What's your artistic and educational background?
I read alot of comics and art books. And I got my MFA from the School Of The Art Institute Of Chicago in 2002.

What made you stop painting and start drawing comics?
I was tired of all the art-world/fine art bullshit...so many people were making art that had nothing to do with life, had nothing meaningful to say. So I wanted to make something as completely honest and human as possible.

The artwork is somewhat crude in Clumsy but looks a little different in Unlikely. Was it a conscious choice to draw in a certain style for the books, and if so, why?
Somewhat conscious. With Clumsy I was trying to draw like a kid, no rules, complete freedom. It's hard to do that though, and the more I draw the more refined the style becomes. Mostly I try to draw as immediately and with as much pure feeling as possible. I also like lines, I'm big into lines. Or marks, as Gary Panter has said.

From other interviews you talk a bit about growing up in a religious environment. How did this affect you and your view towards women/sex?
I grew up fairly repressed. Add to that shyness, insecurities, peer pressure and the other normal teenage angst elements...I had a bit of a skewed, unrealistic view of sex and relationships. I probably still do, to some extent.

Was your decision not to be religious a gradual thing or was there a certain instance that affirmed that?
It was pretty gradual, happening through college, and then toward the end of college I conciously realized it, though there wasn't a particular event that made it apparent.

What sorts of comics did you read when you were younger?
X-Men, G.I. Joe, Groo. Then in high school I was really into Moebius, and then alternative stuff like Eightball and Dirty Plotte.

What comics did you read more recently that had an impact on you?
I gave up on comics while I was in college and didn't start reading again until just before I moved to Chicago in 2000. Chris Ware and Dan Clowes were the two biggies. And Chester Brown, Julie Doucet, James Kochalka...although I had read most of them before, seeing David Boring and the latest Acme Novelty...it was very inspiring to me at a time when I felt my art was starting to become stagnant.

Your comics are incredibly personal and bare. Many artists write personal stories yet use someone else for their protagonists. What led you to use yourself?
I didn't think so many people would be seeing it. I wanted to be as absolutely true and pure as possible. Now I need to do it for the continuity I guess...

How do you go about writing your books? Do you keep a diary of things that happened in a relationship or does it all come from things you remember?
It's pretty much from memory. If you look closely in Unlikely for example, things will move around the rooms, because I'll be drawing something and suddenly remember, hey that was in the other corner. Sometimes I do diary stuff nowadays, little one pagers, but I didn't for the books.

What has been the reaction of your friends and family to your books?
My oldest brother told my mom he liked Unlikely more because there was less sex. My grandma paged through Clumsy once and then handed it back to me without saying anything. My dad read Clumsy when I only had around 20-30 pages done and he was chuckling out loud, so I knew I was doing something right.

How have your ex-girlfriends reacted to the books?
They like them too. Mostly, I think. As works of art maybe. I'm not sure they're always happy with the protrayals...

There's one part in AEIOU where you're asked if you believe in love and your answer is “Yes, but I don't believe in girls.” How do you feel about girls these days?
I love them. I'm a hopeless romantic. I fall in love with girls every other day. I can't help it. There's just one or two that I'm still a little bitter toward...

What's your opinion of long-distance relationships? Any tips for making them work?
They're hard. They take alot of work. A good strong base is important, like living in the same place when you start dating. Treat your visits to each other as if you were just dating in the same town, not like you have to do everything together the whole time you're visiting. Don't think about things too much. Move to the same town.

How important is being in a relationship to how happy you are?
Less and less important. I try to place more value on friendships, and the success of my art makes it hard to feel too bad about not having a girlfriend. But everyone gets lonely or horny sometimes.

Do your books help you to see mistakes you made in your relationships or that the other person made?
Not really. Maybe. It's more that I try to put the lessons I've learned into the books. But it is a cathartic process. Drawing the comics helps me work through things.

How has having Crohn's disease affected your life?
I can't drink alcohol without getting sick, onions are pretty bad too, and sometimes I have to watch out for coffee or popcorn...spicy foods...mostly, I'm just used to being uncomfortable and irregular at times, so I don't really think about it so much. It's just kind of annoying. I've been fortunate so far to not have had more serious problems since I had surgery.

What sorts of music do you like and who are your favorite musicians?
Indie alt rock stuff mostly. Oh geez, I've got a ton. I've got like 900 cd's. Yo La Tengo, Low, Microphones, Pavement, Cat Power, Smog, Elf Power, Elk City(with Peter Langland-Hassan, jury's still out on how high on the list they are without him), Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Mirah, Edith Frost, Neutral Milk Hotel...I'm going to do a book sometime called "Music Saves My Life Every Day."

How did you get involved with "This American Life" and what was your experience with them like?
It was great. Jonathan Goldstein, who was a producer, picked up one of the first xeroxed copies of Clumsy at Quimby's here and contacted me about it. Then I ended up working with him for about seven months figuring out how to use Clumsy on the radio, recorded two hours of interview with Ira, got bumped a couple times and it was finally a year later when the little ten minute segment aired. Personally I think my on air voice sounds ridiculous, but it was a great learning experience.

How much time do you spend a day drawing?
Probaly 4 or 5 hours on days when I have to do the day job thing, maybe 6 or 7 on days off, I guess.

What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?
8 pages in the McSweeneys comics issue, Bighead - my superhero parody - should be out in August, more minicomics and anthology stuff, some surprises...