Jason Dodge: Just say Moooo!

Jason Dodge

Have you ever wondered about the secret life of a cow? What goes on when no one is watching? Jason Dodge is the creator of “To Err is Bovine”, a comic about the thoughts and behavior of the surreal world of cows. Jason hails from Vermont and he graciously answered some questions for me about creating and drawing the world of cows.

David: Hey Jason, you are the creator of “To Err is Bovine”, a comic about the life of cows. Where did the idea for your comic come from?

Jason: I’ve always found that the ideas are the hardest things to come up with when drawing cartoons. The drawing is, of course, super important to the cartoon, but the joke needs to be good to support it. There are lots of cartoonists who are great at drawing, but are just not very funny. Conversely, there are some very funny cartoonists out there that can barely draw a stick figure. The funny guy is going to have a much more successful cartoon. Look at the web comics Cyanide & Happiness and The Oatmeal. These are perfect examples of very successful poorly drawn cartoons. I’d give you some examples of some wildly successful, extremely talented cartoonists that could use a new funny bone, but I can’t think of any. With my own cartoons, my goal has always been to be satisfied with the art and overjoyed with the humor.

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Most cartoonists have a place they go, or activity they do to get the creative juices flowing. For me, being in the car was always the best place to think and to come up with ideas. Around ten years ago, I was driving down a particularly quiet stretch of road in Vermont. If you’ve ever been to Vermont, you know that “particularly quiet stretch of road” is synonymous with “god-forsaken wide dirt path”. I was mulling over some ideas for a gag series when I realized that three out of the four ideas centered around cows. I didn’t know it at the time but that’s when “To Err is Bovine” was conceived.

As it turns out, cows are funny. I suppose drawing a cartoon about any animal has funny potential. Give them a personality, stick them in a situation and watch them react as their species would if they could talk… Sure, but cows have something other animals don’t. Cows have udders. Which for me just ratchets up the funny that extra little bit. Plus people like cows. You see them in just about every rural setting, and that makes the concept easy to relate to.

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When I got home from my road trip I started drawing and over the next few weeks I had done thirty or so cow themed cartoons that passed my “Refrigerator” test. That’s the test where I think, “If my mom stuck this cartoon on the fridge would I feel proud or embarrassed?” Every cartoon I do needs to pass this test before I send it out into the world. (FYI, I don’t live with my mom, the test is a conceptual exercise.)

I drew a few more, but life and other pet projects got in the way and the cartoon series ended up in a plastic storage bin under my bed. It was mid-2010 before I revisited the old drawings. They were better than I remembered. I decided that they should become a series. So, I came up with the name “To Err Is Bovine”, ran it through the Refrigerator test, and congratulated myself for being so clever.

David: Can you remember the time when you came to the conclusion, “Hey I love comics and cartoons and this is the direction I want to take with my life”?

Jason: Good question… I don’t know that there was ever a “bonk, ‘I coulda’ had a V8!’” type moment. I’ve always loved comics and drawing. One of my earliest memories was destroying one of my father’s sketch pads with crudely drawn army men. He didn’t find them very funny. In my defense, I was four.

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In high school I spent a lot of time in art classes. When I wasn’t in an art class I was doodling on the book covers of the English or Math class I was in at the moment. I guess it was then that I started dreaming about making some sort of career out of drawing. During my senior year I won a partial scholarship to art school for drawing a poster that was used in a national anti-smoking campaign.

David: What are your plans and dreams for “To Err is Bovine”?

The “Holy Grail” for most gag, and strip cartoonists has always been to get their work syndicated. Syndication would be very cool, but it’s not the end-all, be-all. Over the last few years it’s lost a bit of luster. I don’t know if it’s even possible to make a living just getting into syndication now. Print is dying out in favor of news and information anyone can get on their mobile devices. So while syndication would be a giant feather in my cap, I would be just as happy with a successful web comic.

Later this year “To Err Is Bovine” will have its own website where I hope to gather some more followers. It’s hosted on a blog right now, and I’m pleasantly surprised by the number of facebook shares and blog follows I’ve gotten in a very short time. This is partially due to another series I draw. It’s called “Fudge & Friends” and stars a couple of personable dogs. Every Sunday it appears on the “Life With Dogs” website ( lifewithdogs.tv ) . In terms of traffic the site has several million visitors a month. My weekly cartoon gets seen by lots of these people and many of them gravitate over to my blog site.

Actually David, I wouldn’t be surprised if this interview was linked to from the “Life With Dogs” site when the new “Fudge & Friends” appears this weekend.

David: We all have comics we love, what are some of your influences and some of the newer comics you like?

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If we’re talking influences, I would have to say guys like Don Martin, Berke Breathed, Gary Larson, Scott Adams, and my Junior High School teacher, a very talented cartoonist named Gary Cornelius.

As far as newer cartoonists, I tend to read web comics. Once upon a time I might have purchased a paper for its funny pages, but now I can get plenty of cartoon fun online. I don’t read many because I don’t want to inadvertently influence one of my cartoons, but I really dig “The Oatmeal”.

David: One last question, since the world of cartoons and comics is tough to break into, from your own experience, what advice do you give to anyone hoping to start their own comic?

Jason: Simple Answer… Do it because you love it and are going to do it anyway. Then put it through the “Refrigerator” test. You’ll always be your own toughest critic.

I like the “Refrigerator” test, what a great idea! Thanks so much Jason for sharing your comic “To Err is Bovine”! Good luck with your comic, the future looks very promising. It was a pleasure doing the interview. Check out Jason’s blog spot for updates at: http://jasonsdrawingboard.blogspot.com

About David Hurley

as the creator of Don't Pick The Flowers...
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