Can anyone construct a concrete profile of this C. Onstad?

[Kai]

I'm sure this has been gone over.  I just joined.  Bear with me.

It's just that I've been trying for a long time, based on the comic and alt text and on the baby updates and photos of his dogs and house to build myself a Chris Onstad I can imagine sitting there posting these comics in the middle of the night.  In his interviews though, which he often seems to do in character, and his blog, you can never be sure which details you're getting are true.  He has said, for example, at various junctures, that
1.  He has an Asian wife. (Liz though, not Frances.)
and 2. He is a fat person.  (This is corroborated by his obsession with cookery, and his computer job, but then he draws himself as thin, with fashionable sneakers.)

But in looking up the Stanford Chapparal and what fellow cartoonists have to say about him and in Googling him extensively I've never been able to figure out if anything he's ever said is true.  

What I'm wondering is if anyone has come up with any outside evidence as to there even being a physical Chris Onstad, and who he might be.

And do you think he's narcissistic enough, and has enough spare time, to look at his own fan sites and then post anonymous replies throwing the nerds who adulate him off the trail?

[Null]

To be honest, I don't really care what Chris Onstad looks like or eats or is married to or has for philosophical beliefs.

I just like Achewood.  

If it were revealed that there is NO Chris Onstad, but the comic is produced by an anonymous collective of artists and writers, I'd still read it, and I'd still enjoy it.

The work is the work.  It generally doesn't matter who the worker is.  (Generally.)

[side_show]

God, yeah, I just really don't care at all - what he's like, what he looks like, if it's boxers or briefs.  I have no interest in speculating.  I do think he's done a great job of creating a strong sense of distance between himself and his fans - a very smart thing to do as his fame grows.  Whether he actually does dislike his readers or not, behaving as though he does is fairly brilliant - and also sort of punk rock.  At the time that the earlier dumbrella board, which he posted on quite frequently, went down, it seemed a little hurtful, almost felt that we had been shunned, but when I now look at it in perspective, I much prefer his absence, and recognize the patent intelligence in him distancing himself from his audience.

[V-Adore]

I'm curious: why is this thread necessary? Would anyone quit reading Achewood if it turns out that Onstad is fat? Or thin? Or a being of pure mental power?

As far as I'm concerned, his personal life is not my business. Side_show is very right; it's been his right to distance himself from his fans, and all I can do as a fan is to respect that.

[pmcd9]

I call bullshit.  I'd say that every single person on this board is interested in what Chris Onstad is really like.

~Paul

[Golfhaus]

I second that. I doubt anyone would turn down a chance to have dinner with him. I sure wouldn't, esp. given his obsession towards food.

It's only natural to have some kind of curiousity as to who the person is who creates the artwork that one keeps coming back to day after day. It's like looking at the works of Picasso and deciding that yes, they are very nice, but who really cares about the person who painted them?

Not that I'm comparing Onstad to Picasso. Picasso never drew cats sitting on toilets.

[CortJstr]

Wasn't he at the Dumbrella booth at an SPX-esque event early in the strip's life? I'm sure one of the Dumbrellites saw him.

[wombat]

If it were revealed that there is NO Chris Onstad, but the comic is produced by an anonymous collective of artists and writers, I'd still read it, and I'd still enjoy it.

This would really freak me out and perhaps ruin it. Not just for Achewood but for any creative work that I was really attached to. Which is kind of interesting.

But where did you find a picture of his dog?  I'm sure I still haven't seen a picture of his dog.

[side_show]

I call bullshit.  I'd say that every single person on this board is interested in what Chris Onstad is really like.

~Paul

No, I disagree.  Working in the entertainment business means I get to meet a lot of the artists whose work I've seen many times - often before meeting them, and at this point, I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather not know.  Just last night I went out with the playwright of the play I just directed, I always hate doing this because you hear about the origins of things, the fact that a character is based on someone they know, etc. - so that rather than taking your understanding from your own ideas and insights, you have no choice but to know the true root.  If art is a mirror to reality, it must be a mirror to each audience member's individual interpretation of that reality, not specifically to the creator's reality.  Otherwise, in an odd way, it becomes depersonalized - becomes a selgiraffe act, instead of a universally human thing.  When it came to the playwright last night, some of the things she told me about the content and meaning of the play broke my heart -I'd have really rather not known, and I liked my own understanding much, much better.  She talked about how one incident in the play was based on her daughter, that another character was based on a friend who died.  Beyond the fact that these details were unimportant to the actual plot of the play, they also made me realize that she, as an artist, like most artists, isn't a genuis, just good at seeing interesting details and telling stories.  I know, as is always the case, that if I could have just said a perfunctory hello to the playwright, rather thans spending a night drinking with her, that I'd be much happier.

Same thing when it comes to Onstad.  I don't want to know the back story, I like my backstory.

Golfhaus is right about one thing though, it would be hard to turn down dinner.  Mostly because I love you guys and I know you'd be tickled to know exactly what was served, and also I have to imagine the meal would be really, really good.  Hand made croquettes anyone?

[V-Adore]

When it came to the playwright last night, some of the things she told me about the content and meaning of the play broke my heart -I'd have really rather not known, and I liked my own understanding much, much better.  She talked about how one incident in the play was based on her daughter, that another character was based on a friend who died.  Beyond the fact that these details were unimportant to the actual plot of the play, they also made me realize that she, as an artist, like most artists, isn't a genuis, just good at seeing interesting details and telling stories.

Yeah, I get you 100%. I'm taking a literature course this semester, and in lecture the prof has explained just how each book as informed by the author's own life. Learning that one of the novels we just read involved the main character's life mirroring the author's to a quite frankly ludicrous degree really made me think less of it. I understand drawing inspiration from your own life, but writing thinly-veiled autobiography has always confused me.

To answer Paul: were Chris Onstad more accessible, you're right that I wouldn't mind knowing more about him personally. However, such knowledge is not necessary for my continued enjoyment of Achewood, and I am more than willing to respect his already-expressed reticence to explain the details of his life. That's his choice, and I won't go against him on it.

[Kai]

So everyone's a rabid fan, but no-one's ever actually talked to the guy or had the balls to stalk him.  That's all I wanted to know.  

And thank you pmcd9 for outing our collective, thinly veiled voyeurism.

'God, yeah, I just really don't care at all - what he's like, what he looks like, if it's boxers or briefs.  I have no interest in speculating.'

Yeah right.

One more thing: Golfhaus, if you ever in fact want the dirt on Picasso (and Matisse, into the bargain,) read Gertrude Stein's "Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas".  Her insights are simply faaaaaascinating, especially for those of us who like to pretend they know about art.





come on do you like 2 eat pizza

[arkabee]

So everyone's a rabid fan, but no-one's ever actually talked to the guy or had the balls to stalk him.  That's all I wanted to know.  

that's very sad.  some day, i hope you have bigger goals.

[Kai]

That's very sad.  Some day, I hope you have bigger balls.

[arkabee]

That's very sad.  Some day, I hope you have bigger balls.

why?

[wombat]

So everyone's a rabid fan, but no-one's ever actually talked to the guy or had the balls to stalk him.  That's all I wanted to know.  

I resent that.  I did stalk his dog on the internet, after all.

But I never found a picture. Give it up, dammit!