SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Previews
  • Reviews
  • Manga
  • All Ages
  • Young Adult
  • Interviews
  • News

June 11, 2010 by Snow Wildsmith

Interview: Dave McDonald

June 11, 2010 by Snow Wildsmith   3 comments

Continuing my interview series with comic creators who write and draw for kids and teens–all taken when I attended Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC–today’s interview (transcribed from the audio recording) features Dave McDonald, writer and artist for the self-published graphic novel The Secret Adventures of Hamster Sam: Attack of the Boll Weevils!, reviewed at Good Comics For Kids by my colleague Kate Dacey.

GCFK: What is your comic background? How did you first get started working in comics?

Dave: My background is in television, producer and director. I also worked in theme park entertainment, writing scripts for theme parks and designing and fabricating large costumes and puppets for parks. I got a gig touring a puppet production in schools and libraries, which gave me experience going into schools. At one point a client had a costume made of a fire dog for the Charlotte Fire Department. Blaze was his name and once they got the costume done, they said, “Dave, you did the design drawing for this character. How would you like to do an educational comic book?” I jumped all over the chance. And once I did that, the light went off and I thought, “I have to do this.” It’s similar to television, in that you’re kind of directing your own characters, but it’s on the page. So I was bitten by that bug and that’s how I got started.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

GCFK: Did you have a background in doing comic art or had you studied art in school?

Dave: I did not study art in school, but I had always used drawing as part of what I did in television. You do a lot of storyboarding, which is sketchy and pencilly at that point, but you’re getting experience drawing. And then in the theme park industry when you’re designing characters you always have to have a sketch. So I was always using drawing as some part of a job I was doing. I’m not classically trained at an art school; I’m self-taught.

GCFK: What were some of your influences? When you decided to start doing comics did you go and look at people whose style you liked and try to do something similar to them or did you just blaze your own trail?

Dave: I kind of had to blaze my own trail because of the way that I draw. I use simple shapes for my characters so that I know how to draw them over and over. My influences were the cartoon characters that I had watched on TV growing up—the Hanna Barbara stable, Rocky and Bullwinkle. Simple comic styles.

GCFK: Do you have people now whose work you are a fan of?

Dave: The people that are in comics now that I am a fan of are Franco Aureliani (Tiny Titans), Andy Runton (Owly) with his very simple style and brushwork, the brushwork of Walt Kelly (Pogo).

GCFK: Why a hamster? How did you come up with the idea for Hamster Sam?

Dave: I wanted to create a critter that young kids would be familiar with and I thought of a classroom setting. A lot of times in a classroom you have something in a cage, something in a bowl. They’ve got a snake, a lizard, a hamster. I wanted something familiar to kids, so it’s a classroom hamster who wants to get out of his cage and go on all kinds of adventures.

GCFK: And why did you decide to do a historical fiction story?

Dave: When I moved to the Carolinas from New York, I saw all these empty cotton mill buildings and I was curious. What went on in these buildings? I discovered the Gaston County Museum. They have a permanent exhibit of the cotton and textile industry. A light went off and I thought, “There’s a way to connect this to the classroom.” I wanted to take this as a subject and wrap a fun story around it and hopefully inspire kids to want to learn more about that industry and their own history.

GCFK: How did you go about publishing Hamster Sam?

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Dave: I think if I had known what was involved in self-publishing, I never would have done it! [laughs] It was a fun process, but it’s a learning process. You talk to other people, you go to conferences, you meet people who have done something. It’s about networking. “Who did you use for a printer? How did you go about marketing it? Where do you take the next steps to find distribution?” It’s still a learning process and I’ve been doing it for three years. I’ve enjoyed it!

GCFK: What new projects are you working on?

Dave McDonald, creator of Hamster Sam

Dave: Right now I’m working on a new character which is going to tie in with Hamster Sam. His name is Vincent Van Doodle, he’s a boy cartoonist and he is a fifth grader. He is going to become Hamster Sam’s creator; Hamster Sam will come to life out of his sketch book and they will go on adventures. I’m also here at the show promoting my cartooning kits. When I go into schools with my comics workshop programs, the kids always ask, “How can I take something home and learn how to create what you just taught me?” So I created a cartooning kit that I’m testing out here at Heroes Con, just to see what the reaction is.

GCFK: Do you have any tips for teachers, librarians, parents who are working with kids who love comics?

Dave: You should come to shows like this, Heroes Con, local conferences. Step out of your comfort zone a little bit and discover and talk to some of these creators. A lot of them may enjoy speaking to kids and educating kids. Talk to them and see if you can bring them to your school. Kids love meeting people who have created books and comics.

GCFK: What advice do you have for young comic creators?

Dave: I always tell them that anyone can draw and anyone can write. We already have that built into us. Some people think that they can’t write or they can’t draw. Their style may be different than someone else’s, but we can all practice and we can all get better. If you have a story to tell and you have a character in your head, then you can become a cartoonist. There are more opportunities these days, with digital outlets and the internet. There are tons of opportunities that may not have existed ten, twenty years ago with the more limited print outlets that there were. I think that self-publishing will just explode for kids.

Filed under: Interviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments

About Snow Wildsmith

Snow Wildsmith is a writer and former teen librarian. She has served on several committees for the American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association, including the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award Committee. She reviews graphic novels for Booklist, ICv2's Guide, No Flying No Tights, and Good Comics for Kids and also writes booktalks and creates recommended reading lists for Ebsco's NoveList database. Currently she is working on her first books, a nonfiction series for teens.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

November 2022

Shanti Rai Interviews Sas Milledge | Creators

by Snow Wildsmith

October 2022

'Let's Make History' with Nathan Hale | Interview

by Snow Wildsmith

September 2022

Danica Davidson on 'Chalk Art Manga' | Interview

by Snow Wildsmith

July 2022

'Lost' Dr. Seuss Book Revealed | News

by Snow Wildsmith

June 2022

Interview | "Uniquely Japan" author Abby Denson

by Snow Wildsmith

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Surprise! Announcing CABOOSE

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Jump Into this Guest Post by Shadra Strickland About Her Latest Book: Jump In!

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

The Archie Encyclopedia | Review

by J. Caleb Mozzocco

Heavy Medal

What’s Coming in 2023, A Feedback Poll, and Goodbye for Now…

by Steven Engelfried

Teen Librarian Toolbox

WRITING FOR YOURSELF FIRST, a guest post by author M. K. Lobb

by Karen Jensen, MLS

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

8 Pitch-Perfect Manga for Music-Loving Teens | Mondo Manga

First-Person Graphic Memoirs: 17 Recommended Titles

Best Graphic Novels 2019 | SLJ Best Books

Top 10 Manga of 2021

Top 10 Manga of 2020

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Scott Christian Sava says

    June 11, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    My kids LOVE Dave’s books! And Dave’s such a nice guy, too.
    Great interview!

  2. Snow Wildsmith says

    June 12, 2010 at 11:48 pm

    Aw, thanks Scott! We missed you at Heroes Con this year!

Trackbacks

  1. Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment says:
    June 14, 2010 at 2:20 pm

    […] | Snow Wildsmith interviews Dave McDonald and Andy Runton. [Good Comics for […]

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

Follow This Blog

Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

Primary Sidebar

  • News & Features
  • Reviews+
  • Technology
  • School Libraries
  • Public Libraries
  • Age Level
  • Ideas
  • Blogs
  • Classroom
  • Diversity
  • People
  • Job Zone

Reviews+

  • Book Lists
  • Best Books
  • Media
  • Reference
  • Series Made Simple
  • Tech
  • Review for SLJ
  • Review Submissions

SLJ Blog Network

  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal
  • Neverending Search
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn

Resources

  • 2022 Youth Media Awards
  • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
  • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
  • Summer Reading 2021
  • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
  • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
  • Summer Programming Survey
  • Research
  • White Papers / Case Studies
  • School Librarian of the Year
  • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
  • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

Events & PD

  • In-Person Events
  • Online Courses
  • Virtual Events
  • Webcasts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Media Inquiries
  • Newsletter Sign Up
  • Content Submissions
  • Data Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Terms of Sale
  • FAQs
  • Diversity Policy
  • Careers at MSI


COPYRIGHT © 2023


COPYRIGHT © 2023