Named best comic strip, in 2001, by the National Cartoonists Society, “Pickles” focuses on senior citizens Earl and Opal.
Wisdom comes with living, and so does humor. This is true, at least, for the inhabitants of Brian Crane’s award-winning comic strip, “Pickles,” published in nearly 900 papers across the country, and being introduced March 17 into The Republican.
Named best comic strip of 2001 by the National Cartoonists Society, “Pickles” focuses on senior citizens Earl and Opal, who share their 50 years of married life with 30-something daughter, Sylvia, her husband, Dan, their grandson, Nelson, dog, Roscoe, a mutt who wishes he was a golden retriever, and cat, Muffin. Earl’s friend Clyde and young-at-heart senior citizen Emily round out the characters.
Wayne Phaneuf, executive editor of The Republican, cited the strip’s popularity in offering it to readers.
“Brian Crane’s ‘Pickles’ has been a hit with comic followers across the country," he said. "Its characters, with their daily challenges, seem to have a broad appeal.”
The strip debuted in 1990 in a dozen papers, syndicated by the Washington Post Writers Group, and the wit of its elder characters, who seem to keep in step with modern life, or try to, proved popular.
In one featured strip, Clyde says to Earl, “I’m a little stiff today.”
Earl: “How come?”
Clyde: “I went zip lining. It was one of the items on my bucket list.”
Earl: “Oh, how was it?”
Clyde: “The bucket is now filled with cement and dumped in a river.”
In 2013, in a tie with “Baby Blues” co-creator Rick Kirkman, Crane received cartooning’s highest honor, the Reuben Award for “Cartoonist of the Year,” for “Pickles.” A 1973 graduate, like his wife, Diana, of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Crane, a native of Idaho, makes his home in Sparks, Nev. Here is an edited interview with him.
Your strip has been described as having “multi-generational appeal.” Would you tell us a little bit about the characters, and why the comic is called “Pickles?”
“Pickles” is the last name of my characters, Earl and Opal. I chose that name because it sounded a bit like “Peanuts,” one of my favorite all-time comic strips. It also kind of refers to the situations they get into, as in the expression “getting into a pickle.” I would, of course, hope it appeals to as many readers as possible, but in reality, when I am writing and drawing it, I am mainly trying to create something that I myself like, and then I hope others will enjoy it, too.
How did you come up with the idea for the script? Are any of the folks based on people and dogs that you knew?
When I was trying to come up with an idea for a comic strip, I just started sketching different characters in a sketchbook, trying to find something that I felt was different than what other cartoonists were doing and that would inspire me with funny ideas for years, and possibly even decades, to come. It wasn’t until I drew this older, kind of ornery couple of senior citizens that I felt that inspiration hit me. They weren’t deliberately patterned on anyone in real life, but after drawing them for awhile, I realized that Earl and Opal are a lot like my wife’s parents in their personalities and their relationship. The grandson, Nelson, is just about the same age as my son Jonathan was when I began the strip, so I guess he is a lot like him. And the dog, Roscoe, a dog of very little brain, is very similar in that respect to the dog we had at the time.
The strip has grown from two dozen papers in 1990 to more than 800 today. What is the feedback that you get from your fans on why they like it? How has their feedback influenced the strip?
The comment I hear most often from my readers is something like “You must have a videocamera hidden in our house!” That always pleases me because I try to come up with ideas that people can relate to in their own lives. Most of the situations in the strip are taken, with a little creative license, from situations in my own family and those of my friends.
The characters must seem very real, especially to you. Have they and their personalities evolved over time? Do you tackle any sad or serious themes through the humor? You were in your 40s when the strip debuted. What shaped your view of the retired back then, and what shapes it now?
After writing and drawing them for 24 years, they do almost seem like members of my own family. I think it took a greater stretch of my imagination to write about them when I started, but now that I am much closer to their age, the writing seems to come much easier. I guess it has become a case of art imitating life, or vice versa. I try to keep the humor fairly light-hearted. My goal has never been to shake people up, or see how much edginess I can get away with in a family newspaper. I just hope to give my readers something to smile or laugh about each day, and perhaps show them that getting older isn’t so bad, if you can laugh at yourself and not take things too seriously.
I have dealt with a few heavy issues in the past, sometimes unintentionally. Many years ago I had their cat, Muffin, have a litter of kittens. After it appeared, I heard from a couple of readers upset that she had not been spayed. Then there was a little boy with cancer who was befriended by Nelson. I have also done strips encouraging seniors to get colonoscopies.
In terms of visualizing and drawing your characters, what styles, artists or other comics influenced you? How do you come up with dialogue and match it to the visual? Which comes first?
Every strip I draw starts out with me thinking of situations and writing conversations that I can imagine taking place between my characters. I just start writing what I think they might say, and how they might react, and if I can end up with a clever punchline at the end, then I have the makings of a comic strip.
I grew up reading comic strips as a boy and dreaming of creating my own some day. My early favorites were “Li’l Abner” and “Pogo.” Later I became a fan of “B.C.” and “Peanuts” and many more. I’m sure I learned most of what I know about writing and drawing comic strips from my heroes of the funny pages.
What made you interested in going into the art field, particularly doing a comic strip?
Although I dreamed of becoming a comic strip artist as a boy, when it came time to actually trying to think of a way to earn a living, I didn’t think I had what it would take to create and maintain a daily comic strip. Especially the writing part. But I wanted to do something creative, so I studied illustration and graphic design in college. For the next 20 years or so I worked at newspapers, art studios, ad agencies and as a free-lance designer and illustrator.
In 1987 I was senior art director at an ad agency in Reno, Nev. I was in my late 30’s and I had a wife and seven children. I don’t know if it was my version of a mid-life crisis or what, but I started thinking back to my childhood dream of doing a newspaper comic strip. That’s when I picked up my sketchbook and created “Pickles.” It was rejected by the first three syndicates I sent it to, and I actually gave up on the idea at that point. Fortunately, my wife, Diana, had more confidence in me and in my work than I did. She kept nudging me to not give up and to send it to another syndicate. I knew it was pointless, but to get her off my back I told her I would send it to the Washington Post Writers Group. And of course, my wife, as always, was right.
“Pickles” hit the papers in April 1990 and has been going ever since. I work in a studio in my home near Reno. A couple of years ago I hired my daughter Emily to do the coloring for me, which she does with Photoshop. I usually work six days a week, and I generally come up with one or two strips per day, but usually just one. I don’t do it assembly line style, like most cartoonists I know. I write a strip, draw it in pencil first and then in ink, and then I scan it and send it to my daughter for coloring. And then I think, “What could happen to Earl and Opal next?”
Your 1999 book, “Pickles, Too: The Older I Get, The Better I Was,” has a forward by Charles Schulz, who calls your strip “fun to look at.” How did that make you feel?
Charles Schulz was a kind and very generous man, especially to aspiring young cartoonists. I don’t know if he really liked my work that much, but he did say some nice things about it, which meant a great deal to me, as someone who didn’t have much confidence in my own abilities as a cartoonist. I first met him at a National Cartoonists Society gathering in New York City. I sent him some samples of my strip and asked if he would consider writing a foreword to my first book, which he very graciously did.
Last year I was talking to Mick and Mason Mastroianni, grandsons of Johnny Hart, creator of the comic strip “B.C.” They told me that Johnny was a big “Pickles” fan and especially enjoyed Roscoe (the dog), which was great to hear. Mick and Mason now work on the “B.C.” and “Wizard of Id" strips.’
Hart, of course, was not without controversy in terms of injecting his views on Christianity into the strip. So, I was wondering what you liked, as a cartoonist, about “B.C.” and to what extent your cartoon reflects your own faith values.
I remember when “B.C.” first appeared in our paper. I was just a kid and I loved the drawing style and the unique characters. And because my initials are B.C. my friends started using that as my nickname. I think Hart’s religious references in the strip began much later, and those didn’t have any real influence on me. In drawing my own comic strip, I don’t try to use it as a forum to promote my own faith. Since I write and draw from my own experiences, elements of my faith may be apparent at times, but never in a preachy way. For example, in my family, we don’t drink alcohol or smoke or curse, so my characters don’t, either. But I am not trying to influence others in that way. My goal is just to provide a wholesome laugh to my readers.
Why do you feel comic strips have endured? How do you see the profession surviving, what with the decline in the number of newspapers?
I think people get attached to comic strips. They come to think of the characters as their somewhat wacky friends and they like to check in each day to see what they are up to. I feel very fortunate to be able to do a daily comic strip. It’s a difficult ,and sometimes frustrating job, working on deadlines to come up with something new every single day. But then I get the most wonderful letters and emails from my readers, telling me how my work has brightened their day, and it all seems worthwhile. I don’t know what the future of newspaper comics will be. I hope they will survive. I think the obituary of newspapers has been written a bit prematurely. The same thing happened when TV came along. Everyone though movie theaters would go out of business. So I will just keep cranking out my daily strip as long as there are people who want to read it.
The retired are a little less stereotyped today (if you read AARP) — does any of that get incorporated into your strip? Also, what gives you pleasure in continuing to do it? And, finally, what do you do for fun and relaxation?
I don’t try to keep up with what the current perceptions of what retired senior citizens, as a segment of our society, are or should be. In fact, I don’t think of what I do as writing about old people. I am just writing about a couple of people who happen to be old. They are unique individuals and are not meant to represent anyone other than themselves (and my in-laws, but don’t tell them I said that).
In my spare time, I like to spend time with my seven children and 12 (soon to be 13 !) grandchildren. They continually inspire me with new ideas. I also like to take long walks and do some traveling with my sweet wife, Diana.