Comedy.com Interviews Comic Book Legend R. Sikoryak

For the past 20 years, R. Sikoryak has been perfecting his ability to parody other writers and artists, culminating in the release of Masterpiece Comics, a must-own for comedy geeks of any age.  His hilarious cartoons have been featured in “Nickelodeon Magazine,” “The New Yorker,” “The Onion,” on “The Daily Show” and in many prestigious comics anthologies. (Okay, he didn’t write one of these 10 Funniest Bill Watterson Comics or these 10 Funniest Dinosaur Comics Written By Twitter, but he is still AMAZING). At the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco last weekend, we had the chance to sit down with Sikoryak to learn more about his devilishly funny work and his favorite comedians.

Comedy.com: When you put together the book for Masterpiece Comics, did you realize it would blow everyone’s minds?

R. Sikoryak: [Laughs] Well you know, the best comedy I feel comes from shock and surprise. I always wanted to subvert the comics. And there’s a reason I chose these established iconic cartoonists: there’s nothing you can do to “Peanuts” that will destroy or take away from “Peanuts!” So there’s a desire to see how far one can push in parody.

C: How long have you been doing literature-based comic parodies?

RS: Well, almost 20 years. The first was in 1989: “Dante’s Inferno” as told through “Bazooka Joe.” The “Inferno Joe” strips, where each strip represents a circle of Hell, were done while I was actually working for Topps Candy.

C:  We can’t tell Jim Davis apart from your Jim Davis. How do you mimic so perfectly?

RS: First, I’m a huge fan of these comics, so these strips are in my bones before I started to parody. I start by collecting as much of the work of the person I’m parodying as possible. I’d go through my collection and photocopy and cut and paste elements of their earliest and latest compositions as reference. I go as far as their lettering–it gets really geeky!

C: Were you a formal art student?

RS: Yeah, I went to Parsons School of Design in New York, where I actually teach now.  But one problem with going to school for illustration was that you would get teachers who’d say, “You have to choose a style, you have to work one way,” and to build a portfolio around one identifiable way of working. But I liked using different media, and was influenced by cartoonists like Gary Panter, who would jump around from style to style. I had be careful how closely I was influenced by his work.  I didn’t want to become a parody of him when he was still working– less flattering then!

C: When creating these parodies, do you adapt the book into comic form or turn a comic strip into a piece of literature.

RS: I like to play with both sides… it’s hard to say what comes first. Sometimes I think, ‘What can I do with Little Lulu?” Other times I think in terms of juxtapositions. Like, 1940’s Superman and his American can-do-ism would be a hilarious way to tell Albert Camus’ existential novel The Stranger, which was written the same time that Joe Shuster was drawing Superman.

C: You have quite a following. What’s been your craziest fan request for Masterpiece?

RS: Oh yes, when people come to signings, they have everything thing you’ve ever done — bringing entire anthologies and all my magazine work!

You know, someone at a signing once asked me to do Moby Dick with the “Nancy” strip. I’m not sure how that would work– who plays the whale? Is Moby on land? Surely he knew better, because I just didn’t see what he saw.  [Laughs]

C: As a humorist, what shows and comedians do you like?

RS: Well, I tend to work for for people I am a fan of myself, so I love The Daily Show, of course, and The Onion, and Sacha Baron Cohen comes to mind.  He just so immerses himself in a character — he really lives them out. He’s like a method comedian.

C: That’s a lot like your method in order to parody your subjects.

RS: [Laughs] You know, I never thought of that until just now.  I try to never break character.

[Editor's Note: It's true!  He even gets the same brushes and works on the same page size that his subjects use(d).  It's hardcore.]

C: Masterpiece Comics represents 20 years of your parody art. What’s in store for the next 20 years?

RS: [Laughs] Well, I don’t know. I’d like to keep doing these comics.  However, I’m also doing other stuff.  Right now, I’m working on a “Dennis the Menace” parody of Hamlet called, “The Menace of Denmark.” It’s going well.

C: Thank you so much! Could you draw us a sketch for us to show off? Our favorite is “Mephistofield!“

RS: Of course!

R. Sikoryak lives and works in New York City, and is currently on tour to promote Masterpiece Comics. His next stops will be the Boston Book Fair and The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont. Follow R. Sikoryak on Twitter.  Looking for other great people to follow on Twitter?  Check out 10 Surprisingly Musicians Who Twitter and our “Karate Kid” Twitter.

Written by Amanda Meadows and Geoffrey Golden, who geeked all over themselves during this interview!