Chris Shadoian - Writer / Artist
Current favorite film: "My Neighbor Totoro"
There's no real "crew" for Popcorn Picnic. There's just me: Chris. I can still tell you a bit about myself, though.

The first thing I can remember drawing, the first real, visual memory of myself sitting on the floor with a pen and paper, is a big circle surrounded by swirling lines. I was trying to capture the conclusive heroic scene of "Superman: The Movie," in which Supes flies around the Earth to reverse time. If I remember correctly it wasn't the best representation, but I proved myself a geek from the get-go. My current gut reaction to thinking about that scene -- Superman would have killed every living thing on the planet by spinning it backwards -- proves I very much still am.

I drew a daily comic strip called "The Adventures of Fred" for two-and-a-half years of college, and, after burning myself out on several generic graphic design jobs, stumbled into a dream job as a book designer for Kitchen Sink Press, one of the first "alternative" comic publishing companies. Yes, they're out of business, and no, it wasn't cause and effect. Working there made me realize I could actually make a living with comics -- specifically, comics that don't necessarily involve orphaned aliens in tights. It's been all downhill since.

Not really, of course. I love comics, even though there's no guarantee of big money. But I still dream of making a living with my comics and ONLY my comics, which is why I turned to the Web.

I started experimenting with a usually-long-form-story comic, "Streets of Northampton," on my pal Bryant Johnson's Tragi-Comix website, where you can still see its vestiges. After a bit, Joey Manley took note and convinced me to join his startup webcomics subscription site, Modern Tales, where the bulk of "Streets of Northampton" has been gathering dust for a year or so, behind MT's subscription wall. I loved drawing those stories for MT, and a few critics seemed to like 'em, but they didn't really catch on too well. I'm not in it for the money (if I were, I'd be an inker, letterer or colorist for some crap I don't care about), but working for MT made me realize I wasn't willing to draw comics no matter what. Some artists whip stuff out, no muss, no fuss. I'm not one of those artists. I'm super-critical of myself and kind of a perfectionist. It hurts to sit down in front of a blank piece of paper and know what I have to do, and I guess I need something in return. Money, love, something.

So how to remain true to the individual, artistic nature I discovered at KSP and win the hearts (and maybe even wallets) of the world? I may never know, but Popcorn Picnic is my latest attempt at uncovering the secret.