Andy Kluthe is a St. Louis-based web comic artist. His web comic series Nerd Rage pokes fun at the various aspects of nerd culture, and he is a frequent collaborator on web comics published on geek comedy site Dorkly. His works have also been featured on sites like Buzzfeed, Collegehumor and Adult Swim. I recently sat down with Andy Kluthe at C2E2, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, to learn more about his experience working with Dorkly and how Nerd Rage came to be.

You can see the entire interview in the video above, but in case you’re in a place where watching a full feature isn’t possible, we have the full transcript below:

Animator Andy Kluthe

C: So, I recognized your artwork here from the comics I’ve seen on Dorkly. I absolutely love reading them. I love the expressions that the characters have on their faces that like, start off relatively calm and then just go way over-the-top at the end of the comics. It’s very like Ren & Stimpy and early to mid ‘90s, and I just absolutely love it when characters break out like that. It’s really great. So, can you tell me how you ended up making comics for Dorkly?

A: Well, I was (and still am) working on my own comic, Nerd Rage. You can see that at NerdRageComic.com. It was kind of in a similar vein to the stuff that Dorkly was doing and looking for, and so they asked if I’d be interested in drawing some comics for them. They have some excellent writers, and they were looking for other artists to collaborate with them. So I started drawing comics for them, and then their sister organization Collegehumor. But a lot of my stuff ends up on Dorkly because they like to put me on the gaming related stuff.

C: Yeah, I think it definitely matches both sites and their senses of humor. So, how did Nerd Rage comic about?

A: Kind of by accident, actually. I was fresh out of college and I knew I wanted to work in comics and illustration, and I was setting a weekly goal where I kept drawing comics and put them online. Then, I started realizing, I’m doing a comic every week. I should probably build a website and put these all in one spot for people to read, and that’s kinda how it happened.

C: So, how does the process for Dorkly when they have their comics, are they free reign and let you make whatever stories you want or do they come and present you something?

A: They typically come to me with a script. They come to me with something they have written and they say “Hey, we think you’re a really great fit for this.” Sometimes I read it, and I do say like “Hey, it might be funnier if we go like this here.” Or, I start drawing and it’s like, once I was drawing this, like this is actually a funnier reaction then what was scripted. But, a lot of it, I do have to say the writers are great. They come up with a lot of the stuff. I do have to say, they do give me free range on like reactions and stuff like that. I gotta to thank them for that. I turn in pencils and they’ll say like “You’ve envisioned this in ways I wasn’t seeing it.”

C: Yeah, it is really nice to hear that they are open to having you as an illustrator being open to the collaborative process and like, working with them on certain aspects of it. So, is there any particular comic that has been your favorite to animate? Or one that pops out in your mind like “Man, how did we even finish that one?”

A: Any time they make me draw Sonic….it’s trouble. *laughs* They’ve taken advantage of that one a few times.

C: That’s become a meme. Sanic happened because Sonic is so notoriously bad to draw.

A: They’ve had me draw some weird things with Sonic, and Garfield. Sometimes both at the same time.

C: *Laughs* I know which ones you’re talking about. That is the internet. Somebody’s gotta give the internet what it wants, and it comes at the price of your own soul sometimes. So, I know how that goes. You gotta do what you gotta do.

A: We also had a pretty ridiculous panel we drew from The Last Jedi. So, The Last Jedi guys, when Luke gets the milk, they had a heyday with that one and me.

C: Yeah, that sea creature thing. That thing’s gotten a lot of internet mileage. I’m shocked I did not see that creature being cosplayed today and having green milk shoot out everywhere. That would be awful. Aw geez. So , do you have any other projects going on or other art that you do?

A: I do. I have another project that I’m working on, but it hasn’t been solicited yet. So, I haven’t been able to talk about it yet.

C: So, when you do would you be promoting it on your social media?

A: Oh yeah, I’ll talk about it on Twitter and my Facebook, and I’ll probably mention it in the news section on Nerd Rage.

C: Awesome, so what is your Twitter handle?

A: @AndyKluthe

Thanks again to Andy Kluthe for talking with us here at DFTG. Please be sure to check out his work at AndyKluthe.com Stay tuned for the latest comic news, such as the new Overwatch comic that features Blackwatch, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!