Question for Roger

[Mince]

Is just a couple of pints enough to get you drunk nowadays or are you still the drinking man? And when you drink, do you talk about who the funniest cartoonist is? And if so, is it one of the guys on this forum?

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

You want him to choose? 

So you're the guy who cheered all the way through Schindler's List.

[Roger Kettle]

Two pints is about right.
I rarely talk about cartooning. Of course, if anyone in the company asks me a question about it then fair enough but that seldom happens. Cartooning is actually a pretty dull subject to discuss. I sit at a desk and think for a living and that's about it. I don't land planes on the Hudson River, for example. Obviously, there is a lot more shop-talk involved when I'm mixing with other cartoonists but that's a rare event and we usually end up talking about football. As for the FUNNIEST cartoonist on this site, well, that's impossible to say and is completely subjective. Diane is looking good, though!

[Diane CBPFC]

Awww shucks. 

[Colin]

Do you see a career change for her Roger?

[Roger Kettle]

At the risk of boring you, maybe I should expand on my previous answer.
Yes, I can talk at length about cartooning but it really is of limited interest to most people. The technical side of scriptwriting, and materials used, is pretty dull. I once fell out with several people on a cartoonists' web site because I stated that "cartooning isn't important". I accept now that what I should have said was that "MY cartooning isn't important". What I write is MEANT to be trivial. There are no hidden messages and no deep meanings. My aim is to give the readers, hopefully, a brief chuckle. Nothing more. I'd hate for cartooning to go the way of the acting business where people like Kate Winslett start blubbing as though they've saved the planet. What she did was get paid for pretending she was someone else. What I do is write nonsense to the best of my ability and hope some people laugh. Both these things are transient and trivial and that's the way they SHOULD be. Don't analyse what I do! It's trite garbage---just as I intended!
Um...that's it.

[Roger Kettle]

I guess that the big white space in the above post happens when you go for a coffee in the middle of posting. Sorry.

[Colin]

I guess that the big white space in the above post happens when you go for a coffee in the middle of posting. Sorry.

Happens to me all the time 

[Mince]

There are no hidden messages and no deep meanings.

Well, perhaps none that you can see.

[Roger Kettle]

You've spotted that "Dennis" is "sinned" backwards---a comment on what mankind has done. You've also spotted that "Beau" backwards is "UAEB", an acronym for "Unidentified Alien Earth Base". Damn, you're clever.

[Mince]

Yes, of course, those hidden meanings as well.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

At the risk of boring you, maybe I should expand on my previous answer.
Yes, I can talk at length about cartooning but it really is of limited interest to most people. The technical side of scriptwriting, and materials used, is pretty dull. I once fell out with several people on a cartoonists' web site because I stated that "cartooning isn't important". I accept now that what I should have said was that "MY cartooning isn't important". What I write is MEANT to be trivial. There are no hidden messages and no deep meanings. My aim is to give the readers, hopefully, a brief chuckle. Nothing more. I'd hate for cartooning to go the way of the acting business where people like Kate Winslett start blubbing as though they've saved the planet. What she did was get paid for pretending she was someone else. What I do is write nonsense to the best of my ability and hope some people laugh. Both these things are transient and trivial and that's the way they SHOULD be. Don't analyse what I do! It's trite garbage---just as I intended!
Um...that's it.

I have to disagree with about 90% of that, Roger (and even pens and paper are fascinating to some). Laughter-makers are the most important and influential people on the planet, far more so than kings, generals or politicians. People seldom kill each other whilst laughing. God only knows how many lives you've saved.

[Diane CBPFC]

At the risk of boring you, maybe I should expand on my previous answer.
Yes, I can talk at length about cartooning but it really is of limited interest to most people. The technical side of scriptwriting, and materials used, is pretty dull. I once fell out with several people on a cartoonists' web site because I stated that "cartooning isn't important". I accept now that what I should have said was that "MY cartooning isn't important". What I write is MEANT to be trivial. There are no hidden messages and no deep meanings. My aim is to give the readers, hopefully, a brief chuckle. Nothing more. I'd hate for cartooning to go the way of the acting business where people like Kate Winslett start blubbing as though they've saved the planet. What she did was get paid for pretending she was someone else. What I do is write nonsense to the best of my ability and hope some people laugh. Both these things are transient and trivial and that's the way they SHOULD be. Don't analyse what I do! It's trite garbage---just as I intended!
Um...that's it.

So you are saying the people who use your strips to help them to decide which horse to bet on are basically screwed?

[Diane CBPFC]

I too disagree with Roger. In a world with very few soft spots,  cartooning can touch people?s hearts and connect them with humanity. What I like about Roger?s cartoons is that they are never mean spirited, he has such a beautiful view of human kind, quirks and all.

[Roger Kettle]

Diane, your extremely flattering view of my work probably says more about you than me. You're the one who sees all these positive aspects in the strips. I could argue that Beau Peep is about a bunch of idiots and losers, Horace is about a pathetic wimp and Andy Capp is about a lazy, selfish sexist.
The point I'm trying to make is that I hate it when too much "importance" is placed on cartooning (specifically mine). As I said earlier, my work is MEANT to be trivial and I'm delighted to say so.