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SOMETIMES IT TAKES
AN ARMY TO RAY BACK
YOUR COLLEGE LOAN.
Paying back your college loan can be a long,
uphill battle. But the Army’s Loan Repayment
Program makes it easy.
Each year you serve as a soldier, the Army will
reduce your college debt by xh or $1,500, whichever
amount is greater. So after serving just 3 years, your
college loan will be completely paid off.
feu re eligible for this program with a National
Direct Student Loan or a Guaranteed Student Loan
or a Federally Insured Student Loan made after
October 1,1975. And the loan can’t be in default.
And just because you’ve left college, don’t think
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offers a wealth of valuable high-tech, career-oriented
skills. Call your local Army Recruiter to find out more.
Phone Staff Sgt. TIM ACEVEZ
At 475-8561 In Lincoln.
ARMY. BE ALL YOU CAN BE.
JIM from Page 9
funny. And in trying to figure out the
meaning behind the cartoon’s sim
pleness, he said, some people try to
read things into it.
“People tell me ‘Jim’s Journal
says so much about life and it’s so
existential, and 1 just tell them it’s not
intended to be.’’
This deadpan humor is what sets
“Jim’s Journal” apart from conven
tional strips like “Garfield,” Dikkers
said.
“I hate ‘Garfield.’ It’s the worst
comic strip around,” he said.
Dikkers said he dislikes both
“Garfield” and “Marvin” because
they not only arc conventional, but
predictable.
“The real comedy of it all is that
they’re very popular and syndicated
— to me that’s funny and as good as a
gag,” Dikkers said.
“I like things thatarcoff the wall,
where you don’t know what will
happen next,” he said.
“New Yorker’’ cartoonists
George Booth and Roz Chast are
among Dikkers’ favorites because
“thcy’reoffbcatand subtle,” he said.
He also said he enjoys Matt Groe
ning, who is famous for cartoon
books such as “School is Hell.”
When asked how he comes up
with ideas for the journal, Dikkers
said:
“I try to think of something I did
that day -- something offbeat and
memorable - and then incorporate it
into Jim’s life,” he said.
“I think up an event or situation
and just write down what I would
do.”
Dikkers said he never has writer’s
block when it comes to his strip.
‘‘I take pieces of life and write
about them, so I usually have too
many ideas and not enough lime to
write them all down.”
Jim-O-Mania has struck the Madi
son campus with full force, according
to Dikkers. Bookstores sell Jim T
shirts and Dikkers’ first book, which
includes strips from the first two
years of publication.
The white T-shirts feature a black
and-white Jim and arc available with
about 10 different messages ranging
from “I’m having a pretty good day”
to “I’m kind of bored.”
“Everybody has a Jim shirt,”
Dikkers said. “It’s the thing to have a
Wisconsin shirt and a Jim shirt.”
Jim fans also can find these shirts
in stores across the country, Dikkers
said. The Shirt Slop in Madison has
distributed the Jim souvenirs to meet
a growing demand in other states.
His book, which he published last
year and is nationally distributed by
Capital City Comics, is a best-seller
in a local book store.
“It has sold well in town and I’m
going to make more of an effort to
market it nationally,” he said.
Dikkers also hopes to increase his
syndication to national newspapers.
“So far they haven’t been recep
tive because Jim is a college charac
ter,” he said.
“Jim’s Journal” is popular mostly
in the Midwest, Dikkers said, though
the strip runs in campus newspapers
as far away as Vermont, California
and Washington, D.C.
“Jim is a Midwestern phenom
ena,” he said. “Because in the Mid
west, you’re existential and polite,
but on the East Coast you talk back to
people.”
Dik kers said the character of Tony
is one of his favorites because he’s a
typical college guy.
“I’m a big fan of Tony because
he’s a jerk and he’s funny.”
According to Dikkers, Tony is
based on a number of people he has
known and represents the general
male college student.
But Jim, on the other hand, is more
of an exception to the norm.
“Jim is kind of kooky,” he said.
“I’m a social misfit myself.”
And Mr. Peterson, Jim’s cat, is
modeled after one of Dikkers’ three
cats.
“I just got a baby kitten, Felix,
when I introduced Mr. Peterson last
spring,” he said.
The reader sees everything that
happens in the comic strip through
the eyes of Jim, since he is the main
character, Dikkers said.
“Many cartoonists talk about
whether the main character in a
comic strip ever has a personality,”
he said. “Basically, the artist com
ments on things through the main
character.”
Cartoonists use their main charac
ters to express their own personali
ties, Dikkers said.
Dikkers said he doesn’t do many
interviews and likes to keep a low
profile as the creative force behind
“Jim’s Journal.”
“I like the idea of having people
believe a mystery guy named Jim is
telling them what he did that day,”
Dikkers said.
“I think that’s what makes it
work.”
THANKS from Page 9
characicr-building scars, both vis
ible and visceral. And I guess I’m
still a little uptight, just not preoc
cupied with getting ahead. After
all, I’m a journalist, right?
At any rate, I still manage to sec
a great deal of beauty and poetry
all around me.
Like the little blind dog who is
tied up on a leash in the front yard
of one of the houses in my neigh
borhood. He’s always barking.
Barking at leaves blowing down
the sidewalk. Barking at rain.
Barking at the rush-hour traffic
going by in the afternoon. Some
times he lets me pet him when I’m
walking home from school.
To me, that little dog is more
important than a fancy car, expen
sive clothes or any ol thc other toys
lots of money can buy.
Pretty weird perspective, huh ?
The point is, there arc so many
amazing and wonderful little daily
experiences, that if you take the
time to notice, can enrich your life
beyond belief.
Always remember and never
forget that it’s your altitude that
determines the quality of your ex
istence.
It’s something to think about
over Thanksgiving.
That’s another lesson Russ
taught me.
Thanks, Russ.
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