Bellingham native Jonathan Sodt presents a workshop, "Writing for Comics," specifically on creating a webcomic, making something for use in a newsletter or creating a graphic novel.

Question: How did you get started as a cartoonist/comics artist?

Answer: In 2000, my friends introduced me to something called webcomics, such as Sluggy Freelance, User Friendly, and Dr. Fun. These are comics that were published primarily on the Internet, often for little or no money at all. Some of these comics get published in print.

So, when I saw Sluggy Freelance, I thought, "Hey, I can draw that badly, too!" So I started drawing comics of my friends. After a while I decided to make something good enough to put on a Web site and start doing it regularly. I chose the name "Fenmere, the Worm" as an online handle, based on one of the fictional characters in the comic.

Q: Why a Worm? Who are your other alter egos in your art?

A: I was inspired by a whole bunch of different crazy authors and movie makers who've all come up with wild myths and legends about their alter egos and pseudonyms, or who named their production companies after things in their stories. I have a huge story to tell behind (my comic strip/book) Harmless Free Radicals, and the name "Fenmere, the Worm" is the first link to that. When I moved to publishing the comic around town, I kept the name for branding reasons. Also, it gave me a bit of anonymity. But only a bit. Word gets out fast in Bellingham. I'm sometimes really hard to get a hold of, but it's not hard to track me down.

Ian Robertson, the guy who goes around wearing a hat and big wool longcoat all the time in Harmless Free Radicals, is my true alter ego, though. He's based on who I was when I was 26, and looks just like I did back then. (I was born in 1975, which makes me a little over 32. I started drawing Ian when I was in high school as a caricature of myself. I stopped grooming like that when I was 26.)

He embodies all of my disgust and impatience with my surrounding community, as well as my enthusiasm for the local culture and the things that I love. As for other alter egos, well, all the other characters are inspired by people I know, but their hopes and dreams and frustrations all come from within me.

Q: What's this about a local group of cartoonists?

A: I meet with a group of fellow cartoonists called the Bellingham School of Comics at the Black Drop every Saturday (at noon) and Monday (at 5 p.m.). We mostly sit around and write or draw. There are quite a few of us, but really only four to six of us generally show up at a time. It's laid-back. But we do a show every October at the Black Drop, which also corresponds with Whatcom Teen Literacy Month, so some of us are annually invited to help with the Whatcom County Library's WHATComics program. It's a lot of fun!

Q: What do you hope to impart at the workshop at Village Books?

A: My workshop at Village Books is open to all ages, as far as I'm concerned! I've tutored people in groups from fifth-graders to senior citizens. But the format will probably be mostly lecture. I hope to have drawing materials for people to take notes or experiment with (even though what we'll be doing is writing). However, the Village Books space doesn't have any tables, as far as I know, so a large part of it will be done on a giant pad of paper on an easel up front. I'm going to start with the discipline of starting a gag-a-week Webcomic, and go right up to graphic novels.

It'll primarily be what I've learned on my own, but I have three good books to refer people to, including the work of Will Eisner and a fantastic collection of advice from the industry movers and shakers called "Writers on Comic Scriptwriting." These are the books that really helped me when I was at a loss, and that still inspire me. Also, I have a little bit of advice from a few of my fellow cartoonists I can pass on. I suppose I'm mostly aiming this at people who don't know where to start, but in an hour or two I should be able to provide some insight to the experienced. Each cartoonist does things a little differently, and a new perspective always helps. I'm sure I'll learn something myself during the workshop!

Q: What are your hopes and dreams, if wishes came true?

A: My hopes and dreams and wishes come true every day I draw a comic. Every time someone reads my work and nods to him or herself, it is a tremendous victory to me. It's what I live for, really. But if my comics could bring in enough money that I could live off that, there's no doubt I'd be happy as a clam. I might move on to illustrating children's books, or helping design computer games, or writing a traditional novel, and I'm really happy dinking around in journalism and making newspapers. The future is about learning and exploration.

However, to be honest to my feelings, I'd like to change the whole world somehow. If someone were moved enough to continue writing about my characters when I'm gone, then I'd have done it. I'm not giving anyone permission to do that, yet, but ... it's a vanity I strive for, even despite myself. And I do my best to honor that drive in others.