This is part 1 of a three part interview held December 27, 2008 for the Laurie Blog Show on MidToon City Radio (MCR)
LB: Good Morning, everyone. This is the Laurie Blog Show on MidToon City Radio, 12 minutes after the hour, and oh boy, are the phone lines ringing! This is because we have a very special guest today. With us, is Erik Campos, creator, producer and main character of MidToon, the first democratic comic strip in the world. Good Morning, Erik.
EC: Good Morning, Ms. Blog, it is an honor to be here.
LB: Please call me Laurie. Erik, any words you would like to address to your fans before we open the lines for questions?
EC: What fans?
LB: Oh, how humble! Come on, Erik. We know that the phones are not ringing off the hook for nothing. You have an established fan base all across MidToon.
EC: You are too kind, Ms. Blog. I mean, Laurie.
LB: Erik, tell us a little bit about your venture. What gave you the idea to make a comic strip?
EC: Well, you know how sometimes something happens to you, or to someone you know and you say, gee, I think this should be in a comic strip?
LB: Not really, but continue.
EC: Well, in my family, it happened a lot. I found myself saying that over and over. You may say that I live in a funny family.
LB: Tell us about your family, Erik.
EC: Well, my father, John Campos, is a lawyer and works as a legal advisor to the mayor, so you have some political situations right there. After he divorced my mom, seven years ago, he married the former Mabel Snyders, who is now my step-mother, and you may say she is the smarter half of the couple. Then you have my brother, Javier. He's just 7 years old, but sometimes acts way below it. He suffers from Neurologic Unrestrained Thought Syndrome (NUTS) a very rare condition he inherited from our mother. Because of his condition, he sometimes has very, uh; let's say interesting thoughts and insights into situations. Because of Javier's condition, Mabel stays at home.
LB: Doesn't your brother attend school?
EC: He does. With therapy and medicine, he is able to function to a somewhat normal level. If his condition remains stable, Mabel has plans to go back to work.
LB: Well, good luck to you and Mabel. We hope your brother recovers from his NUTS.
EC: I kind of not.
LB: What?
EC: I wish my brother would not recover.
LB: Why would that be?
EC: Well, sometimes, when nothing funny happens and I need a quick situation to portray, I just hide his pills and that creates an instant-comic right there, because he is bound to do something funny.
LB: Isn't that a bad thing to do?
EC: Laurie, we ARE Comic Strip actors. That is what we do.
LB: Well, Erik. We have to break for adverteasing, but before we do, let's take a couple phone calls from our lines. Line 1 caller, from MidToon, you are on the air, welcome to the Laurie Blog Show.
Caller 1: Hello, Laurie, I love you.
LB: Thank you caller, I love you as well.
Caller 1: No, I'm serious. I want you to marry me.
LB: Not now, Frank.
Caller 2: Hello, Laurie. I have a question for your guest.
LB: Shoot.
Caller 2: Erik, with all the comic strips out there, what makes you think that yours has any chance? Isn't the market saturated already?
LB: Good question, Erik. What do you think of that? Is the market full of comics?
EC: There are two categories of strips out there, Laurie. The ones about my family and the ones that are not about my family. The second group is probably saturated, as the caller says, but the first category, that's where I think we can carve a niche.
LB: Thank you caller 2. Caller 3 calls from MidToon as well. Caller 3, welcome to the Laurie Blog Show.
Caller 3: I still love you Laurie...
LB: Someone do something about this freak! I'm sorry, Erik. Sometimes we have technical difficulties, that’s one of the problems of a live show.
EC: No problem. I wish I was as popular as you are, Laurie.
LB: Thanks. Our next caller, line 1 again, from San Francisco. Line 1, you are on the air.
Caller 1: Hello, Laurie, long time admirer.
LB: Thank you.
Caller 1: Mr. Campos, You have a peculiar style that I find a little hard to place. I have been wondering who your influences are.
EC: I grew up reading comic strips and for the most part learning how NOT to do them. There are a few jewels out there, though. I think that in the panel form, the Farside must be my all-time favorite. In the strip form I think Luann is hot, even though she doesn't always agree. I also like Candorville and Dilbert. In longer form, I like Archie, although I like the artwork more than the storyline sometimes. I have also been a huge fan of The Flintstones, the old ones, before Pebbles and Bam-bam came along, and The Simpsons, and even though they are not comic strips, their perception and their world view definitely influenced my work. I think Matt Groening and Scott Adams are geniuses.
LB: Let me add something here. What about Peanuts?
EC: I like the salty ones. Oh, and also peanut butter.
LB: I meant the Peanuts comic strip.
EC: Ah, sorry. The Peanuts comic strip is an institution. I respect the influence that it had in the medium, and although I personally don't like it, I recognize that I use some of the conventions that it helped create.
LB: You don't like Peanuts? But Snoopy is the cutest!
EC: I respect its legacy and influence but I think it belongs in a museum, or in collectable books, not in the pages of your daily newspapers. The daily newspapers should be about current, living comics, not re-runs.
LB: Do you realize that you are likely to alienate a large segment of the comic strip readership by your last statement?
EC: It is just my point of view. I understand that some people cannot live without their daily fix of Snoopy and the gang. It is just not something that I like.
LB: Well, Erik, we need to go on a break now, but why don't we take a call from Wichita, Kansas?
EC: Sure.
LB: Wichita, line 2, you are on the air.
Caller 2: Laurie, let me tell your pompous guest something. Sir, you are a
LB: To say I told you so, would be an understatement. You are going to alienate some people.
EC: Yes, Snoopy is very popular. There are two kinds of people, those who like Peanuts and those who don’t. Now, don't even get me started with Garfield.
LB: We will have to leave our talk about Garfield for after the break. This is the Laurie Blog Show on MidToon City Radio. More of our conversation with Erik Campos after these short messages.
End of part 1. Stay tuned for part two of the interview, coming soon
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