Q&A: 'Owly' cartoonist Andy Runton

At Silver Bullet Comic Books, Tim O'Shea talks with Andy Runton about Owly:

... I get wonderful reactions from kids and usually their parents. I'm just so overwhelmed that somebody can relate to Owly. These stories are very personal to me so I guess I never really expected it. I did have one funny story. When I was first drawing Owly, my friends told me he needed an accessory ... like a hat or something. Well, in North Carolina I was explaining the different minis that I had for sale to a little five-year-old girl and I told her to check out "the way home because that's where Owly meets his best friend Wormy." And she said, "What's he look like," and I said, "That's him on Owly's head, he's a little worm." And she said, "Oh, I thought that was a funny little hat!" That one stuck with me because it was so unbelievably cute. But every encounter touches me. When people buy the book I do free sketches, and I had an older gentleman specifically ask for a drawing of Wormy and his family. It's little things like that. Or when people bring their copy of Owly that they bought somewhere else, for me to sign and it's really been read. That almost takes my breath away.