End of Days

Collegian artist John Rios' graduation brings an end to Dead Days strip in printed form, but artist vows to keep the comic up and running on Web site

By Jeff Criesi

Dead Days began as an apology.

On Sept. 10, 2001, John Rios introduced his comic strip to the campus in the form of his brain lying in a puddle of its own spinal fluid. The brain, a talking one of course, warned readers that what they were about to experience might not be funny, but at the same time welcomed them into a strange and wacky world where “everyday is a dead day.”

Six semesters and 108 strips later, Rios’ comic is arguably the most popular item in the newspaper. While some follow along to catch up on the adventures of Rios’ strange characters like Math Major Man and Blossom the Possum, most read Dead Days for the artist’s unique take on what it’s like to be a college student in your twenties.

“ It’s just too easy to come up with comics about college life because there’s just so much there,” Rios said. “There’s so much in there that no one even touches on or can touch on because such bizarre crap goes on in college.”

Rios’ ability to capture the world of university life, mixed with the seemingly endless amount of pop culture references inside his head may be what makes his comic so popular with students, but sometimes that combination can be confusing to others.

“ Our age will get the most out of Dead Days and pretty much anything else I do,” Rios said. “I put in what I’ve grown up with, and the things that I remember from my past people will remember too. If you didn’t grow up in that era, a joke about ‘Who’s the Boss’ isn’t going to be as funny.”

Along with the obvious role television played in the development of Rios’ comedic style, his family was just as important. While he and his five brothers and sisters might have grown up poor working long days in the vineyards of Del Ray, Calif., laughter in the house was never in short supply.

“ My family has the greatest sense of humor out of anyone I know,” Rios said. “It was cracks and sarcasm and put downs all over the place in my family, but you know it was all innocent.”

It was time spent with his family reading comics like Far Side that taught Rios about different kinds of humor, and more importantly, how they were used in a comic strip.

“ After reading all that, you kind of get a sense for what’s funny,” he said. “Like what’s intelligent funny as opposed to what’s a fart joke.”

Comedic tutelage aside, what growing up really taught Rios was the true meaning of hard work and the importance of school. The vineyards were an honest living, but a difficult living at best. Rios’ parents knew it was no life for their children and wanted each to do something more with their lives.

“ It was a big educational push in my family,” Rios said. “Go to college, go to college, ‘cause you don’t want to do this the rest of your life. I respect the people who do that, but it’s not the kind of work you really want to do if you can help it.”

Although the family may have started out in the fields, one by one each sibling made their way through college, turning out as lawyers, bankers, policemen—all the stable jobs in society.

When Rios’ turn came, the news that he wanted to study art was met with support, but with some trepidation as well.

“ I think everyone was a little bit uneasy when I said artist,” Rios said. “I think they saw it more as a hobby, but I always saw it as a lot more, as something I really wanted to end up doing, because I knew if I were to become a banker I’d just want to be drawing art.”

Besides giving him the education his parents wanted, college, and specifically the college newspaper, was where Rios’ art would go to the next level.

“ When I started with The Collegian is when my art in content and in voice and in style really started to take off because I was forced to draw, and I was forced to draw well,” Rios said. “I was being paid to draw and I wasn’t going to just turn in sketches.”

Working as the main editorial cartoonist on the Opinion page, Rios learned to work at a breakneck pace, drawing three cartoons a week on average.

Josh Tehee, opinion editor with The Collegian from fall 2001 until spring 2002, was one of the editors that pushed Rios early on. While other editors had used Rios’ work, Tehee strived to put even more of his art in the paper.

“ I don’t think they knew what they had then,” Tehee said. “I started using him enough for him to explore what he could do. Usually I would give him one thing every issue and he was fine with that. He was doing so much, I was just happy to have whatever he was willing to turn in.”

Rios’ incredible ability to churn out art, both then and now, is in part a product of his biggest fear.

“ I’m scared to death every night I go to bed that I’m going to wake up and I’m not going to be able to do it the next morning,” Rios said. “I think in a way, I kind of define myself by my art. It’s like who I am, I’m an artist. So if I’m not creating any art, what am I doing in life, I’m just kind of loafing around eating a burger or something. I really should be doing what I’m here to do.”

For nine semesters, Rios has done just that. With approximately 400 pieces of Collegian art under his belt, or roughly one per issue, he has redefined the word prolific.

But as a senior graduating with a degree in graphic design, the time for Rios to leave has come.

For the time being, the goal is to find a nice graphic design job to pay the bills while trying to find Dead Days a home in the world of print.

Luckily, for fans that don’t want the adventure to end just yet, Rios will continue the series on his Web site, updating around once a week, or whenever he gets the chance.

So far the site, which he set up a little more than a year ago, has built a steady following of people from around the world who have just discovered what the campus has known about for years.

But Web site or not, the change of pace, even if only momentary, will take some time to get used to for a guy who from the moment he set foot on campus has practically filled the pages of the newspaper with his art

“ I’ve come to terms with the fact that Dead Days isn’t going to be printed anymore, not for now anyway,” Rios said. “It’s going to be weird not getting assignments anymore, not being able to have a printed outlet for my cartoons for a while, but I’m hoping that my Web site will help the part of me that just wants fame and glory.”