Mustard's Workshop: Creating a Comic with Haley of Chicken Noodle Noggin

A few weeks ago Mustard reached out to Haley 😬 for an interview. As we spoke Haley brought up the idea of collaborating together on something. This condiment was honored as Haley’s newsletter Chicken Noodle Noggin genuinely brings them joy. To be able to work on a comic with Haley was a great honor. They have never done comic work before so this was all new to them.

During the collaboration process Haley pitched them the concept of what would become our comic. Haley let Mustard provide any feedback they would like but honestly they did not have to provide much. When Haley pitched them the concept Mustard burst out into a laugh at their work desk. They were sold. Haley had the idea to combine both of our art styles together. The transition and blending of their style along with the pixel art sounded really cool.

Growing up Mustard did not read a ton of comics. The only comic (if it counts) they remember reading was Captain Underpants. As a condiment that appreciates silly and stupid humor Captain Underpants was right up this condiment’s aisle. Not much has changed as Mustard still appreciates this type of humor. If you have not seen yet Mustard recommends checking out the 2017 Captain Underpants movie. It does an excellent job of honoring its humor and art style.

As Mustard became a teenager they began to fall in love with graphic novels. If they were not spending their money on music, DVDs, or wrestling-related merchandise it was going towards graphic novels. Mustard was a very political-interested teenager and the two graphic novels they gravitated towards were Watchmen and V for Vendetta by Alan Moore. These two graphic novels helped shape them politically and made a big impact on them. Mustard can remember going to the mall, heading into Newbury Comics, and buying both.

After graduating high school Mustard began working as a summer camp counselor. It was one of the most rewarding jobs they have ever had. Mustard thinks about that job (and what those kids may be up to now) every day. Nevertheless Mustard worked with many counselors who were very much into Marvel and DC. Mustard enjoyed both but they would not say they were in love with them. Until they started diving more into the Batman graphic novels. One Christmas Mustard simply asked for a collection of Batman graphic novels. Mustard loved everything about the world of Gotham. They still do. In fact, Mustard has a Batman tattoo. It is difficult to put a tattoo on a plastic condiment bottle but they made it happen.

Mustard also went through a Marvel phase. You know what they are talking about. Everything leading up to Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Mustard was hooked. Now not so much. They love Spider-Man and enjoyed Thor:Ragnarok but that world does not really do it much for them anymore. Mustard is currently enjoying what is going on with DC. But more so on a casual basis.

They wish they put more effort into reading comics growing up. The only thing that really interested them besides music was professional wrestling. Mustard still loves wrestling and has been unable to quit it. Instead of watching WWE Mustard would much rather watch AEW (All Elite Wrestling) and Japanese wrestling instead. At any point in the day Mustard can break out into conversation about wrestling.

Mustard is getting sidetracked. Nevertheless that is their brief history with comics and graphic novels. With all this said Mustard has always appreciated how much story can be told in 1-8 frames. That is not easy to do. Haley 😬 (and other comic artists) have limited space to illustrate and tell a story. How they use that space to elevate that story being told through their illustrations is so cool.

For our comic collaboration Mustard worked in Piskel. Piskel is their program of choice. They can use it while working at their day-job. During the process Haley had shared with them an outline of what the comic was going to look like with some illustrations. On Mustard’s end they tried their best to recreate Haley’s illustrations for the comic. Mustard thought they were great and did not need any tweaking.

Surprisingly, besides the hot dog, making the food was the most challenging part of the process. Mustard likes to use reference images for their art. The hot dog came pretty easily to them. What Mustard was most concerned with was detail. Detail is always something they try to put effort into. It is important that you as a reader and consumer are able to identify what it is. The most challenging food to make for our comic was the pancakes due to its shape. Mustard was able to use the circle tool but they wanted them to look flat and stacked. For the pancakes they tried to add extra detail (butter and mustard) on top to distract from the fact they may not look exact.

Mustard thought the Mustard Monster would be the most difficult to make but that was surprisingly not too bad. In Haley’s original illustration you can see the motion of the mustard monster coming towards the subject. Mustard tried their best to show that motion as well. Honestly the Mustard Monster is one of their favorite things they have made. As a condiment that loves Kaiju and monster movies it was so much fun making a giant mustard monster. They are going to try to manifest a Godzilla vs Mustard Monster movie. Box office numbers be damned.

Mustard made all of their art in one file as highlighted above. As they finished one item they sent it to Haley. They cannot express enough to you how much they were looking forward to the final product. This condiment would also like to applaud Haley 😬 as she was doing all of this during her finals week as a graduate student. Mustard wishes they had that time management skill when they were a student.

They are so proud of this comic and beyond grateful that they got to collaborate with Haley 😬 on it. Haley is one of the kindest humans on the planet. Never would have expected that our interview would lead to such a cool collaboration like this. If you have not already subscribed to Haley’s newsletter Chicken Noodle Noggin Mustard believes you change that right now. Or whenever you have an open window to do so.

One last note before they go - mustard on mashed potatoes is pretty good. Does it work as a meal by itself? No. But let’s say you were having Shepard’s Pie or something of the sort and you wanted to add some mustard to that potatoes. Mustard says go for it. Mustard’s flavor mixed with the potatoes and whatever you used for meat will make a delicious meal.

Mustard on pancakes? Absolutely not.

Mustard on a peanut butter and jelly? Oddly tempting but no.

But if you do try either let Mustard know. They are curious.

Thanks for stopping by their workshop!

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