My name is Steven Askew. I am 31 years old and have spent almost one third of that living in Japan.
I graduated from Liverpool University (UK (Yes, I’m British (I’ve tried to keep Kevin international (well, he is from the Land of Moron (definitely a country (I wonder how many brackets within brackets you can actually have?)))))) with a degree in English Literature and Language. Then I did what most people who have used taxpayer’s money to get a degree do; I left the country.
I’m often asked “Why Japan?” and there are a variety of answers I usually chose from, not one of them true. The truth is I was in my last year at university and people on every side were suggesting that I stopped procrastinating and got myself a job. I decided to go to the careers office to see what kind of job a person like me could do. 3 steps through the door I saw a poster that said “Teach English in Japan.” Never one to think for myself, I did. I liked it. I stayed. I married.
Now I have been here for so long, and I have worked my entire career here that, were I to go back to the UK, I would be trained for nothing. Plus, I’ve kinda grown to like it. And my wife doesn’t speak a word of English. (I can all hear you assuming that means I can speak Japanese! No. We don’t talk.)
I teach English in a private girls’ Christian high school. Now, you’re either thinking one of two things. i) Oooh, you dirty old man. ii) You lucky thing, they must be angels to teach. My answer to both of those is “No!” They are most certainly not angels. In short, I don’t really like my job.
I am trying a host of different things to make a living. I’ve designed websites ( nandemofoto.com , stevensherwin.net , askewpuncture.com , spikertservices.com ), I make my cartoon, I’ve designed countless T-shirts (some Kevin ones too), I’ve written 3 books, I run 4 websites with Google Adsense on them and so far I have made not a penny. One day though. Who knows? The book of Kevin's first year has started to sell. Maybe as you read this I’m sunning myself on a tropical beach somewhere. (I hear cruise ships are always looking for new staff).
Slightly before Christmas 2006 I was in a meeting. One of those vitally important meetings where we’ve spent 40 minutes discussing whether or not we should actually have a meeting. The kind of meeting the world couldn’t exist without.
I was spending my time wisely; doodling in a notebook. Some stick men and a (to me) funny joke. Something about a man on a stage eating hamsters. I showed it to the person sitting next to me. He, being my friend, told me that I couldn’t draw and I wasn’t funny. Not one to be put off by a little constructive criticism I doodled a few more of these cartoons. The same friend told me that I still could not draw, I was still not funny and if I didn’t stop doodling in the meeting I’d be fired.
At home that weekend I was playing around with Photoshop and the doodle I’d made earlier popped back into my mind. I had my wife take a photo of me (I just happened to be wearing black sweats); I uploaded it and played with it for a while. I discovered that I could make an almost realistic picture. “Aha,” I thought. So I can’t draw? Well, maybe I don’t need to.
I had solved the first problem! The second, and probably more important, of the two problems, if you ask my friend, has never been solved. I am still not funny.
For that first cartoon I realized giving a character a name could increase the humor level of any situation. Here’s an example:
You see? Obviously, the second example is funnier. Agree with me or I won’t tell Kevin where I hid his Rubik’s cube!
The name Kevin came purely at random. I did not base it on anyone and I don’t even know a Kevin. I suppose, if the character is based on anyone at all, it is me.
That first cartoon amused me. I may have been the only one. And I decided to make a couple more. I had my wife take more pictures and I decided to wear the same clothes as before. I liked the name Kevin so I used it again and the cartoon was born. (These first cartoons were actually posted to the website on March 11th and 12th owing to some confusion when I moved from the blog.)
To begin with I opened a blog. I didn’t intend to do the cartoon daily and I thought a blog would be a good place to post it. I had no idea how long I’d be able to keep coming up with ideas and a blog would be easy to shut down.
The original blog logo.
After the first couple of weeks a kind of obsession set in. I found that if I missed a day something didn’t quite feel right. Then I found I was carrying a notebook round with me and coming up with ideas at the strangest of times.
And the obsession grew. I decided that Kevin needed a home. I already knew he came from the Land of Moron and when I found that available as a web address I jumped at the chance. I designed a clumsy site (all my own work), which I have slowly been refining and here I am, one year later, still making the cartoons.
Sometimes I find it hard to believe that a whole year has passed. As my friend so succinctly put it “I see you haven’t run out of ideas yet.” And, ignoring the implication, he’s right. I don’t know how long I can keep the ideas coming, but we shall see. “Book 1” that I have just published may end up being the only as opposed to the first.