43Kviews
21 Fresh One-Panel Comics By Jimmy Craig Mixing Humor And Darkness
Interview With ArtistJimmy Craig is a well-known comic artist famous for his funny "They Can Talk" comics about animals. To explore different and more unusual jokes, he started a new Instagram account called jimmytried. This lets him share quirky and sometimes darker humor that doesn't fit his main series.
Jimmy likes to create single-panel comics that tell a joke with just one drawing and a line of text, and sometimes with no text at all. Inspired by his work for The New Yorker, he's now trying out longer stories. Fans can see all his work and get a peek behind the scenes on his Patreon, where he shares both his animal comics and his single-panel jokes.
More info: Instagram | x.com | theycantalk.com
This post may include affiliate links.
Just like always, Bored Panda reached out to the artist with a few new questions! When asked what inspired him to create the new Instagram account jimmytried and how its content differs from his "They Can Talk" series, Jimmy explained, "Anytime I get an idea that doesn't fit within my series They Can Talk, I try it as a single panel comic on jimmytried. It's been a fun outlet for ideas and I've always been a huge fan of the format."
Discussing his creative process for turning a wild idea into a concise, single-panel joke, the artist shared, "Since there's no theme to these comics, these ideas tend to pop into my head as I'm going through my day. I'll add notes in my phone and later on I'll check them to see if they're worth sketching or trash. The period between adding the note and re-reading it is the only part of my vetting process."
On how the response from social media has influenced his work on both "They Can Talk" and jimmytried, Jimmy noted, "Over time, I think I've created a sort of expectation for readers when it comes to They Can Talk, so there’s some sense of obligation to deliver that. I don’t really have any rules or restrictions when it comes to my jimmytried comics. It's really an unfettered look into my sense of humor."
Regarding his work on longer-form stories and how they differ from his previous work, Craig teased us, "Unfortunately, nothing is ready to be shared yet, but I will say that readers might be surprised by the different formats and stories I'm working on."
When it came to reflecting on how contributing cartoons to The New Yorker has impacted his writing and approach to comic creation, the artist said to Bored Panda, "I think my jokes have remained the same, but the delivery might be adjusted sometimes to fit The New Yorker. For example, instead of having two people talking to each other, I would try to adjust it in a way that the joke is clear with just one line of dialogue."