No no no no no. Ok, this question gives me a chance to complain about something that really bothers me. I appreciate the compliment and no hard feelings.

The notion that drugs are the only way to come up with interesting or “psychedelic” ideas is flawed. The notion that there is ANY SORT OF SHORTCUT to doing this sort of creative work is flawed. Assuming that an artist has to take some sort of shortcut to FIND ideas rather than coming up with them on their own and without chemical “help” discredits what we’re doing. Also I think this whole line of questioning (“where do you get your ideas,” “do you base your characters on real people,” “do you have to use drugs to have ideas”) ignores the fact that these ideas aren’t even worth that much- it takes much less to have a good idea than it does to put the hundreds of hours into executing it that it demands. No one cares about an idea until it is executed.

This being said, I don’t think that drugs are inherently off-limits as a source of “inspiration” or whatever. Everything we create is composed of elements from everything we experience and everything that goes through our heads, so it’s sort of artificial to consider drugs, if you use them, off-limits as a source of ideas. But taking this drug or that is no guarantee that you will have any ideas at all, and it’s nonsense to think that any ideas you do have will be inherently better than the ideas you have straight.

I have gotten this question before. It frustrates me that anyone would think I’m not capable of coming up with material with my brain in its normal place, and it frustrates me that people are taking acid or whatever in hopes of tapping into some magical font of ideas that is not there. Ideas are hard work, and actually making comics is a thousand times harder.