Monday, October 7, 1985/The Battalion/Page 7
Waldo
Music video prompts cartoon depicting lifestyles at A&M
By JEAN MANSAVAGE
Reporter
Texas A&M cartoonist Kevin
Thomas, creator of The Battalion
comic strip Waldo, has been drawing
cartoons since he was a child.
As he sits at his cluttered yet orga
nized desk in Moses Hall, Thomas
describes the development of his in
terest in cartooning.
“I’ve always just enjoyed doing it,”
Thomas says.
“When I was in junior and senior
high school I drew cartoons for the
school newspaper. The cartoons
dealt with student and teacher situa
tions.”
Following graduation from a Mil
waukee high school, Thomas contin
ued his education.
Before coming to Texas A&M he
attended Bell and Howell technical
schools in Phoenix, Ariz., and Kan
sas City, Mo., and graduated from
the program. Thomas also took
classes at North Harris County Col
lege in Houston.
In each of those cities Thomas
continued to use his creativity.
“It has always been a constant
thing,” he says. “I’d draw cartoons
about the schools I went to and the
places I worked at. Sometimes I
would draw maps with goofy land
marks for party givers.
“Last spring my brother reacti
vated my interest in serious cartoo
ning.”
Thomas’ brother had been mak
ing about $100 extra a month by
submitting humorous material to
comedy services.
The idea of getting paid for writ-
Waldo
ing jokes was very appealing to
Thomas.
The renewed cartooning interest
led to the creation of two comic
strips before Waldo, his third, was
accepted by The Battalion.
The first, Captain Tamu, was an
Aggie who turned into Captain
Tamu whenever traditions were
threatened.
The second, Sully, had Sul Ross
statue and a friendly pigeon observ
ing and commenting on Texas A&M
student life. Now, Waldo runs in
The Battalion daily.
“I stole the idea from a Van Halen
rock and roll video,” he explains.
“The main character in the video
was a nerd who just didn’t fit in.”
Thomas developed that idea into
Waldo. He is a character who wants
to be like everyone else, but always
comes out second best.
Waldo and his roommate Wade
observe everyday life at Texas A&M.
If Waldo chooses to become in
volved, he remains a neutral charac
ter, Thomas says.
The success of getting his comic
strip run in the paper has led
Thomas to solicit his material to
other comedy services.
Kevin Thomas
Reaching for one of his writer’s
how-to books from amid his com
puter science texts, Thomas explains
that submitting gags to those services
requires following certain rules of
protocol.
“You could come up with a great,
fantastic joke, but you don’t just call
up Bob Hope and say ‘Hey, I have a
great joke for you,’ ” he says.
“There are certain ways to approach
joke services.”
Thomas exhibits index cards
upon which are his neatly typed
g“gs-
He has Reebok shoe boxes filled
with material and copies of letters he
has submitted to the addresses that
by Kevin Thomas
line the pages of those writer’s how
to books.
Though some of his gags are in
the correct channels for future pro
fessional use, Thomas does not fore
see a total committment to cartoon
ing in the near future.
“My studies are my first priority,
and there just isn’t enough time to
fully commit to a strip any more
complicated than Waldo,” Thomas
says.
cur/
Developing ideas for the strip is
not one of the time problems for
Thomas.
On a legal pad tacked to the wall
under his loft are enough ideas to
last him the rest of the semester, he
says.
Thomas says he hopes that those
ideas do not offend too many of the
people too much of the time. He
wants readers to enjoy Waldo.
“When I watch people read
Waldo, I love to see them smile,” he
says with a grin.
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