Atown is the story of a fictitious medium sized city with a university and large music scene. It closely resembles Austin, Texas, because that's where I live and it doesn't hurt to lampoon the things you know. But I’m hoping that "Joe Blow" in Anytown, USA can still relate.

I guess I could go on and on about Atown’s characters, their chemistry, and my feeble attempts at using them to be relevant- but the truth is much simpler than that. Atown is a soapbox, a platform for a semi-regular guy (me) to stand on and rant about this insane world we live in. Who am I ranting for? A small, weird and totally unprofitable Internet readership. Maybe if it gets good enough, (you know, better than Family Circus or Apartment 3G) it will draw it's own audience and find it's own opportunities. That's naïve, I know. I guess I just wanted to see if this is something I can really do.

I've never been a cartoonist before, or worked as a professional illustrator or artist. When I received the standard government issued brochure in the mail instructing me to draw a picture of a "pirate and turtle," (you know the one, it's on TV looking for those interested in becoming a serious art student) I did the best I could. After completion, I received a letter from the Institute two months later saying that I DID have what it takes to become a serious alcoholic. Certified as such, I found myself on a creative snipe hunt without a map, gun, flashlight or any experience to speak of.

Most of the characters are based on people I know. When I draw a strip, my main goal is to make it relevant to myself. I don't think about doing it for a certain kind of person. If it works for me, then hopefully it will work for people LIKE me, and those are the people I hope to reach anyhow. I think that's the most important thing in any art form, that the artist stays true to him or her self. I'm not a natural cartoonist, I’m more of an illustrator, and so I’m not sure I really know how to be funny. If I had to make up a joke from nothing, I don't think I could. Besides, many of the strips aren't really MEANT to be funny. But hopefully I can show truth and relevance in a way that ends up being funny anyway. (Okay- that actually sounds way too sophisticated. Atown isn't "Doonesbury" after all. It's an unsophisticated strip drawn by a very unsophisticated guy. So unsophisticated in fact, that Doonesbury totally eludes me. I don't get it, even after I read them several times.)

My only real cartooning influence was Berkeley Breathed. If you didn't read "Bloom County" back in the 80's, you missed what Seinfeld was to sitcoms or what Bill Hicks was to stand up comedy. Berke Breathed was the greatest cartoonist who ever lived, and I’m really glad he’s decided to pick up the pen again. His new strip "Opus" probably won’t be as magical as Bloom County was, but it probably will be the best thing in the Sunday Comics page.

I had the Atown idea originally in early 1999. I drew the first strip of Maria and Sean and tacked it up in my kitchen where it spent nearly a year. It wasn't until October 2000 that I drew the second one, and got more serious by January 2001. By March, I had drawn enough to start the site, and I've been plowing aimlessly forward ever since. The biggest regret so far is that I'm not able to produce them as fast as I'd like. Hopefully that will someday change.

If any of you are still reading this far, thank you for indulging me by looking at my stuff, and I hope you enjoy it. Please email me with comments, suggestions, and of course, large donations of unwanted cash. Lots of cash. (See the "Support Atown" page.)

Sincerely,

Scott Brannock
Atown Comics

And now a word from the Atown Legal Department… Everything on this website is the intellectual property of Scott Brannock and is copyright protected 1999-2007. Reproduction of any sort is prohibited by law and requires written permission by ME. If you use anything here for a means that makes you money, I will sue your ass. However, copying these images or text simply for the purpose of passing them around to friends is quite okay and very much encouraged. Please just let them know where it came from.