The Safehouse

Woody Hearn Interview
Submitted By: Mease The Mad

Mease The Mad: Thank you human for joining us. How is it with you today?
Woody Hearn: Fine just fine.

MtM: I am glad to hear this. You draw pictures that please the eyeballs of many. How long have you had this power?
WH: I swear the answer to that changes every time I’m asked. Basically, 3rd or 4th grade Around about then at least.

MtM: What kind of things did you draw with your powers then? Keeping in mind The Safehouse is read by children of all age.
WH: It’s always been about the comic book super hero. **grins** From poorly drawn box robots to uber muscled mutants that made no damn sense.

MtM: So you have always liked fantasy/science fiction then?
WH: Most definitely. Fantasy more so than science fiction.

MtM: Why fantasy more than science fiction? It’s a common preference; but, all you humans seem to have a different answer.
WH: Well, I think it’s mostly a preference for swords and magic and the fantastic than laser guns, robots, and well... science. Maybe it’s something tied to being possible past instead of possible future.

MtM: What got you to pick up the dice bag for the first time? Do you remember your first RPG character?
WH: Well, the same guy that forced me to start drawing really. He was one of my best friends. He could draw; I couldn’t. It made me mad. So, I taught myself to draw.

MtM: This human was the same age as you?
WH: 3 years older.

Anywho, he got the AD&D books and that’s where it started. But, we never played together. His dad thought AD&D was evil. Then we moved to a different state. So, it was long a time after I was introduced to AD&D that I got the books for myself.

New friends I made in High School were my first adventuring group.

I spent more time DMing than playing though. But to FINALLY answer your question (verbose bastard that I am)... my first character was name Jephthan the Sword Dancer. He was a Bard/Fighter offshoot class called a Blade. Had horrible stats... but it made the role-play better.

MtM: Is Jephthan still around?
WH: No sadly enough. Even though he was the first... and the favorite. He was played the least.

MtM: As is frequently the case. So, when did EverQuest first steal your soul?
WH: It was 99. I think. One of the guys I worked with said, "Woody you HAVE TO PLAY THIS”. So I bought it; played it for five minutes, turned it off, and vowed never to play it again.

MtM: So what brought you back?
WH: Well, I’d given it the boot because it was, and this will likely get me stoned, "a first person shooter with swords". Needless to say, I wasn’t really a first person shooter kinda guy. But, I was convinced to give it another shot. So I did.

MtM: And you stayed this time?
WH: Yes. It would seem so. **grins** I realized rather quickly, with some more time played, that is was a persistent world of changing events and absolute adventure. That my view on the world, even though it seemed like FPS in the beginning, was not necessary the ONLY way it was. There were other people, doing other things in the games. It was alive. I very quickly became infatuated with the game after that.

MtM: For those who don’t know, what kind of character do you currently play?
WH: The same I started with. **grins** Vhah Drahsil, Barbarian Glutton-for-Punishment… er... Barbarian Warrior.

MtM: No gnome, but acceptable I suppose. So, how did /GU come about?
WH: Vhah fought the Gnolls of Blackburrow. A LOT. Then he moved on to other more evil enemies. But, he came back to the Gnolls to learn how to "Disarm". **laughs** I found that handing them weapons made it easy for me to get my disarm skill up. And the Gnolls were easy targets.

The Guild got such a laugh out of the fact that I was handing Gnolls weapons, that I drew the first GU and posted it on the Guild Website.

MtM: Did it pick up pretty fast after that?
WH: After disarming gnolls, I drew a few other panels. And, the guild seemed to love them. So, after I had a good handful of strips, I emailed someone at EQAnswers and asked them to post a link to the comics. Their main guy, Rob Anderson, took it one step better and offered to host the strip. After GU changed hosting to be able to handle a massive traffic increase and a news release was made, it took off like a rocket!

MtM: You’ve been following "Legacy of Ykesha" I’m sure. What are your frontal lobes telling you at this point?
WH: Love. Plain and simple.

MtM: Will you play a froglock? I demand honesty!
WH: I may finally abandon Vhah for a Fribbit. Yes.

MtM: So what do you think about the change to Grobb?
WH: Well, that’s a bit iffy. It was a nice touch! And a wonderful GM event to introduce Fribbits to the masses; but, I’m hoping that having the Trolls living in Neriak is a temporary solution.

MtM: You’ve done so many comics, you must have a favorite…
WH: Uh oh! I honestly don’t know if I can pick a favorite. I’ve tried. And I just can’t. I’ll love THIS one for the artwork. I’ll love THAT one for the joke. It’s a never ending loop and I can never decide on JUST one.

MtM: What about one you wish you hadn’t done?
WH: Probably about 100 of the 300 plus. **laughs** It seems every time I hate one… someone else LOVES it. And, that softens my opinion.

MtM: So you’re your own worst critic then?
WH: Probably NOT! But, I’m pretty close.

MtM: /GU is a widely read comic, and it is fairly well known that many SOE employees enjoy it the same as the rest of us. Do you ever get feedback from them, either positive or negative?
WH: Well, in the beginning, GU was everywhere at SOE ((based on employees comments)). In almost every cubicle and office. These days, it seems that only the devs enjoy GU. And they let me know from time to time.

The higher ups, though, don’t like the negative slant/bad publicity of some of the
strips. **shrugs** I can’t please them all.

MtM: Have you ever been asked to pull a strip?
WH: Yup, one. And quite recently. It wasn't a demand. It was a "request". And it was completely unexpected, considering the kinds of strips I've put out in the past that poked at the game, the company, and the staff... sometimes all at once. But, ultimately it's not something I really want to talk about.

MtM: If you could make one change to EverQuest, what would it be?
WH: Ooof. Just one? **laughs** No really...being a warrior... I’m biased, so I think I’ll just let it go at that.

[a moment of silence]

Well, honestly? I wish EQ wasn’t so group oriented. I value a good group. Don’t get me wrong. But, there are times when I just can’t play because I don’t have enough time to find a group. Keep in mind that this is coming from a guy who has soloed with his Warrior most of the way to Level 51. No easy task. **shrugs** I told you... BIAS.

MtM: Finally, before the lightning round, if you were interviewing yourself what question would you ask yourself and what is the answer?
WH: The question would most likely be: Why do you do it?
And, the answer has changed over the years. In the beginning it was for fun. Then, I did it because I was in love with seeing my page views increase. Then, I did it to prove to myself that I COULD do it regularly. And now, I pretty much do it for the fans. I can’t stop, because I don’t want to let them down. I love the GU fan base.

MtM: All right, now we move on to the lightning round. This is a rapid-fire bombardment of stupidass questions that require a rapid bombardment of no-brainer answers. Are you up for the challenge?
WH: Probably not... but I’ll give it a go.

***LIGHTNING ROUND***

MtM: Dice or No Dice?
WH: No Dice.

MtM: DC or Marvel?
WH: DC
No Marvel
Wait... Chinese!
I failed.
Marvel.

MtM: Coke or Pepsi?
WH: Code Red.

MtM: Vanilla or Chocolate?
WH: Vanilla.

MtM: Fighter or Magic User?
WH: Fighters RULE!

MtM: Level based or Skill based?
WH: Skill based

MtM: Benji or Lassie?
WH: Cujo

MtM: Before I was a Superstud Web Cartoonist I was a...
WH: Superstud Web Designer.

MtM: If given the choice of having any literary character/thing as my faithful mount, I would choose...
WH: What the hell kinda... uh...Uhmm...That dragon dog thing from NeverEnding story?

MtM: I like...
WH: Pickles

MtM: I don’t like...
WH: Ignorant jackasses bent on spouting their irrelevant views for no better reason than to grief or cause stress.

MtM: When this interview ends I’m going to...
WH: Cry myself to sleep.

MtM: Right now, in my pockets I have...
WH: Believe it or not... NOT a damn thing.

MtM: What do you have to say for yourself!
WH: I have no excuses.

MtM: Do you have anything else to add?
WH: Can I tear off my clothes and make some kind of silly political statement? And be carted forcefully off that set?

MtM: Just don’t knock over my Capri Sun.
WH: **Tears off his clothes and runs about screaming BARRY MANILOW IS THE DEVIL until he’s carted forcefully off the set**

Woody Hearn everybody!

From the wings: “BARRY MANILOW IS THE DEVIL!”

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