Frequently Asked Questions

Well, the comic hasn't actually been around long enough for people to ask many questions, so along with answering a few that have been asked, I'll answer some that people might ask, if they had the time.

Q: Where do you get ideas for your comic?

A: There is really no good answer for this one. I base most comics off of a single gag, joke, or idea that I come up with. Some of these come from people around me, but most come in a split second of creativeness. I'm a comedian at heart, and there's really no way to learn how to create things. You just do.

Q: Where did you learn to draw?

A: Jeez, if I had a dollar for every time I was asked this... Well, the answer is everywhere. I've been drawing ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil, and most of my stuff over the years has sucked horribly. The only way I've really improved has been copying the work of others.

First, I copied western-style superhero comics. I have about a billion drawings of Spider-Man scattered around my notebooks. This is around when I finally started drawing skeletons for my characters before I fleshed them out, and thus also when they stopped being horrendously bad. Drawing all those spandex-clad people also gave me a decent handle on human anatomy and musculature.

Later, I discovered and Anime. I didn't adopt much of the genre in terms of my drawing's bodies, But I quickly integrated the large eyes and flamboyant hair into the faces of my characters. I also learned how to draw half-decent clothing. Superhero comics are great for lots of things, but all that spandex gives nothing in the way of practice drawing clothes.

Finally, a few years later I discovered webcomics. With the huge variety of styles the internet made available, I quickly picked up small details that I liked from certain comics and incorporated them into my art.

I'm also beginning to define my own style more. For instance, in my more recent comics, I've been making the heads and eyes smaller, and the chins and noses larger. This is pretty much the exact opposite of the style found in anime, which I've taken so much inspiration from over the years, but I really like the effect.

Q: How do you make your comic?

A: The process is quite complicated, but I'm in the middle of putting together a tutorial.

Q: Do you do commissions?

A: Not at the moment. I'm still a newcomer to this industry, and I don't really have the time or resources to do that right now. I'm also not quite sure my talents could live up to the expectations of paying customers.

Q: Hey, _____ in your comic looks a lot like ____ from _____....

A: All the stuff in AIAFLW is either made up by me, or has happened in real life. (or a combination of the two) Any content that is not 100% original EvilChihuahua material is credited to it's rightful creators.

Q: Is Josh Emo?

A: No, not really. He's more of a faux-mo. While he's quite preoccupied with the fairer sex, he never gets all weepy over a girl. He prefers to get angsty and sullen. He doesn't have the self esteem problems usually associated with Emos either. One might even call him a little arrogant. But he does have Emo hair. Why?. Because it cuts itself! Seriously, the hair is cool, no?

Q: Hey, for a comic called "Angst is a Five Letter Word", your comic sure isn't very angsty...

A: When I originally wrote the comic, I was much angstier than I am now. By the time I put the comic online, my personality had changed drastically, but since I was remaking comics I had written a while ago, I picked the current title, figuring the comic was still going to come off pretty angsty. To my surprise, the tone's actually been rather light, but I don't want to change the title all that much. It's still a lot more related to the comic than a lot of webcomic titles I've seen.

Q: Are the characters in the comic based on real people? If so, do they look and act the same?

A: The comic is based mainly on me and my family and friends, so for the most part, yes. But there are certainly made up characters too (Like Chang and everyone in the Zen Master story arc).

As for their appearances, it's impossible for me to keep them up to date. At least one character would change almost every week, making it rather hard to recognize them. To avoid this, I've decided that their appearance won't change at all. They may change clothes, but their hair and faces will stay the same. And all of the characters look like their real-life counterparts did at some point in time. I alas, due to uniform regulations at the school I go to, no longer have my awesome hair.

Personality-wise, It's a little less so. Since there are quite a few of them, I've reduced my family members to one or two key personality traits, to make it easier to get to know them without too much backstory. My Mom and Dad, for instance, are usually quite fun, so that's what I've made their "thing". They can be quite serious too, especially my dad, but I made that my role in the comic. Danielle can be freakishly cheerful, but to give her a little distinction from my parents, I've chosen to emphasize her first child, all-buisness side. Deron... he's the gamer. I've given Josh (me) both serious and fun sides, (usually the opposite of the people around him) because as the main character, one-sidedness is a little more evident.

Indextemplate design by Ping Teo of The Jaded. The 'Charcoal Indextemplate' is free-use for all Keenspacers.

Angst is a Five Letter word is hosted on Keenspace, a free webhosting and site automation service for webcomics.

All content Copyright Josh Tompke 2006-2007. Don't make me send my goons after you, 'cause I will.