Ten with Tom
10 questions in 10 minutes
It's a big part of Americana that's disappearing or at least shrinking to a minuscule degree.
But now, there is something new coming from Marc Goldner and Rachel Korsen, it's called "The Sunday Comics ." It's an actual newspaper printed with over 200 pages with work by over 200 cartoonists. I'm proud to be one of them!
With comics all or mostly moving to digital, what made you decide to use paper and ink for this project?
Growing up we all loved comics, still to this day we go to the comic shop every week. There
is just something special about getting to hold a comic and flip through the pages. That magic is
lost when you read on a small screen. We felt that there will always be a desire to hold these
comics in your hands and to enjoy them the way they were made. We also wanted to give
artists the opportunity to create work that pushes their boundaries on a giant size page to come
up with original and innovative stories for our readers. Getting a comic delivered to your door is
something that's been lost nowadays. There are very few industries that ever truly disappear,
provided they offer something meaningful and inspiring that aligns with the people's interests
and its passion.
America has spent the past 100
years falling in love with the Sunday Comics section on paper, and there's no reason to think
that the love affair should, or ever needs, to stop.
What are some of your favorite Sunday comics from your childhood?
Honestly, I've loved them all. Each strip has had their moment in my eyes, but I'll never forget
the first time I ever opened up a newspaper. I got to feast my eyes on Dennis the Menace and Garfield. It's actually pretty funny because I've come to learn that I'm super allergic to cats but
Garfield's love of lasagna managed to stay with me, in fact it's what I had for dinner tonight! One
of the most exciting parts for me was learning we would get to have original Garfields in The
Sunday Comics! Dennis on the other hand, was someone I just related to, my parents always
called me their little menace so that stuck! Everyone still says I'm that same kid.
How often will Sunday Comics be published? Is it a one time deal or monthly, yearly?
The Sunday Comics will be an ongoing publication for years to come. Our first issue is a giant
sized masterpiece we've been working on for over a year that's currently live on Kickstarter. After
our debut, we will be releasing weekly issues.
Which comic strip would you like to crawl into and spend the day?
Well, as a kid there were a few I would've crawled into, but nowadays strips are so small I
don't think I could even get a foot in. If I had to pick one after now working on The Sunday
Comics for this long I think I could. I've gotten to meet some of my idols. Recently Rachel Korsen,
one of the founders, and I got to spend the night with Ron Ferdinand and his family when we
went to visit him in upstate New York. We didn't only get to crawl into where Ron has been creating
Dennis The Menace comics for the last 29 years, but we got to go inside a creative genius'
studio and were able to spend the day with the "man behind" and witness the creations I imagined
as a kid!
Which is your favorite: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram?
I'd have to say Facebook. I've been on it for almost ten years now. I remember being one of
the earliest adopters and inviting my whole High School to join when they first opened it to the
public. I look at The Sunday Comics as something that is at this "early adopter stage". It's a publication
that people can get in on the ground floor to witness our first steps.
Flintstones or Scooby Doo?
This is one of the tougher ones because I really loved them both so much. With The Flintstones,
I fell in love with bowling, cars, and pools (although I still can't swim) through the show.
My favorite episode is still the Flintstones crossover with the Jetsons. Scooby Doo introduced
me to Golden Graham Scooby Snacks that I still buy every week, monsters, and mystery. It's
because of some of these early animation television shows that one of my dreams is to make
our company into something much bigger than just comics alone! I guess the answer's both.
Last movie you saw?
Last time we went to the movies we saw a double feature. First, we saw "Tomorrowland." The
message of this film really spoke to me illustrating how a grim future can be instantly turned
around. Look at retro products that have been saved like Vinyl. If these films showed
us something, it's that anything's possible.
Katzenjammer Kids or Andy Gump?
We have to be honest here, none of us grew up with these in our local papers. Of that time
period, we can share our love for Winsor McCay. Little Nemo was one of the most instrumental
influences to The Sunday Comics. It was actually the first movie that ever gave me a nightmare. Nemo comics are something that I fell in love with. Seeing how dreams can be created and then
just vanish in an instant was eye opening to me.
Without looking, what color is Olive Oyl's dress?
This one's too easy, but I love the test! You should've asked me about her tattoo instead. Kidding,
I think it's almost a sort of a trick question. The black and white version of Popeye, Olive
obviously had a grayish tone dress, but when it moved to color we saw that gray morph into a
black & red dress. Shoes on the other hand...
What section of the printed daily newspaper today should be eliminated to add more comics?
What I'm going to say now I know some people are coming after us with a pitchfork and
some picket signs but honestly, all of them. The comics section is the only section that's better
on paper. Just look at the financial sections, now that everything is in real time those one day
delays make printed news irrelevant. Comics on the other hand are timeless, they are works of
art that can be enjoyed without a ticking clock.
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Thank you Marc, we think alike on so many of these items.
Marc's kickstarter campaign was started to raise $75,000 to make Sunday Comics a reality. You can get more info here.
