If you're changing diapers and going to the playground, any ambitions of being a cool guy have to fly out the window.

I think most cartoonists are solitary, lonely kids who use their work as a way to try to connect with the world. If I had any other skills that were more performative - if I could have been a musician or an actor - I'm sure I would have pursued that instead in order to get that instant feedback and to hear applause.

It's cold water in the face to realize you're not nearly as special and as unusual as you might have thought when you were an alienated teenager.

For me, like, the more interesting a letter is I just get more excited and I know that this going to be great for my friends who are looking forward to reading that in my comic.

I do think it's getting more and more rare in this country to raise a kid with the attitude that creativity is something valuable. The idea of trying to make the effort to produce something, to put something out into the world, rather than just taking in all the stuff the world's putting out at you.

One of the by-products of being allowed to start my professional career prematurely is that the evolution of my work is really evident.

I wanted it to be as readable as possible. I had the ambition of reaching a broader audience.