I Come Out Of A Cold War

When I Am Working A Book, I Go Through My Library And Take A Look Through Some Of The Great Cartoonists Of The Past, Like Cliff Sterrett, Who Did "polly And Her Pals," Or Winsor Mccay Who Did "a Little Nemo In Slumberland," And Herriman - And I Just Looked Through These Guys And Looked For Somebody To Steal. You Know, Looked For Who I Could Swipe, Or Turn Into - Who's Work I Will Turn Into My Work. And I Still Use, After All These Years, These Artists As Inspirations. So, Here In My Eighties, I Go Back To When I Was Eight For My Inspiration.

I Come Out Of A Cold War Sensibility, A Cold War Mentality, And During Those Cold War Years, I Used To Know, I Thought, The Answers To Everything. And Since The End Of The Cold War, I'm Just A Dumb As Everyone Else.

Whatever New York Loses, If You Go To Other Cities Around The World, Or Around The Country, New York Still Has A Kind Of Energy Level You Find Nowhere Else. Paris Doesn't Have It, London Doesn't Have It, San Francisco, A Great City, Doesn't Have It.

I Have No Sense Of Direction; I Never Know Where I Am. When I Back Up A Car, I'm More Likely To Hit What's Behind Me Than Not, Because I Have No Vision For It. I've Never Been Able To Play Games Or Play Cards Because I Can't In My Head Get The Next Move. I've Never Been Able To Balance A Checkbook. So There's Some Brain Damage, But It May Be That Very Brain Damage That Allows Me To Do The Work I Do. I've Never Met A Cartoonist Who Isn't Quirky Or Weird In Some Ways.

Remember When You Were A Kid And The Boys Didn't Like The Girls? Only Sissies Liked Girls? What I'm Trying To Tell You Is That Nothing's Changed. You Think Boys Grow Out Of Not Liking Girls, But We Don't Grow Out Of It. We Just Grow Horny. That's The Problem. We Mix Up Liking Pussy For Liking Girls. Believe Me, One Couldn't Have Less To Do With The Other.