In a previous FAQ, GBT mentioned that one of his influences for the early strips was Jules Feiffer. What other artists or writers have been important influences?
Charles Schulz, for the exquisite care with which he wrote character-driven (as opposed to gag-driven) humor; E.L. Doctorow, whose Ragtime was fashioned around a wholly original interplay between fictional and historical characters; and Robert Altman, whose M*A*S*H was not only a powerful act of subversion, but was built on overlapping dialogue which frequently collapsed into honking incoherence, a vivid reminder that in real life people mostly don’t listen to one another.
