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 The Skinny Nameless Punk came
about as a one-shot gag, in 1994, during one of Rupert Bottenberg's comic
jams at the old Stornaway gallery on St-Alexandre street in Montreal. I
drew the cartoon, and Richard Gagnon inked it.
At the time it wasn't any different from the myriad
other panels and cartoons started in the Stornaway basement without any
idea of how they would end. However, I recall this page being one of the
first things that he and I worked on together exclusively, without the
input of other artists. We found that our talents complemented each
other's, and this was the start of both a working relationship and
continuing friendship.
It was Rick's idea to turn the comic jam gag into a
strip. I get to create the characters, and think up a lot of the stories
(though most of them come when we "brainstorm" together in regular
meetings at a tavern or over Chinese food). Rick fills in my sketchy
pencils with his meticulous lines and textures in ink.
What else to say? The original Punk was simply someone
so dense he was close to brain dead. He's still a lot like that: he's kept
his spiked dog collar, and grown tall spiky hair. He's not really skinny,
the way I draw him, more badly nourished from the diet of junk food and
garbage can leavings he eats. In the strip he's evolved into a kind of
universal victim, but he has a toughness, innocence, and an openness to
new experiences that I like.
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