About The Shallow End

About The Shallow End:

Sometime towards the end of August of 2003, I got this REALLY bad idea. I thought to myself, "hey... I've been reading online comics for years now... maybe I should start one of my own." I wrestled with the idea for a while, trying to decide if I really had the dedication to stick to making a comic on a regular basis and I decided, why the hell not? It's more productive than masturbation. Arguably.

I created TSE in part because I wanted to give something back to the online comic community (whether they wanted it or not), but mainly because I wanted to get better at drawing. My father and brother are both very talented artists. Until late 2003, I could barely draw stick figures. I do all the art myself. I do about 95% of the writing myself, but my friend Cameron (see below) contributes strips from time to time. Think of the strip you've laughed the hardest at... he probably wrote it. But, practice does make better. Arguably.

The comic has no real storyline, and barely any setting. This is due to the abovementioned fact that my main goal in creating The Shallow End was to improve my art (not my writing, which does need improvement as well). If you want to have a general idea of the setting, the strip is set in central North Carolina, mostly on and around a college campus.

The characters, the dramatis personae if you will, are about half based on real people and half based on personality types I conjured up. I am, of course, Sam. Johan is based on my friend of about eight years, Cameron. Beth is not based on anyone (and no, she's not Asian). I thought TSE needed a female touch after Gwen was phased out, so I created Beth. Nick was originally intended to just be a generic asshole and evolved into a frat boy (still an asshole). You can read more about them on the Dramatis Personae page.

About Philip Lagas-Rivera:

I am a twenty-one year old college student. I was born and raised in North Carolina. I'm currently double majoring in Spanish and Philosophy. One of those will end up as a major, and the other as a minor. They're currently fighting to the death to see which one will come out on top. I think I'd like to be a tattooist when I grow up, but beyond that, I have no idea what I want to do for a living. The Shallow End is a hobby for me. I have no real expectation to make any money from it. Oh yeah, and I'm also exceedingly narcissistic.