Today on "Getting Frank with the Editors" Non Sequitur's Wiley Miller

Gather ‘round, friends. Today we’re talking to arguably the greatest bearded cartoonist of the 21-Century, Wiley Miller. Wiley of course, is the pen behind “NonSequitur” a beautifully rendered and insightfully written strip or panel (your pick) that appears in close to 1,000 newspaper and online clients worldwide.

Now it's gonna seem to some readers that Wiley was upset with yours truly and is not really a big fan but I can assure you that is the case. We spoke to Wiley from our computer in Kansas City … not sure where he was. -JG

Q: Did you read my interview with Bill Hinds? Critics are lauding it as “a testament to Mr. Hinds patience.”

MILLER: No, I didn't see that. I spend very little time on the Internet, mostly due to lack of time, but a great deal due to a lack of interest. You can decide which one your blog fits into. And Bill Hinds is a great guy whose patience is with the likes of you isn't surprising. I'm no Bill Hinds.

Q:  Can you confirm rumors that you were indeed the voice behind the editorial cartoonist critic, The Bad Cartoonist, whose head briefly rose and then returned to the ether last year? As a former editorial cartoonist, what did you think of that person’s tactics/perspective?

MILLER: No, I am not the Bad Cartoonist. I'm both appalled and oddly flattered that anyone would think I am. As you noted, I am a former editorial cartoonist. Whoever the Bad Cartoonist is, he's obviously someone working in the field. I wasn't familiar with a lot of the cartoonists he took to task.

As for his tactics, while I agreed with most of what he had to say, I disagree with how he (and I'm sure it is a guy) went about it. Anonymous postings is my biggest peeve about the Internet. It's quite cowardly and only  serves to undermine the legitimacy of what the person has to say. It also runs contrary to what an editorial cartoonist does. One's name should be boldly placed on their opinions. 

His quick disappearance leads me to belief that his identity was found out by one of his targets. But that's just speculation on my part.

Q: Can you also confirm that as a child you were the voice of Fred on Scooby Doo?

MILLER: See my answer regarding Bill Hinds, @$$wipe.

Q: Any speculation on who it might have been? Because though I have no proof, I’m pretty sure it was Arthur Sulzberger Jr.

MILLER: I just answered that.

Q: One of the things great pieces of advice I’ve heard you give to newly syndicated cartoonists is something to the effect of “being chosen doesn’t mean it’s over, but just the beginning.” Can you elaborate a little on this?

MILLER: Yes. Syndication is not a job, where you get hired, sit at a desk or stand behind a counter and b.s. your way through the week and get a paycheck. Syndication is partnership between you and the company that will sell and distribute the feature you created. Signing a syndicate contract is merely getting your foot in the door of syndication. The goal from there is not just to get into the room, but to stay in the room. This is a process that takes a very long time, but the ability to just get into the room can be a very short time. The attrition rate of new features is very high. 

Many of the successful syndicated cartoonists had a strip, or strips, that didn't make it. That's how we learn that just signing a syndicate contract isn't winning a prize or a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It's just the beginning of very long and hard work. 

Q:  Gimme one sentence on how to fix newspapers.

MILLER: Get owners and managers of newspapers who know the newspaper business, not just guys from business school.

Q: Do you ever have writer’s block? How do you work past it?

MILLER: I read an interview with Charles Schulz many years ago who asked this same, common, stupid question. He said, "Writer's block is for amateurs. If you don't have something to say every day, then you don't belong in this business." That always stuck with me. Sure, there are days where the ideas flow faster and easier than others, but when your brain gets adjusted to the daily process of creativity, it makes the connections. I think the key  is to just relax and not try to force ideas. Forced work is always very apparent.

Q:  If you were me, would you/me think about washing the gray right out of your/my hair?

MILLER: I stopped reading this question after, "If you were me..."

Q:  On numerous occasions, you’ve cited TV’s Randy Jackson as a role model ... explain please.

MILLER:

1. Who's Randy Jackson?

2. Again, I'm no Bill Hinds, fu(kw!t.

Q:  Mainer, not Mainonite or Mainesvillian, right? 

MILLER: I prefer editor-thumper.

Q: Play a little hypothetical with me. You’re a newspaper comics editor who’s just bought NonSequitur, an irate reader calls in to complain because you’ve taken out ______ (name withheld so as not to embarrass the great-grandchildren who still work on the strip) a delightful little comic that was last relevant during the short presidency of William Henry Harrison.  How do you as that editor respond?

MILLER: He's dead. 

Q: How about another hypothetical, it’s May 2008 and you tell your wife you’re going to a 14-day cartoonists convention in New Orleans, yet you forget to take a few of the casino chips that say Harrah’s Atlantic City out of your seersucker pants pocket when you get home and she finds them. Don’t you think seven months is a long enough time to forgive someone?

MILLER: So... (hypothetically) you're telling me you're not Gay?

Q: You’ve done some groundbreaking things on the page with layout, color and  format … does it embarrass you if I call you a trailblazer? And since the largest city you live near in Maine is Portland … may I call you The Portland Trailblazer?

MILLER: Most things you say embarrass me.

Q:  Why should an editor value comics?

MILLER: Because it's the only thing left that separates them from the rest of media, which means it's the only thing that's attracting and holding readers. It's not mere coincidence that the more they've ignored and shrunk the comics over the past 3 decades, the more their readership has declined.

Q:  What makes a comic work? Both on a day-to-day basis and long term.

MILLER: Creativity. That means doing something unique in your own voice, not imitating and trying to ride the coattails of someone else's successful feature.

Q: What percentage of your time is spent on the art vs. writing?  How long does a week of dailies typically take to draw/ink/letter per week?

MILLER: I honestly can't answer that. The creative process is something that defies analysis and explanation, and you generally lose sense of time. The best I can tell you is that I work every day, many hours each day.

Q: Do you ever draw your strips before you’ve finished the writing?

MILLER: On rare occasions. Sometimes an image will appear in my tiny brain and I'll draw it, then try to find a way to make it relevant and funny. These are often very good cartoons, but take the longest to produce, as it's working backward.

Q: What advice would you give to a 40-year-old who never seems to pick the right NFL playoff team?

MILLER: Um... grow up?

Q:  Do you listen to music when you draw or do you need complete silence like the crowd always is at a Bob Saget standup comedy show?

MILLER: Silence is golden for my creative process. 

Q: “Ineffable” sounds like a dirty word, doesn’t it? But it actually means incapable of being described by words … isn’t that a great word? Shouldn’t it be invisible?

MILLER: Very good word. That will be the title for my next comic strip.

Q: Top 5 all-time comics.

MILLER: There are other comic strips?

Q: Top-5 comics launched after 2000.

MILLER: Oh, like I know when any comic strip was  launched. The best I can up with off the top of my head is Lio.

Q: Top-5 how the hell did a syndicate pick that to take to market comics?

MILLER: It's not the comics that make it to market that I question, it's the ones that remain in the market long after the death of the creator of the comic.

Now will you leave me alone? Unlike syndicate editors, I've got work to do.

 

Comments

[Andy]

That's one cheeky cartoonist.