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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1989)
Monday, August 28,1989 The Battalion Page 5D iasoii ion Cartoonist Profile: Kevin Thomas “Waldo” By Keith Spera y according^, are offered ler, the OP j be equalh J jrrogram hy r two test eJ Of The Battalion Staff n showed aiirl^U—— id familv-nriJmRemember the little geek who gets the BryanC:| sent to school in Van Halen’s “lot For Teacher” video? ecutive direr■ He became an inspiration to Ke- nse to the tklw 1 Thomas — an inspiration for sitrve. W' 1110 draw, anyway, y successful BThe kid in the video gave Thomas ruraging. k ffi 6 ‘d 63 f° r ^is character Waldo, signed toe w | 10 * s sl;ar Thomas’ cartoon in the Bnr t* 16 same name. ■ First gracing the pages of The also want toi n 19B5, “Waldo” has pie buyingr] grown over the years to encompass a ' Black rem | FAS Jr. eve uitarist andu in. Althotiri deal work several tele :ie “Makes • “National series, te Secret Gijfi I. The Trj ction is a rj selling ame. Louisville II perform s” Feb. 18.1 and sets higi lr. Toad ami host of unusual characters. Thomas hopes that he can develop the char acters and the strip as whole to the point that it is accepted by a newspa per syndicate and distributed na tionally. Thomas said he considers draw ing for The Battalion an invaluable learning experience, but he also says that it is not exactly a perfect situa tion. He believes that the paper should be distributed earlier in the day, which he thinks would make it possible for more students to read The Battalion. “People don’t get into the groove of reading it,” he said. “They think of it like those tabloids things that are free. Only a small percentage of the students can read it on a regular basis.” This, he says, takes away from the readership of “Waldo.” “People can’t follow it every day,” Thomas said. “I do continuous sto ries. It’s tough to expect people who want to read it to be able to actually follow it every day.” For those who do read “Waldo” this semester, they will get to hear about campus topics through the eyes of Waldo and friends. A new plot twist will be the springboard for Thomas’ discussions of campus life. “The basic plot is going to be that a robot is going to replace President Mobley,” Thomas said. By putting a character in a posi tion of power, Thomas said he can address a variety of issues directly. Probable topics include sports and, more specifically, football ticket dis tribution, the MSC oaks controversy (should they stay or should they go?) and graduate student health insur ance. Thomas is especially sensitive to the grad school issue. “I’m considering going to grad school (he has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and is currently working for the architecture depart ment), but I don’t know how I’d make it,” he said. Thomas said he tries to avoid be- the University. They may not change the world, but they can make people notice things.” As an example of a cartoon reach ing “the right person,” Thomas cited a cartoon he drew for the opinion page of The Battalion. In the car toon, Thomas contrasted a jam- packed intramural weight room with 66 Fhe right people do read the cartoons. In their own small way, cartoons can have a positve effect on the University. — Kevin Thomas, Cartoonist ing too preachy in his cartoons, and wants to stay away from the typical satirical targets, like A&M’s tradi tions. “I don’t want to be on a soapbox,” Thomas said. “But lots of issues need to be pointed out. The right people do read the cartoons some times. In their own small way, car toons can have a positive effect on an unused athletic weight room. “I heard that one of the adminis trators involved in making decisions about who uses athletic facilities was carrying that cartoon around with him,” Thomas said. Some of the feedback Thomas re ceives from his work is negative. A couple of years ago, a controversy erupted when a female student was LOSES I DON'T OH, TOR FEEL GOOD? ) CRYING OUT LOUD? HEAD" NED WALDO dr. GLADSTONE SORLY THE GH05T SAY, YOU ARE SICK! YOU’VE GOT A FEVER! DR. GLADSTONE? COME QUICK! WYLBUR HAS A FEVER? Q 03 03 & fS\ l qL thrown out of the perimeter area at the bonfire site. Thomas did a “Wal do” cartoon that painted an unflat tering portrait of the residents of Davis-Gary Hall by blaming them for the incident. “Apparently the guys who actually did it had switched helmets with the guys from Davis-Gary, so the Davis- Gary guys were upset that I made fun of them when they hadn’t actu ally done anything,” Thomas said. The presence of four cartoonists working for The Battalion has in trigued Thomas, as it has the other cartoonists. “There’s going to be competition between us,” Thomas said. “But if it’s used in a positve way, it can push the envelope in certain ways and give you new ideas. Whatever it is that makes certain people enjoy “Waldo” is beyond the grasp of its creator. “There’s a certain appeal to those who like it, but it’s hard to put it in a word or phrase,” Thomas said. “It’s weird because whatever works, you just say, ‘It works.’ ” GOOD G05H? WYLBUR HAS A COMPUTER VIRUS! Roach *i 5 known bs ts which coi nd visual ai both to eta ries she tel ;nts will bei ions in ft® 1 will be oflt nts to cho® n. performi r ail four Of irehasedfot! [ lice. The # season tide I'M AFRAID THERE ISN'T A CURE' WAIT! A guy ON TV SAYS HE CAN CURE COMPUTER VIRUSES? HELLO'? VIRUS-MAN? WE'VE GOT A SICK COMPUTER? l I / ,T IS f (^VIRUSMAN " ,r v 'V' 1 VIRUSMAN? CAN YOU FIX WYLBUR? HOW ABOUT FIXING THE HOLE IN THE WALL! HMM. THIS WILL BE A TRICKY PROCEDURE, BUT DON'T WORRY! HE WON'T FEEL A THING! KK-POHf/ iy villbep 125-28. • 45th seas 1 will spo« fheatre 8' iy, which'* Royal St 3 id ’ Natif rming a vet to be 3. nain i >0 have ition of will becoH ition of jys suck I ' id “Stonfi HE'S cured! no more VIRUS! I'LL SEND YOU A BILL] TA! tinkle! WYL BUR'S THIS IS GREAT? I CAN MOVE INTO HIS ROOM NOW? EVEN THOUGH IT SEEMED HOPELESS, DR. GLADSTONE AND WALDO SET THEMSELVES TO PUTTING WYLBUR BACK TOGETHER. IT WAS A SLOW AND PAINSTAKING TASK TO SCAVENGE FOR PARTS AND WIRE HIS BROKEN CIRCUITS, BUT IF THERE WAS A CHANCE TO SAVE THEIR FRIEND.... WELL...THE ONLY THING LEFT IS TO RE-LOAD .WYLBUR'S SOFTWARE' I'LL GET THE COMPUTER TAPE? NEC)' TAPE STORAGE Hunch/ hunch 1 ivitM idlllli* nts on 1 BAD LITTLE MUTANT? SERVES YOU RIGHT IF YOU'RE GETTING A TUMMY-ACHE? I GLUED THE REMAINING TAPE TOGETHER - I HOPE THIS WORKS? WYLBUR! HE'S BACK / HEY? HIS HEAD? THAT'S MY TV SET' LOOK, DR. GLADSTONE.' YOU GCrr A BILL HERE FROM VIRUSMAN! n I DON'T 'W r ME __ FEEL GOOOjM EITHERUPH OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! t and soil unyon Col/ putting ki i-dayemirf aid. envisions uttee andp isses plaiifi idents and* ents ai r some »hical n Center Ck ited 01 ason. v many! by, andk r by"' They ha« aid togeib jnvironiK 1 t son very roitf -y has If is, the ‘d -emonie! : :o attend^ feceptioi ; 1 4-8 p.it • Galleries invited 10; ndney & 1 r of the : e lecture. S ies: i begi' 8:30 p.ro Football, Friends & Flowers from Nita’s “A Winning Combination” [SC Fop low the LOWERS, INC. 919 S. Texas Ave. 822-1488 822-2631 ' V v searching for a place to buy your books? f&LOUPOT'SfP Northgate across from Post Office Redmond Terrace next to Academy Southgate on W. Jersey