New town, same Achewood

Local comic fans, rejoice. The Rose City is now home to Chris Onstad and his menagerie of neurotic, crazed and fucking hilarious creations. Forget about that giant neon sign over Burnside, Portland’s new Golden Gate Bridge is Achewood.

Having just completed a grueling four-month migration to the Pacific Northwest, Onstad describes the circumstances surrounding his move to Portland from the Bay Area as a “perfect storm.” Not only was his neighborhood being re-zoned, but he says he and his wife realized that on a cartoonist’s salary, they would never be able to afford their dream home in the Bay Area.

Yes, Onstad is openly admitting to the classic California flight-pattern to Portland’s greener (and cheaper) pastures, but before you get out your cage-free organic throwing-eggs, take a moment to consider how awesome this is:
A) Achewood was named #1 graphic novel of 2007 by Time Magazine, and it isn’t a graphic novel by any definition. B) The last time Onstad came through town, people were given free Achewood-themed tattoos. C) We just became home to San Francisco’s best cartoonist.

Onstad might be enjoying Portland’s pleasures, but says his characters will be staying firmly in place in the fictitious Bay Area suburb of Achewood.

“I’ve thought about this,” Onstad says. “Basically, the strip is set in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I don’t want to uproot it, I don’t want to move it up here. I don’t think I need to. Hopefully we’ll see a renewed energy, but not trips to the PSU farmer’s market or riding bicycles.”

For those new to the series, Achewood is a Web comic in its eighth year of existence that focuses on the quirky, bizarre, yet strangely relatable lives of a pair of cats: Raymond Quentin Smuckles, a sunglasses-and-thong-wearing Cadillac-driving playboy, and his friend “Roast Beef” Kazenkakis, a depressed computer programmer with a penchant for Stellas.

The two friends are joined by a host of other vibrant characters such as a refined gentleman-bear who runs a pub, an alcoholic stuffed tiger rocking a mean handlebar moustache and a coke-addicted squirrel named Todd. Each character’s personality and past are fleshed out in remarkable detail, which Onstad says comes from a variety of sources and inspiration.

“They’re amalgamations. Roast Beef is a depressed cat, I probably know like five people that fit that description,” he says. “There’s probably a bit of me in each major category. You don’t see Lie Bot so much anymore because I haven’t run in to anyone like that lately or felt like him so much myself.”

Beyond the cartoon strip, which Onstad updates a few times a week, Achewood‘s content has branched out into an online radio program, premium content for paid subscribers, two print anthologies, an Achewood cookbook and regularly updated blogs for each character.

“The strip itself isn’t even my favorite part of it, the blog is,” Onstad says, “but I’ve been putting most of my energy into the premium content, since that’s what I get money from. I really like to write Ray’s blog and I really like to write Cornelius’ blog. Ray’s is fun to write, he’s always got some grand idea. Cornelius always uses great language, which, as a writer, is what I enjoy practicing.”

The depth of Achewood‘s content has spilled beyond Onstad’s site into a strong fan community. Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot’s rap ballad to the comic, “Livin’ at the Corner of Dude & Catastrophe,” has been declared the Achewood theme song, and the synth-pop group Freezepop has also penned a song about the perpetually 5-year-old otter, Phillipe.

Local fans will have the opportunity to meet up with Onstad in person tonight at the Southeast Portland comic shop Things From Another World, where he will be signing copies of his first print anthology, Achewood: Volume 1 – The Great Outdoor Fight, as well as limited edition prints. While there won’t be any free tattoo inkings this time around, Onstad says fans can plan on an afterparty at a nearby bar, or at the very least an extended hangout session at the comic shop after the signing.

“I’m hoping to line up an after party somewhere nearby too, or I can hang out and chat,” Onstad says. “I’d like to do something more quantitative. Hopefully now we’ll be able to spend more time with the local readers.”