Taste a bit of this 'Toothpaste'
Comic illustrator Drew pairs poorly-drawn figures with wit.
Published Oct. 28, 2005
Elongated heads, lopsided eyes and three-fingered hands comprise the characters of "Toothpaste For Dinner," an innovative online comic.
The characters' creator, Drew, who lacks a last name in the comic world, admits he is no artist. He is a research chemist, a musician, an operator for indie record label Sharing Machine and a writer for the British magazine .net. But drawing obscure and hilarious comics is what Drew does best. His first book, "Toothpaste For Dinner: Hipsters, Hamsters, and Other Pressing Issues," hit bookstore shelves nationwide Sept. 18. The book contains more than 200 comics from his Web site, toothpastefordinner.com.
The true humor of "Toothpaste" isn't found in the poorly drawn characters, all of which look the same as the next, but in the peculiar things they say.
Some of Drew's best one-line creations include, "If I had a dollar for every time I had 60 cents, I would be Canada," and, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Readers might find themselves asking where Drew came up with this stuff. Most of his comics mock everyday life, with topics such as office employees, graduate school, popular music, parental advice, hamsters and Drew's favorite topic — coffee. After reading a few comics, it is easy to realize how unimportant the quality of the artwork is. Few aspects of the book give the reader a sense of Drew's sarcastic oddball humor, from the dedication to "all the chickens who were down from day one" to the "Teflon Bacon Test," the book's table of contents.
On the back cover, Drew refers to the book's contents as "Drawings I Made When I Should Have Been Working." It could be a simple testament to the author's attention span, but it also gives insight into the mind behind the comics. These comics are thoughts brought on by pure boredom, thoughts that can only be produced in a moment when the mind is completely free.
His dry wit and obvious contempt for office jobs is the subject of many cartoons, featuring rude coworkers.
It takes real talent to make a joke in the constraints of the one-panel cartoon. Drew's obscure-looking characters and excellent humor make "Toothpaste" a truly unique comic. Comics like this are rare.
When confronted by someone inexperienced in the world of "Toothpaste," the question "What is it like?" cannot be easily answered. "Toothpaste For Dinner" isn't like anything. The hand-held, printed version is the manifestation of everything wonderful that has ever popped into Drew's bored mind.