THE COMIC Angry People began on March 12th, 2001, with this comic. Artist Sarah Shay, under the alias "Esyla", had been reading webcomics since late 1998 and finally decided to create one for herself. Inspired early on by comics like Sluggy Freelance, Avalon, and Joe Average, she wanted to do something unique. Tossing aside ideas for high-school comics, workplace comics, and autobiographical comics, she began using characters she had scribbled in the margins of her math notes during high school. These comics morphed from tiny margin-sized three panel comics only read by her friends and family to larger comics hosted on Keenspace, a free webcomics hosting community and an offshoot of Keenspot, which hosted some of her favorite comics of the time. More than a year and a half later, the Angry People archives boast more than 100 comics, as well as guest comics from some of the webcomic community's finest. WARNING! OBJECTS IN IMAGE MAY BE LESS PUNK ROCK THAN THEY APPEAR. THE ARTIST A few details about the girl behind the comic. Name: Sarah Alyse Shay Hometown: Bellevue, Washington Current residence: Lansing, Michigan Birthdate: August 8th, 1982 Tags/Nicknames: Esyla, Esy, Sarah-bean, Saray, Saree, Salah, Sar Stomping Grounds: In Lansing: Caffe Latte, Plan B, Okemos Denny's. Online: #talkaboutcomics on irc, the LSR boards. Favorite food: Blueberries and garlic bread. Not together. Movies: Yes, please! Mallrats, The Princess Bride, The Usual Suspects, Amelie, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Boondock Saints...hey, I work in a video store. The list goes on. Favorite Beatles album: Sgt. Pepper's or Revolver Muzak: punk, ska, emo, indie, rock, roll, pop, alternative, jazz, country, showtunes, acapella, etcetera Occupation: Music journalist, zinester, distro-er, and comic artist by night. Video store employee and pizza slinger by day. CONTACT E-mail: esyla(at)poseur.org (remove "nospam") Please include something Angry People or comic-related in the subject, I get a lot of spam. AIM: angry esyla Real mail: Please don't stalk me. Love letters, fanart, recipes, and random notes can be sent to Sarah Shay 110 S. Clemens Ave. Lansing, MI 48912 EFF-EH-QUEUE Why do you draw stick figures? Can't you really draw? Yes, I can draw. I think my drawing skills are far from honed, but that's not why I do Angry People. It's a concept comic, see? Do you ever plan to do a "real comic"? First of all, I feel that Angry People is just as valid as a comic as anything else. But yes, I do plan to someday do a comic with characters other than stick figures, with proper storylines and all that. It's a project in the works, but when it's ready I will certainly announce it here. Also, I am working on a project called The Emocore Coalition, which is a comic drawn by several artists. It's still sort of in the works. Are you really angry?/I've met you, and you aren't really all that angry! I'm really not all that angry in real life. I like to think that being angry in the comic frees me up for more pleasant emotions in my spare time. You look familiar... The comic Life's So Rad is drawn by my housemate and best friend, Corey Marie Kitley, and is based on our lives. So yea, the girl in the comic named Sarah is in fact based on me. If I see you at your workplace or a show or a convention, would it bother you if I said hi? Absolutely not! In fact, it drives me nuts when people say they saw me and then didn't say anything. I like meeting readers in real life, so feel free to say hi. Ehs-EYE-lah? EE-see-lah? EZ-i-lah? It's pronounced "Eh-SEE-luh". Does it bug you when people mispronounce your nickname? God, yes.