Interview: Tom Hart

Two years ago I decided I needed to learn Flash animation. In addition to writing, I do occasionally sketch little cartoons and thought it would be fun to learn how to put them in motion. Plus having Flash skills is a great thing if you’re doing anything on the internet, like designing your own site, of course.

When I looked around for a teacher, I came upon Tom Hart’s site here.

Tom gave me lessons for a few months. I’m going to gush here, but it’s completely true: Tom is the best teacher you could ask for when it comes to either Flash animation, or cartooning, or learning about graphic novels.

Tom writes the brilliant, satirical comic strip “Hutch Owen.”

You can buy the collection “Hutch Owen” here. He also writes another strip “Money Warrior.”

He’s married to the gorgeous, funny and smart graphic novelist, Leela Corman. She’s also a professional bellydancer.

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TOM HART INTERVIEW

Q: What’s it like to go from doing graphic novels to comic strips?

TOM: Well, it has been wonderful and frustrating. But then everything has
been that way. The wonderful has been that it has allowed me to
explore my characters and world in a constant, broad and fast way.
It’s allowed me to become nimble, to think and draw quickly, to
respond to my own ideas without too much diliberation so the world and
characters can grow with on the page, rather than in my head. I like
that a lot. It’s allowed me to be more immediate, to relate through
comics (which is the best way I relate to things) to anything that
comes my way.

On the other hand, it has meant a lack of depth (I’ve sacrificed depth
for breadth.) I can’t exactly spend a lot of time on the psychology of
a person/situation and play something through til its end. I try,
though. I’ve done a few longer stories and I’m working on weaving
longer ideas in now and then, but I don’t think I’ve got a lot of
leeway yet commercially to pull of slow, psychological character
studies or darker ideas or things like that. Being in a mainstream
paper has limited the amount of satire I can do, which is frustrating.
But so far the benefits of the first paragraph are outweighing the
negatives of this one.

Q: You’re now doing two strips, right? What’s that like?

TOM: Well, yes and no. One is ostensibly weekly, but I have been slacking
on that and doing it once every two weeks. But the second one, which
is focused on money and finance has been fun, and it’s allowed me to
be a bit more sinister, which I like. But one reason I’ve approached
it with less gusto recently is that I think there are a couple things
I feel like I should be shooting for but don’t know how: a broader
approach that allows me to not just be a reactionary liberal, or a
more deep approach that has a bit more to chew. Both are eluding me. I
should just keep doing what I am doing and not worry.

Q: I know you took improv acting classes. Did you find it influenced
you? If so, how?

TOM: I think the biggest help is that it has made me focus on putting
events directly in the panel. Not alluding to them, or worrying around
them, but making something HAPPEN in front of the reader’s eyes. This
was a part of our training, and it makes a big difference to have
tried something bodily that works also on the page. It helps me
immediately aim for the direct confrontation, and not shy away. This
was a part of improv.

It also helped me explore character, and quickness, and also to trust
ideas and to learn to respond with that same trust. All that has been
very useful. I want to continue taking class or practicing somewhere.

Q: What kind of sex life does Hutch Owen have?

TOM: My initial response is that he masturbates a lot, and maybe aims his
“attention” at executives, big business, politicians and other critics
and detractors.

But the longer answer is I don’t know. I’m torn between fixing him up
and letting him seem a loser all his life. My wife always asks why he
doesn’t “get any”. I think I have to figure it out. A longer graphic
novel approach would allow me to really get in there and look around.
It’s tough to do in the comics. I don’t want it (his romance or sex
life) to be glib.

Q: What’s your next project?

TOM: Tomorrow’s strip and tomorrow’s class!