40 New Comics With Unexpectedly Dark Twists By Dave Contra

This time around, Bored Panda reached out to Dave with some new questions. First, we wanted to know if perhaps the artist was working on some new series or perhaps something similar.

"I don't have any series planned at this point, my aim is just to create stuff that is either funny in a messed-up way, or stuff that is purely messed-up. I am definitely still getting very mixed reactions to my work, which I enjoy. I've even started enjoying the haters! Funny story: a hater DM'd me the other day, and I turned his message into a comic. You can check it out here.

He ended up seeing that comic, and messaging me again saying he loved it! We're buddies now, and he said if I ever come to his neck of the woods (Bavaria) he'll take me to Octoberfest. Life is funny.”

We also wanted to know if the artist had a comic he was proud of, and we thought it was only fair if he'd share his thoughts with us!

“I think my favorite is still this one, 'Bobby is a tree'. It was one of the first comics I did where I was trying to capture a very existential mood, rather than try to be funny. To be honest, the kind of thoughts or emotions behind comics like this are pretty messed up. I do them every now and then, and they're actually like revealing very personal dark aspects of my own personality, just in a cryptic way. It's a bit like self-therapy.”

Artists go through a few art phases trying to find the art style they could call their own, however, it seems like Dave is pretty happy with where he's at currently.

“Oh man, art style is something I am actually struggling with still. I'm definitely not a ‘great’ drawer. I guess I'd like to reach a level where my drawings are not high art, but are still appealing to the eye, and just get the idea across.

Also, my style has definitely gotten a bit 'simpler' over the last year, and there's a good reason for that: I have a 9 to 5 job, and then I work out after work a few days a week, so by the time I get home and make dinner, etc. I can be exhausted. So I've been trying to learn some tricks to speed up the process. Also, what I found encouraging was that some of the really popular comic creators have super simple styles. I guess the ideas are really the important part.”

Starting out with comics (or art in general) isn't easy, so we asked the artist if he had any tips to share.

“My main advice would be to just start, and set aside a regular time each day to work on them. In the beginning, there is a lot of fumbling around, learning what your own process is. That takes a while, so you just gotta keep going. Also, there will be a LOT of moments where you feel like quitting. You just have to push through. Always push through that wall, and keep going.

When you feel discouraged - just keep consuming comics from creators you like, that will inspire you.”

When it comes to people having opinions on his comics, here's what Dave hopes to achieve with his work, “I mean, the number one goal is to make people laugh. Just give them that 3% boost to what could otherwise be an average or even sh**ty day.

I also create comics where I want people to actually examine their lives, mortality, existence, the universe, complicated plumbing systems, the flatness of a pug's face, etc., etc.”

For some people, art is not only a hobby, but something way more, and Dave certainly has his own goals he wants to accomplish when it comes to his comics.

“Well, I'm a super small-fry. I'm like an amoeba, or a raisin stuck between the tread on your boots. So at this point, my main goal is to make people chuckle, and sometimes think outside the bubble, that's all. If water-cooler small talk is the disease, then I'd like my comics to be a tiny pill taken a few times a week to help ease discomfort and constipation.

For me personally, the BIG dream is to quit my job and make a living off of my work, that would be f**king incredible. But yeah, that is a LONG way away. One can only dream…”

Artists receive countless comments about their work pretty much every day, but sometimes some of them stand out more so than the others.

“There is one Reddit comment that really stood out. It was in response to my comic called ‘9 to 5 to 2005’ which you can see here. The comic was about a middle-aged guy, in a dead-end 9 to 5 job, suddenly being transported back to the happiest moment of his life, many years prior on a beach in Thailand, with a topless girl in his arms.

This comic was so personal and true to life that I actually felt emotional creating it. Anyway, the comment, from a Reddit user called ‘verac757’ was: ‘Christ I RELATE to this... I used to be a party boy fooling around a lot and enjoying life. Now I have a fully remote job, work like an hour a day, and make 80k a year doing it. Miserable as hell. I was happier being a broke college student partying. Life is nothing without adventure. That's it. I'm doing something. This comic was the wake-up call.’

Yeah, that was pretty dope. I loved that I actually made someone feel something.”

Lastly, we were curious to find out whether this whole art journey Dave went through has helped him with something in life, and here's what he shared with us.

“Well, I'm the kind of person who always needs a project, otherwise I start to get really anxious. Watching TV definitely doesn't cut it - it's not a deep enough distraction from the absolute horrific s**t-show that is existence. I feel like I need to create something that addresses the absurdity of life to actually feel a little better about it.

Before doing comics (I've still only been doing it for less than a year), I was trying all sorts of things. I used to make short films, I wrote a few very bad novels, and then for years, I was writing kids' illustrated chapter books. I never got published, though. That sucked. I think by far, creating comics has been my favorite.”