Influences

Where do you get your ideas?

Usually in the shower.

I'm always on the lookout for ideas. I read newspapers and magazines. I listen to gossip and watch people. I use personal problems or events.

I've accepted a few ideas from readers, and have rewarded their efforts with sketches, books, or roughs (depending on how much of the idea makes it into the finished strip).

- Carol Lay

At many comic conventions in Southern California, Carol met established and aspiring cartoonists and picked up her first work in comics by lettering other people’s stories. From there she taught herself to ink, write, pencil, and color stories; working for Hanna-Barbera comics, Western Publishing, DC and Marvel Comics, and various independents. She also drew commercially for Mattel; did storyboards for rock videos, feature films (Top Secret, Back to the Beach, among others), and commercials; and later worked in animation as a storyboard artist on several shows. But her first love was always comics. In 1990, Carol was invited to contribute a short serialized story to LA WEEKLY, which resulted in a 5-page piece titled, “The Thing Under the Futon.” The pay was several times what independent comics paid, the audience was larger and included women (!), so Carol pursued and landed a regular spot in the paper with a weekly comic strip. That strip continued for eighteen years in publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Salon.com.

Watch The Interview

Carol Talks about what influenced her to start comics and her book The Big Skinny