill y'know?" Even just adding that y'know to me sounds a lot better than the "Cigarettes kill" I eventually went with. However, again, I was trying to do something where the reader didn't have to zoom in to read the text I tried the text very large. On some in fact, like the Koala screen, I am able to upload a jpg to my digital device (mp3 player) and read it! So all these things were things I wanted to experiment with and continue to do so throughout the series should I be chosen. Introducing opposing diagonals to give more of sense of movement, all of this is actually considered. I was quiet happy with screen 8 (see left) in panel 1, everything: the hill,the clouds, tree, stick, even Job's hair/smile all point the reader up to panel 2. and panel 4 both the color/value and drawing instruct the eye down to panel 5.

KofK: What made you submit to Zuda? What do you think you, as a comic creator, can get out of it?
VB: In earnest it was the idea of the money that is attached with Zuda.
KofK: I'm hearing that a lot as I talk to Zuda competitors...
VB: Well it's what is in essence a "steady" income. Which is getting paid doing what you love, also experience with deadlines working with an editor. Having this as my job would give me the opportunity to work on my other stories as well, easily.
KofK: So you're talking about some of your other work. Are any of your other comics projects more traditional?
VB: As previously mentioned I am working on some more "traditional" narratives, 3 or 4 of which I'm happy with in their development. Hopefully I'll have some stuff to show in the upcoming summer con season.
KofK: What's your favorite screen from your Zuda submission?
VB: Artistically, the last two. I think I started to get a hang of it. Writing wise I think the Koala screen's a hoot considering the different interpretations (koalas are not actually that nice).
KofK: Was there a screen that you considered putting into the Zuda submission that you decided against, anything you thought was too crazy/not crazy enough for your showcase installment?
VB: There are screens I didn't submit, more so because I planned to use them should I win. As I said I have about 20 or so written.
KofK: Well, thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Victor. Anything else you'd like to add?
VB: Thanks to everyone who enjoyed even one screen. MORE thanks to those who left comments and voted or fav'd us. It may interest a few to know I don't have fixed "style" and to see some more not nessarily cartoony art of mine can check out my online sketchbook at
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=114062. Lastly, thanks to everyone at "The Knave of Krypton" for the interview!