Everyone and their grandmother has seen the infamous “this is fine” meme at this point, but do you know who created it? Let me introduce to you KC Green, the illustrator behind the wildly popular meme and numerous other comic series over the years. After being known as the “this is fine” guy for over a decade, it’s time to move on and experience new adventures from this talented artist. Their newest project, God’s Hands, is currently being released on comics kingdom, and it’s a joy to read. Couch Soup had the opportunity to talk with KC about his background as a cartoonist, everything God’s Hands, and what the future has in store for him and his projects. So, let’s get into it!
“My name is KC Green. I’m a cartoonist, an illustrator, but mostly a cartoonist. I say illustrator if I’m at a party and don’t want to say, cartoonist. It’s a nicer way of saying I just draw comics all the time. I have been drawing since I was a kid, and I’ve been putting my stuff online since the year of our lord, 2000 (said with sincerity), since I was in junior high. The internet was very new, so I was at the forefront of just being there with other people. I saw other people putting stuff online at that time, and I said hey, me too, and I’ve just been doing that since then.”
I first asked about what influenced his sense of humor, and there were more influences than expected:
“I really liked cartoons growing up. Comics were there, definitely, but cartoons are what really got me drawing, got my imagination going. I’m an older man, so I was at the forefront of the Nicktoons generation. Doug and Ren & Stimpy were big favorites of mine, but I liked watching anything, anything that did not look like anything before it. . . I also enjoyed daily newspaper stuff. I was just very interested in all that, cartoons, comics, and whatnot. I just did not have access to floppy comics like DC or Marvel. . . I was at the forefront of webcomics being a thing online. I saw that happening, people who I considered my peers starting up and doing their own stuff. Like a lot of weird outsider art, a lot of people who just wouldn’t have gotten a chance from editors, and people otherwise just being like, ‘I’ll do it myself,’’ and seeing those people give it a chance was inspiring. . . I loved Far Side growing up, still do. I have the big collection . . . it’s very satisfying to go through and be like, yes, I was correct in liking Far Side, still very good to this day.”
At first glance, God’s Hands might confuse readers about what the series is. I asked the creator to describe this uniquely funny series:
“I would describe it as a gag comic in the same way as you have single-panel comics. In the same way, as Far Side was or any other single-panel comic. It’s just a different way of looking at that humor. A lot of the stuff sets up a kind of one-line joke, and it has a little caption that says the fall of Rome, and it’s a guy named Rome falling over. Stuff like that is fine, that’s fine, that’s a joke, but it’s not very interesting for me. What I found interesting, though, about doing that one-panel stuff, it’s what you don’t always say. . . It’s not just a simple ‘I get it;’ it’s more of a how’d we get to this point. . . God’s Hands is just a new version of that.”
KC also gave us an insight into how God’s Hands came to be:
“I did Funny Online Animals for a couple of years, eventually with Comics Kingdom. But then I was like, I want to do longer projects. . . As fun as it was, I sort of realized I was putting too much work into something that is easier to dash off. . . But I just sort of burned myself out a little and thought it would be fun to go back to something simpler and fun, like a one-panel comic. Then I was just like, I like the name God’s Hands; it’s just completely out of context of the original idiom of it’s in god’s hands now. So just give it that title and do it again. . . It’s kind of reactionary in terms of comics, but I’m just being me, putting a little joke out there.”
KC elaborated on how he deals with burnout as well as the creative process behind God’s Hands:
“It’s a tough tightrope to walk because I do like drawing comics, but I haven’t taken a proper vacation in a long time. Not that I don’t take breaks and play Legend of Zelda; it’s more of finding something that excites me again. And with God’s Hands, it’s very simple and not too narrow that I can’t do whatever with it. I do other bigger projects on the side, whereas God’s Hands is becoming more just like shoot off a quick joke, shoot off a quick idea. It’s easy enough for me to dash out at least one a day to keep myself up; because it is a muscle, your drawing and your writing. I don’t believe in talent as much as I believe that it’s a muscle you can work and get better with. . . I also try not to worry about if the comic is not good. If it makes me laugh, or if it’s something a little absurd or silly, try it; maybe someone might like it.”
It’s always exciting to partner with someone to help publish your work. KC talked about his experience with Kings Features Syndicate:
“They (Kings Features Syndicate) were very kind in letting me switch over from Funny Online Animals to God’s Hands. I said hey, I still owe you an extra year of Funny Online Animals, but I just have to let you know I feel very burnt out on this project; I feel very done with this project. I had God’s Hands already in my back pocket, and I was like, I have another idea I can give you, but I don’t know contract-wise if that’s doable. And they worked with me to be like we just got to change some stipulations, add an amendment to the contract. They were very helpful in working with me and understanding that these things happen; I love them for that. . . They don’t work with me on ideas. I do have an editor, but it’s more often than not; I don’t think you can say that. They like to keep it a little PG-PG13, and that’s fine. . . I do appreciate them allowing me to be on their website and work with them and let me have that space to be weird.”
It’s hard to pick a favourite comic, but KC Green gave it a crack when he highlighted his favourite comic from God’s Hands:
“It always changes because I’ll always make a new one that is very funny that hasn’t been posted yet. I like ones that are a little more out there; that is just a weird scene. . . I have one that just shows a power station that says church of the low hum. You kill ‘em; we grill ‘em. There’s a bird that’s been electrocuted from his own mistake and is on the ground somehow. Little moments like that, these odd thoughts in your head and little scenarios that make you go, ha.”
I also asked what his favourite part about working on God’s Hands:
“Allowing myself the freedom to do the jokes that I want to do without worrying if I can give it to them. . . It’s quick for me to do one of these. I can knock out one a day at best. One a day is me doing one, then something else. But on a good day, if I’m just working on God’s Hands, I can knock out three; I can knock out a week’s worth. So just having the creative freedom so I don’t have to worry about giving every little thing to the syndicate. And also, being able to knock ’em out pretty quickly is something that is very helpful for me.”
We finished by talking about the future of God’s Hands and the future of KC Green:
“I’m going to try and keep at God’s Hands the best I can, which is looking pretty solid. For me, I’m working on a lot of side projects, longer-form stuff. . . I’m doing a long-form improv comic on my Patreon for folks; that is an idea I’ve had for a long time. It’s about a cat and a mouse constantly fighting one another in different forms. . . It’s like a weird yin and yang of slapstick and just the constant battle between these two. . . It’s gonna be a long-form project, but I try to do a page a day as an improv help.”
Thank you to KC Green and Kings Comics Syndicate for taking the time to chat with us here at Couch Soup about all things God’s Hands. You can support KC Green over on Patreon here. You can check out KC Green’s web store here. And you can check out all of God’s Hands over on Comics Kingdom here.
Have you read God’s Hands? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments where we can talk about our favourite God’s Hand pages.
