Innies and Outties

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Innies and Outties, by Leonard Cachola

Innies and Outties is a wonderful strip created by Leonard Cachola. There's a cast of characters that are widely varied but very well-developed, including Iris (the "Innie", who is a girl), Otis (the "Outtie", a boy), Eebo the mechanical dog, and a sentient teddy bear thanks to the inventiveness of Eebo. It's a fun strip that's a joy to read.

For the concept and history behind the strip, see the FAQ on the Innies and Outties website here.

Here's Leonard's creative process for Innies and Outties, in his own words:

"Every weekday, I get up at 6 a.m., hit the snooze button several times, then finally wake up, look at the clock and realize I don't have enough time to finish before having to go to work. Panic. I then grab my trusty old Apple eMate and start writing with two questions in mind: what happened in the previous day's strip and what do I want to say today? Most of my subjects are born from conversations with friends and family, news events, or personal experience and adapted to fit the characters and the situations they're going through. The punchlines are a bit tricky, sometimes they are the first thing I write, sometimes they are the last thing I write - so it just depends on the strip. After I finish writing, I hit the drawing board. Lettering first, then pencils, then inks. Once done, I scan the strip in and upload it to the website and the mailing list. In total, the process from start to finish takes between 45 minutes to an hour-and-a-half. I have been known to change whole strips and storylines before I publish them in the book compilations, so by no means are the ones posted on the web the final iteration of each strip. That's it!"

Also, here's some history behind the technique used by Leonard to create the art for Innies and Outties.

"The first week was drawn with a Col-Erase blue pencil. Although I have changed drawing tools several times over the years, I ended up choosing the Col-Erase pencils for their convenience and the fact that they don't break as easily as other leads I've tried! For inking, I used markers on animation paper, which I did because it was what I had on hand at the time since I had just graduated from animation school. I didn't like the flimsy feel of the paper and moved to bristol board the second week and later moved to using nibs and ink on bristol board and, finally, ink and brush on bristol board."

Check out some of Leonard's original art below!

Example of Innies and Outties daily by Leonard Cachola, February 14, 2000. Copyright 2002 Leonard M. Cachola, all rights reserved. This is the first strip of Innies and Outties that Leonard created. Some history behind the strip, as described by Leonard: "For the very first Innies and Outties, I wanted to avoid the usual 'characters introducing themselves and the comic strip' cliché, opting to literally launch the strip from a rocket pad and right into the heart of Otis' and Iris' relationship. Basically, I establish that Otis has an active imagination, Iris isn't a part of that imagination, and they annoy each other while at the same time launching a new strip."

Example of Innies and Outties daily by Leonard Cachola, October 28, 2003. Copyright 2003 Leonard M. Cachola, all rights reserved. This strip features a very early appearance of Eebo the mechanical dog (spelled "Ibo" at this point in time). I just love this strip, and I laughed out loud the first time I read it. Some history behind this strip, as described by Leonard: "This one sprang from conversations about how I should get a pet that way I would stop complaining about being single to all my friends. Xana's argument for having a robot pet over a real one is actually me logically reasoning out why I wouldn't want a pet. Eebo (spelled 'Ibo' in this strip) is representative of my interest in computers and tech troubleshooting and him having problems is me taking out my frustrations on the very machines I make a living on. So, when Xana cries out "Bad dog, Ibo," that's me screaming at a computer that's crashed yet again for reasons unfathomable to everyone except the people who programmed them."

A terrific specialty sketch by Leonard Cachola, featuring Iris, Otis, and Eebo at the beach in Hawaii. I love this piece.

See the strip for yourself and experience the fun of Innies and Outties by clicking on the link below!