Interview With Lloyd Dangle, Author of Troubletown - Page 2

When I was younger I drew “relationship” comics. Love is a universal subject and I seemed to be so good at getting myself into screwed-up relationships that I became an expert in dysfunction. That kind of drama was very relevant to me, and the cartoons went over pretty well. Eventually I got into a healthy relationship––and nobody wants to read about that. I was so happy when my son, Oscar, was born, in fact, that I wrote three Troubletowns about being a new parent. Never have I received so much hate mail! The truth is that I always write cartoons about what is relevant to me at the moment. With the worst president in history and our liberties and values under threat, I can hardly imagine writing cartoons about other things right now.   

What’s it like to hear someone like the late great Molly Ivins praise you with the words on the back of the book?

Ivins wrote in this column:

While we have been absorbed in the silly circus of cultural issues and the riveting questions of the war, we've also been getting our pockets picked. Big time. I am impressed that cartoonist Lloyd Dangle in the strip "Troubletown" managed to get the whole problem into 12 panels, each announcing some piece of economic news accompanied by an American saying, essentially, "What, me worry?"

I always loved reading her columns; she knew her stuff and she had a great sense of humor. So, yes, it was fantastic. I didn’t beg her for the quote, either, it actually came from a column she wrote in which she used a cartoon of mine as the springboard for her lead. Somebody emailed me and said, “Have you read Molly Ivins’s latest column? She mentions you.” I couldn’t believe it. It was so cool. 

What was your goal with this book? Did you accomplish it?Since I draw Troubletown in weekly installments I’m never sure whether, taken all together, it forms a coherent story, or whether what I do is equivalent to the random neuron firings by a jellyfish being prodded by a stick. Well, to my surprise in editing this book, not only did it make a compelling document for our times, I discovered that I had been right about…everything! Even things I forgot being right about I had been right about.

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

Visit Scott Butki's author page — Scott Butki's Blog