I create one-panel comics about absurd situations, and here are my top 20 works

Hi guys, my name is Steven Garza. I am a professional stand-up comedian and joke-teller. I’m always looking for new ways to convey my jokes. For me, cartooning developed slowly. This was an idea I had been working on for years but had never paid attention to. Finally, after years of procrastination I decide to give it a try. The only problem was that I couldn’t draw. 7 years ago I went to Blick’s to buy a sketch pad and pencils. When I sat down at home and started drawing with a pencil on paper, I realized that this cartoon path would not be easy. Eventually, after years of practice with the help of “How To” books and countless pages of crumpled paper, I started posting them online. To my surprise, I received some positive feedback.

Fret Buzzed is a comic about two personalities. On one hand, the four-panel film follows the storyline of two middle-aged failed musicians desperately trying to keep their dreams alive while finding balance in their adult lives. Fret Buzzed’s single-panel gags are a different story. I use them for any out-of-the-box ideas that work better as non-sequiturs. Although sometimes these two concepts overlap. You can see characters from my four-panel strip appearing in my single panels. I look at these as Easter eggs for those familiar with my work. Readers familiar with the characters may see them in absurd situations outside the storyline.

Credit: Steven Garza

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My biggest creative influence has been Matt Groening, creator of the comic strip Life in Hell and, of course, the greatest animated series of all time, The Simpsons. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to somehow be a part of the show The Simpsons. Not knowing how to do this, I decided to make my cartoon. I read that Mr. Groening began his career by posting his cartoons weekly in Los Angeles. I decided to try the same. Even though newspapers aren’t what they once were for cartoons, I started presenting Fret Buzzed. I still get excited every time I see my cartoon published in the newspaper.