The Xcentrikz - Interactive Comic

Interview with the super Jennie B. of Devil's Panties!

July 16, 2009

Hey dudes and dudettes, check out this funny comic about the day in the life of... comic enthusiasts, pirates, devils and angels and so much more than just panties. Really. Some of the content ain't appropriate for the kiddos. Jennie updates the comic every day, which is pretty impressive. Hope you like our little gabbersation. Have fun!

--- Kirk

Kirk from The Xcentrikz Team: Hiya Jennie thanks again for chatting about your hilarious comic. Please tell all the newbs out there about it? So they’ll check it out!

Jennie B.: It's called The Devil's Panties and it's an autobiographical daily strip. A slice of life comic about conventions and comic shops and pirates. You know, the usual. I've been updating it for about eight years now so there's over two thousand comics up for people to read. I update it every single day without fail.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Okay how did you get started doing webcomics? Were you into drawing and doodling as a kid?

Jennie B.: Totally. I kept a sketch pad by the TV and would draw little scenes of my own stories with Star Trek and the X-men long before I knew what fan fic was. I liked drawing and telling stories so when my mom said I had to go to college I started looking at art colleges. I got a flier for Savannah College of Art and Design. On the fifteenth page there was a section for Sequential Art (comic books) and I was sold. I now have a degree in comic books.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Heh, cool. Then how did Devil’s Panties get invented?

Jennie B.: When I was in the dorms I would draw little pictures of funny stories about my friends. Second year a roommate said I should put these cartoons online. Third year of college I roomed with Chris Daily who had his own webcomic, stripteasecomic.com and he showed me how to put my comic strips up online.

THE XCENTRIKZ: To explain for those who don’t know, why’d you choose the comic’s title?

Jennie B.: I made a list of titles when it was suggested I should put these drawings online. I asked my friends for suggestions. My friend DJ suggested "Devil's Panties". I asked everyone I ran into to pick which title they liked and of the list I had it was unanimous that Devil's Panties sounded the most interesting. "I don't know what that is, but I want to find out." Years later I found out it's a quote from "Miss Congeniality". "I wanted to get the RED undies but my mother said that they were Satan's Panties!"

THE XCENTRIKZ: What’s your schedule like for doing the art and dialogue? What’s your process, and what media and software do you use?

Jennie B.: Someone once told me that the art is just ten percent of the work for doing your own comic. I just about died when he told me this. Now I know that it's more like five percent. I spend most of my day checking e-mail, setting up conventions, designing merchandise, mailing orders, and just running a business. Every three days or so I'll spend a few hours actually drawing the comic.

I have a tape recorder on my phone and when something funny happens or something strikes me as odd I'll record the idea. Once a week or so I'll transcribe the ideas into dialogue that fits into a four panel strip. I use thick high quality copy paper. I'll usually do a stack of eight or fifteen at a time. Then over the course of a few days I'll pencil them and then ink them about three at a time as I need them. I use a dip nib and a bottle of ink. I use a sharpie for text and panel borders. I scan it into photoshop to fill in the blacks and upload to the Internet with dreamweaver.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What do you think of your readers? Do you enjoy interacting with them much?

Jennie B.: I do a comic about myself and what I find interesting. The people who identify with the comic see themselves in the strips. I'm fascinated by how much of it carries over to such a wide range of people. I've met readers who range from housewives to bikers, football players to sixteen year old girls with green hair and old married couples. I think it's amazing that so many different people identify with the same things.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Awesome. So what’s it like for you to publicize your comic creations? Do you work hard at it, or do the fans do the work for you by getting the word out?

Jennie B.: It was a bit surreal the first time I hung out with fans and I started telling stories and realized that they already knew everything about my life because I put all the good stories up online as comics. I try to advertise however I can be it online banners or handing out fliers at conventions. The best advertising that I have is just updating the strip regularly so that the readers know that there will always be something new every day, no matter what. Sometimes that means making personal sacrifices but it's something that I've decided to do. My work doesn't have a holiday. I'm drawing comics about family vacations and lunch with friends. I pull fifteen hour days every day all year and I'm loving every minute of it. This dedication is matched by the readers. If you don't let them down, they'll support you with equal commitment.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What are some of the challenging moments you’ve encountered in your comic work?

Jennie B.: I thought I was going to be a cartoonist; draw some pictures, maybe go to some conventions. I didn't know I was going to be a designer, publisher, printer, book keeping, manager, sales, shipping, filing, hauling, booking, agent, web designer, damage control, publicist, and bar tender.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Sounds like you're handling it regardless! What usually provokes your great ideas? How do other webcomics, friends and family, or your real-life experiences affect the comic?

Jennie B.: If everyone laughs at something, I record it on my phone. My sister is frustrated with me because she says "it didn't happen like that" but I present my version of it. My mother has said that I will sit quietly at the dinner table and she always likes seeing my version of how I perceived events.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What’s the most rewarding part, for you, about doing Devil’s Panties?

Jennie B.: Getting e-mails from people who say that the comic has helped them through something. Either self worth or getting through a bad time. I've had some depressing months in my life and I found that webcomics were a great brain candy for it. A bit of escapism in our day. I get e-mails from military personnel over seas that say the comic reminds them of home. One e-mail was from a teenage burn victim who said webcomics help him pass the time when friends and family can't always be there. I hope that, with my comic, I can let people know that they're not alone. That we're all a little weird and to have fun with your own silliness.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Cool. So there’s usually critics out there… Hhow do you handle the negative comments about your work?

Jennie B.: I don't get that many negative comments. I'm actually a bit stunned. You'd think something called "The Devil's Panties" with a comic about Jesus smoking pot arguing with the devil about who caused the most damage to the human race would stir up a bit more disgruntled readers. But I think if you can get past the title, the rest is tame. Any negative comments are usually well meaning and constructive. I think the worst I got was back in the first few years I was doing the comic, someone said "I read all two hundred and eighty seven strips and they suck!" I was kind of flattered by this. That takes some dedication not to give up after the first fifty or so sucky comics.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Yea, dedication, heh... Are there other entertainers and other comic creators you admire, and inspire you?

Jennie B.: Tons. Pretty much all of them. As long as you create something and keep at it, that's worth the admiration. I loved looking through books of Rodin's work. My favorite was "the Waltz" (I think it was called) and "the Kiss". I grew up on ElfQuest and Conan. The comedian Titus has an amazing way of story telling and therapeutic venting. I check Girls with Slingshots and Wapsi Square every day.

THE XCENTRIKZ: If you suddenly had limitless resources and time to improve your work, is there anything really important you’d work on?

Jennie B.: I have a stack of one hundred and sixty unfinished comics that I need to get to. I want to work on more pages of my Huntress vampire story. I need to get back to my teen vampire comedy strip. Geebas on Parade needs to be updated more. I should get back to my Sunday watercolor paintings. I want to interview each of my siblings and do a story about my fathers death. There's also the playing cards to re-print, t-shirts to order, and a statue to design. I'm talking to a guy about window decals and dice. If I only had a clone...or twelve.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Random fun stuff: What’s your best… Talent? Halloween costume?

Jennie B.: A college roommate once told me that my super power was that I had a story about everything. Not necessarily a GOOD story, but a story about anything and everything.
I dress up as Jill Thompson's Scary Godmother each year.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Whaddya like doing most to relax by yourself? And how about with friends?

Jennie B.: By myself? When I'm not working on a comic?.... um, I think they call that sleeping.

My guilty pleasure is channel surfing. Not really watching, just flipping without ever stopping on anything.

THE XCENTRIKZ: If you could have a superpower for one day, what would you pick, and what would you do with it?

Jennie B.: Fly.

Cloud diving.

THE XCENTRIKZ: So how do you feel future of the webcomic biz? And how do you feel about the future of your comic?

Jennie B.: Warm and fuzzy. When working at a comic shop I saw that people will cut down on food before they cut down on their comic books. As long as the story is good, people will keep buying it. Webcomics are growing and adapting along with the development of the Internet. It's a wild ride and I can't wait to harass my grandkids about it. "When I was a kid we had to interface manually!"

THE XCENTRIKZ: Would you like to share anything else about your work? What’s up next for Devil’s Panties?

Jennie B.: What's next? Good question. I'll let you know when I get there. I'm hoping it has something to do with playgrounds, misadventures traveling with friends, and a lot of nookie.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Heh heh. Crazy fun, huh? Hey Jennie, thanks so much and keep it up doing the fun stuff for us comic readers. Have a good one!

Jennie B.: Thanks for letting me ramble.
Take care.
Have fun.

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