Bonifay native brings Boy on a Stick and Slither to Comic-Con

By Angie Cook

Published: August 8, 2006

“Exhibiting at Comic-Con is the bar for anyone who seriously wants to draw comics for a living,” he says. And that’s just what he wants to do—draw comics for a living.

Cloud, one of three sons of Lawrence Cloud of Bonifay and Susie Mabius of Panama City, recalls the comic strips that first caught his eye while growing up in the panhandle.

“I remember looking at the Sunday comics before I could read and pretending to get the jokes. I read lots of Hagar the Horrible and The Wizard of Id. I also liked Family Circus when the strip was just a dotted line that illustrated the path of one of the kids, usually Billy.”

As he got older, Cloud’s taste evolved into an appreciation for syndicated comics Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side, and more esoteric fare such as Bloom County.

After graduating from Florida State University in 1995 with a degree in communications/advertising, he made a life for himself working for advertising agencies as an art director. These jobs took him from Connecticut to California and back to New York. Cloud currently resides in Brooklyn, N.Y., with his wife, Ellie Jostad.

If it sounds like comics took a back seat to his award-winning advertising career, Cloud describes why. “After I graduated college, I had almost given up on the idea of becoming a cartoonist. It seemed, or people would tell me, that it was too competitive or that drawing comics wasn’t a proper way to make a living.”

But in 1997, Cloud’s dream of being a cartoonist was given new hope by way of the Internet. “I noticed other people were drawing comics and posting them online. It seemed too good to be true. I had found a completely revolutionary way to create and distribute a comic. There was no need to submit to syndicates, publications and publishers. I could develop a worldwide audience simply by posting a comic to my Web site on a regular basis,” he explains.

Cloud’s sketch book, always at hand, is where he scribbles ideas for characters and strips. And in 1998, from the doodles it contains, emerged two simple characters—a boy whose round head sits atop a literal stick of a body, and a snake.

Boy on a Stick and Slither (BOASAS) began to take shape in the late ‘90s. The two main characters’ personalities solidified, with Boy on a Stick’s idealism complimenting Slither’s cynicism. Through thoughtful use of space and color, Cloud started to create surreal backdrops for their silly and existential exchanges. With the elements falling into place, the only question left was how to employ the “revolutionary way” of distributing the strip.

Cloud’s weekly updates to the BOASAS Web site eventually tripled, giving more to the fans who were finding him on the Web. But the site alone wasn’t getting him the exposure he wanted. If bypassing traditional publishing methods was to be done with any success, he would need some help.

Enter Dumbrella and Comic-Con.

Dumbrella, as co-founder and author of the online comic Diesel Sweeties, R. Stevens calls it, is a consortium of like-minded Web-cartoonists who “work together to be more visible.”

Stevens recalls how Cloud first got involved with Dumbrella, “I’ve been a fan of (Cloud’s) for years. I just needed the right moment to get him into the group.”

“We all respected his work, but it really came down to whether or not he could fit in personality-wise. Cartoonists are weird, especially us!”

For Cloud, getting a chance to interact with the Dumbrella crew face-to-face in 2005 was all it took. Their personalities meshed and Stevens says that Dumbrella members unanimously voted him in following last year’s Con.

This year, Cloud attended Comic-Con International as a member of Dumbrella and he says the experience has been very beneficial. “When I first attended Comic-Con, I was virtually unknown; but since I’ve joined the most popular group of Web comics, Dumbrella, my Web site traffic has quadrupled. I’ve also met many publishers, syndication big-wigs and made some new best friends.”

Cloud seems pleased with the direction BOASAS is taking, both creatively and professionally. Though almost exclusively published on his Web site, BOASAS has been seen in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Esquire magazine.

He also enjoys the offline exposure Comic-Con and Dumbrella have afforded him. “Drawing a comic is a solitary endeavor,” he says, “so getting out of the house and socializing with fans and other cartoonists is a good thing.”

That solitary endeavor is now an integral part of Cloud’s daily life. His wife, however, is pleased that he’s not so involved in the process that she can’t get his attention. “He’s pretty cool about me interrupting him.” Jostad says. “I really admire his determination to be a successful cartoonist. As a bit of a dilettante myself, I’m amazed at his dedication. It’s not just a ‘hobby’ to him.”

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On the net:

http://www.boasas.com

http://www.dumbrella.com

http://www.comic-con.org