You ain’t seen nothing yet(i): on illustrator Nick Seluk

Nick Seluk doesn’t particularly like taking directions from people. In fact, he was so miserable working under someone in his corporate job as a graphic designer that he quit in 2014, after a decade-long career. Instead, he chose to focus on a hobby he’d developed in 2012, The Awkward Yeti comics.

Since then, Seluk has actively honed and monsetised it, adding spin-offs such as Heart and Brain and Medical Tales Retold to his creations. This weekend, the elusive Michigan-based illustrator makes his way to the Comic Con’s Mumbai leg to meet his fans and talk about his work.

The creature from his mind

Seluk created Lars, the blue yeti, as a way to express his own reservations and social anxiety. The character, which first appeared on his personal website and online comic repository Tapastic, became popular, quickly getting pushed on social media platforms like Reddit, Tumblr and Imgur.

The series chronicled the daily struggles faced by Lars and, well, his awkwardness. In one gag, for example, the yeti is so conscious about saying hello to someone that he agonises over the ‘right’ greeting. In the end, a fist bump turns into a hard punch, and he realises that he doesn’t know the person after all. Several other embarrassing mishaps followed, taking the form of a daily series and a webtoon.

That same year, one particular comic, about a sad gallbladder, went viral and Seluk realised that he was on the precipice of something huge that was resonating with millions of people. New characters followed: anthropomorphic organs such as a brain, heart, tongue, kidneys, and more were added to Lars’ life. It resulted in the Heart and Brain series, followed by Medical Tales Retold, which Seluk says was a way to interact with his fans.

“I received hundreds of submissions and selected 25 that I thought told a good story and could be enhanced by the comics. It was one of the most exhausting projects I have ever worked on. Writing my own work is much easier! But in the end, the result was a great way to help people learn from and empathise with other people. I’m very proud of that series.”

Seriously funny business

Growing up in Michigan, Seluk devoured Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes comics. His mother’s love of painting and father’s passion for new cultures (he exchanged wine for authentic food) helped him become artistic and curious. While his mother encouraged him to go to art school, instead, he pursued a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Central Michigan University. Though his academic pursuits did set him off course for a while, he does use his education to elucidate complex subjects in his comics.

For instance, the Heart asks the Brain to focus on a pile of good, while the latter is completely focused on a heap of bad. It’s reflective of how easy it is for humans to spiral into negativity. But Seluk treats the subject with irreverence and innocent humour. “Mental health is kind of a natural path for me because of [my] background,” he says, adding that his comics act as an outlet for personal therapy. “I think much of what comics like mine explore is social psychology, our reactions to one another and how we relate to one another. When you have a topic like anxiety and depression, it’s difficult to help people understand how bad the extremes are, because we all experience acute anxiety and depression. So I think it’s a great topic to explore to help others understand it better.”

Laughing out loud

In addition to the myriad cool merchandise available on his website (from adorable plushies to mugs), Seluk’s also got card games like OrganATTACK, books like Gut Instincts and Body Language. “I still don’t understand why, but I seem to be able to take complex topics and simplify them with humour… I think anatomy was just something I wanted to learn more about, and the comics were a great excuse to study it a little bit at a time,” he say, explaining why most of his focus has been on the human body.

“My success started with simple epiphanies. The advice you read is all true, and when you begin to live it, you see it in a completely different way,” he explains, adding that you can’t just wait for someone else to do it for you, you have to do the work and work harder than the next person. It was something that the illustrator was initially averse to believing. “And hard work alone won’t cut it — you have to adapt and stay humble. If you aren’t humble, you won’t feel the need to improve, and therefore, won’t improve. I wasted a lot of time wishing for a [big] break.”

As for the future, while Seluk will continue to make people laugh with his comics, he’s hoping to go the animation route. Here’s hoping we get to see Lars and his entourage on, if not the big, then any screen in the near future.

Nick Seluk will be at Comic Con Mumbai today and tomorrow. Visit comicconindia.com and theawkwardyeti.com.