Are you prepared for a quirky whirl of absurdity fellow squirrels? Today, we present a wildly random series by the legendary Ryan Mason, titled At Random Comics. Some of you might recall the artist’s earlier work that graced Bored Panda a while back and now we’re thrilled to showcase his latest batch of whimsical one-panel cartoons. These pieces feature characters stumbling into wildly illogical situations frequently laced with a touch of dark humor. Ryan shares how his journey into comics began It all started in 5th grade when my teacher had a shelf full of books you could borrow after finishing your assignments. It was there I first encountered The Far Side and I was hooked. While I had grown up with Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield comics from my dad and brother the single-panel style of Gary Larson’s work spoke to me. I later discovered other cartoonists who influenced him and Charles Addams became a major inspiration. Scroll down to witness Ryan’s newest creations and stick around for more insights about him in our exclusive interview.
More info: Instagram | patreon.com | Facebook | atrandomcomics.com
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Mason revealed a bit more about what initially pushed him toward comic art. Back in high school, a friend who worked for the school paper insisted I contribute some artwork, so I started drawing comics that were actually seen by people. It was pretty intimidating at first, but the reactions were so engaging, and I quickly got hooked on the idea of making people laugh. After that, I contributed to several college papers and have been creating a new webcomic every week since 2007.”
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When asked about his process for generating new comic strip ideas the mind behind At Random Comics shared. Most ideas come to me when I’m listening to music zoning out and letting my thoughts drift. Some comics come together smoothly while others require a lot of tweaking. Throughout the day, I jot down random ideas for future drawing sessions but after a while, some of them turn into cryptic puzzles. Recently, I’ve been using voice-to-text memos though I make sure I’m not around anyone who might think I’m completely strange.
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Finally, Ryan Mason shared his aspirations for At Random. I just want to keep expanding my audience and making people laugh. As a freelance illustrator and designer the more support I get on Patreon the more time I can devote to creating comics and making them more frequent. I recently attempted which didn’t quite work out to get into The New Yorker but I turned that into a positive by putting together a new ebook titled At Random Comics. The New Yorker Rejects are available for my Patreon supporters.
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