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This month, my column will feature a series of interviews with comic book artists and creators going to STAPLE! THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA EXPO (Saturday, March 3rd). Staple is an annual event in Austin Texas to promote independent creative media: comics, art, animation, and self-published literature.  In its third year, Staple is the must-attend convention for any self-respecting fan of indie comics.

Will Rodriguez is the artist/creator of the webcomic Mangled Stare, which posts every Tuesday and Thursday. He is beloved within the Texas comic book community. This will be his third year at STAPLE!

What encouraged, inspired, motivated you to start doing your own comic strip?

RODRIGUEZ: Hmm. Well, I’d have to say that I’ve always wanted to make comics ever since my grandmother got me hooked on Garfield as a little boy. She put a pencil in my hand and told me to draw something… I never really stopped. When my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child I knew I wanted to leave some sort of legacy, something my child could say “My dad did that.”

I’d been reading webcomics for almost a year or so when I finally gathered my thoughts and started drawing Mangled Stare. Naturally, PvP and Penny Arcade (along with a handful of others in my “favorites” list) paved the way for me to use the internet as a medium to get my stuff out there.

Oh, also, I’m incredibly vain. I really wanna be famous.

Your web comic is based off the adventures and exploits of your family. Exactly, how autobiographical is it?

RODRIGUEZ: After consulting my wife, I think it’s safe to answer this question with “very loosely”. The look of the characters (especially with the core characters) is based very heavily upon my actual family. I’m not allowed to write about EVERYTHING that goes on in my house, I mean, come on… my kids READ what I draw. That keeps my comic family friendly. The Mangler’s adventures come from an obvious geek obsession I have with comic books. I’ve always loved super heroes and wondered, what do superheroes do when they’re NOT out saving lives? So, I had to put Mimo into heroic situations with a strong need to do so for the sake of his family which, I believe, is still a very important aspect of life. In that latter respect, there isn’t a whole lot of similarities to what I actually do for a living. Also, of course… I don’t swing through the city nightly due to a couple of blaring facts:

a) Austin has a very very small downtown with hardly any tall enough buildings from which to swing, comfortably.

b) I’m a rather large hispanic. I don’t think there’s an armband out there that’d keep my arm from popping RIGHT out of the socket if I tried what the Mighty Mangler does. Not that I haven’t thought about it.

A lot of my “slice o’ life” gags come from just watching my wife and kids.

Do dads get a bad rap? What’s the secret to fatherhood?

RODRIGUEZ: Booze. Lots and lots of… what honey?… *sigh* Sorry, I meant to say “love”. I think that there’s been quite a bit of stereotyping laid down for fathers everywhere. Unfortunately, that means when dad’s actually make a point to get and STAY involved in the ENTIRE process of child-raising, most folks are surprised. A lot of folks in today’s age are from pretty broken up pasts and because of this, instead of using their pasts like a crutch (which many people still do, but not to so often the extent, anymore), more men are stepping up to the plate and BEING the father they’d wanted as kids. Dads have had a pretty bum rap for a long time, but real men like you and me are showing folks that Dad can be every bit as loving and caring as Mom. Fatherhood rocks....

... and Captain Morgan under lock and key is NOT agin th’ law. *wink*

You’re at 366 Mangled Stare strips. At what point, did you feel like you hit your pace?

RODRIGUEZ: You think there’s a PACE?! Holee… when the hell did THAT happen?! *rereads archives* Oooooh. Well, waddya know. I’d have to say right around the time I started coloring the comics.. around 291. I still spend some late nights trying to get comics done on time. It’s amazing how difficult two updates a week can BE for me, sometimes. I keep telling myself that I’ll have ONE of these weekends to actually draw up some buffer strips and keep the stress levels down, but that NEVER seems to happen. I have a bad habit of starting story arcs with only a rough idea of where I want to go and end up stomping my way through the story. Sometimes they come out pretty cool… other times....*scratching the back of head*… Let’s just say I need to perfect SCRIPTING stories before I jump right to penciling them. The one-shot comics come a lot easier. My wife and kids are comic gold.

You are a Staple veteran. You’ve been to all three. What are you most looking forward to about the event?

RODRIGUEZ: Getting a damned cascaron (confetti egg) to break on your frikkin chest and/or beaning you with a nerf dart from across the aisle. But I digress, easily, it’s meeting and chatting with other creators. Between family life, a full time day job, and sketch time, I don’t have any real friends and to that end, a very slow social life. Staple is one of TWO chances a year to get around other adults and completely geek out. Last year my oldest son actually setup shop at my table and started doing convention sketches. He even got his first dollar! It was AWESOME! It really makes a father proud, ya know? I’ll also debuting the latest Mangled Stare collection, as well. I’m always excited to put a new book into readers’ hands.

I hope you have eyes on the back of your head, Hopkins… this year my power will be fully realized. *pumps nerf blaster*

Make sure to check out Will’s hilarious webcomic: Mangled Stare. Also, I’m getting my own nerf-dart guns for STAPLE! Be ready.

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