Q. So what's going on in this strip?

A: In brief it's a strip about two kids who are best friends because they're different. Bright kids with a philosophical outlook that prevents them from fitting in.

Of course it's more complicated than that, but that seems like enough info going in.

Q: Why animals, instead of people?

A: More fun for me to draw, mostly. I just always liked cartoon animals, and a couple of teenage years spent reading all of Walt Kelly's "Pogo" I could get my hands on did nothing to diminish that.

I suppose the philosophical justification is that it's easier to show people their failings if you use animal characters because the less the character looks like you, the less defensive you're going to be—but really, that's secondary.

Q: Are the characters aging?

A: I did bump the title characters' stated ages up, from eight to 10, in April 2000, when I redesigned the characters a bit (see below). I haven't deliberately aged them since then, but some people seem to feel that they've been getting older. I think it's just that I'm getting older.

Q: Why is Ozy's father a dragon?

A: Because he's adopted.

Q: Is his father, as a dragon, going to outlive him?

A: Don't be morbid.

Q: The look of the strip has changed over time, hasn't it?

A: An observation, artfully restated as a question. Yes, it has. You draw every day, and your style has a way of mutating over time—you can observe this in almost any comic strip that runs for any length of time.

Q: I like the older, "cuter" look of the strip better than its current look.

A: That one wasn't even restated as a question. More importantly, it misses the point: styles evolve naturally. Mine has evolved to where it is. I happen to really like the current look, but if you prefer the older strips, they're not going anywhere.

Q: Doesn't the style make a radical leap in spring 2000, after a gap in the strips of over a month?

A: Yes. That was when I took time off to redesign the characters. I made some good decisions, some bad ones, and some arbitrary ones, but on the whole, it was a necessary step to keep me growing as an artist and keep me interested.

Q: Why are there so few full-color Sunday-style strips, after mid-2001?

A: I got kind of burned out on doing them; doing them well is an insane amount of work, and I never felt like those were my best ideas anyway.

Q: Why would you befoul such a nice strip by introducing politics?

A: Because it's something I think about, which makes it legitimate strip material. I don't insert political topics quite as much as I once did because I now have another strip that's almost entirely political ("I Drew This"), so I have another outlet; when current events turn up in O&M these days it tends to be pretty allegorical.

Q: Why would you befoul such a sharp political strip with apolitical, character-based storylines?

A: There's just no pleasing everyone.

Q: What are your influences?

A: Everyone—everyone—cites "Bloom County," "Calvin and Hobbes," and "Peanuts." Sigh...add my name to the list. I also grew up on "Pogo," "Doonesbury," "MAD" magazine, "The Simpsons," and British comedies like "Black Adder" and "Fawlty Towers," and all that stuff left a mark.

Q: Why do you sign your name upside down?

A: Because Berke Breathed, of "Bloom County," used to sign his name backwards, and I wanted to be unique in some similar way.

Q: So it doesn't say "NOSdWIS"?

A: No.

Q: How did you learn to draw?

A: By doing it when I should have been doing something constructive. And by never stopping. I also did take a few art classes at various times in life, so I can't claim to be completely self-taught.

I used to think it was better to let a drawing style grow organically, and to some extent I think it has to. However, there has to be a certain amount of understanding of how real objects look and move through space as well. Cartooning ought to be based on at least a basic understanding of how to draw real objects. That's something I've been working on.

Q: Why isn't this strip in newspapers?

A: It's in a few. I've tried for more, and for syndication. Their loss.

Q: Are the strips at least available in book form?

A: Yes; go here to order.

Q: I want to be an internet cartoonist. Do you have any advice?

A: Draw what makes you happy. It's so much more rewarding than drawing what you think people will like. Someone out there does think like you do, and that's your audience. It's not a great way to make money, but it can be very creatively fulfilling.

I'm definitely the wrong person to ask about promotion. I started this strip when things were pretty different than they are now.

Q: Hey, yeah, you have been doing this a long time, haven't you?

A: Yes. But it doesn't feel like it. Time slips away from you like that.

Q: What drawing media do you use?

A: I use smooth-surface bristol board for paper, because that way the ink doesn't bleed. Much of the strip's organic, thick-lined quality is owing to the application of ink with a small (size 1) brush—actually just a watercolor brush dipped in India ink. The rest of the lines, including lettering, panel borders and many of the details, are applied with technical pens. I used to use Micron disposable tech pens, and those work well, but if you can spare $50 for a set of refillable Rapidograph technical pens, it's well worth it.

Q: How long does it take you to draw a strip?

A: It varies, but usually between an hour and a half, and two and a half hours. It depends on whether I'm drawing characters, backgrounds or poses I don't usually draw; very familiar and static drawings take a lot less time.

Sunday strips, between the larger artwork and the detailed coloring, take me as much as six or seven hours all told, which is part of why I don't do them very often anymore.

Q: Is that all?

A: If you want to know more about something, write me and ask me. If that happens enough times, it'll surely wind up here.