PUBLISHED ON NEXTPLANETOVER.COM in MARCH '99
By Nick Krewen
SHANNON WHEELER is a psychic's nightmare. Jo-Jo, Dionne, LaToya andthe others just can't get a grip.
"They can't get a handle on me," says Wheeler, 32, CEO ofAdhesive Comics.
"I'm doing what I want to do, and my parents are supportive.I dress like a hippie/slacker guy, so they try to assume that I'm interestedin changing my career or not happy with what I'm doing. I'm in that fivepercent of the population that's odd."
Aside from confounding commercial mind-readers, what other publicservice does Eisner Award winner Shannon Wheeler provide? He's the creator/cartoonist/mastermindbehindToo Much Coffee Man, the anti-hero of the '90s, the NewMillennium, and today.
A manic depressive, caffeine-and-nicotine-addled love-handled worrywart,Too Much Coffee Man is probably closer to you and yours than you would careto admit. Too engrossed in the next dilemma to actually do anything aboutit, TMCM's honest, entertaining bouts of analysis offers healthy doses ofcynicism and humor as he roasts a number of social issues and topics.
Not bad for a guy with a cup for a head and coffee -- black, no cream,no sugar -- for a brain.
And although his creator has somehow nailed the stereotype of everyangst-addled writer and journalist between Timbuktu and Tampa, Wheeler deflectsand deflates any potential targets.
"I think I'm just making fun of myself," says the good-natured,San Fran-whelped, Portland-based father of 13-month old twins.
Wheeler says he first brewedToo Much Coffee Man a handfulof years ago while experimenting with a number of similar characters.
"They were relating, having conversations, going on dates, breakingup, and having their existential crises -- a lot of the same stuff that'sinToo Much Coffee Man. The problem is that there wasn't a hook.It was a largely autobiographical strip, and I felt like I needed to dosomething more high concept.
"As a joke I invented Too Much Coffee Man, because hehas the handle on his mug as a handle for the audience. It was a reallybad pun."
What's even more rewarding is that Wheeler has been able to make aliving exposing the manic depressive in all of us, er, manic depressives.Especially since most of us love --no, crave -- the insidious narcotic thatcamouflages itself inside the coffee bean.
"In part, that's what coffee does," Wheeler agrees. "I'mreally fascinated by manic and depressive behavior, and it's odd that thesemoods wash through us and color our view of the world and reality. Somehowthat's independent of who we are.
"It really fascinates me that you wake up, have chemicals inyour body, and you're happy. Or you wake up, have other chemicals in yourbody, and you're depressed. The chemicals are part of your identity."
Wheeler is surprised that people are picking upToo Much CoffeeMan'sadventures strictly because of java love.
"People will say, `I like coffee.' So they buy the book and readit. Or else they'll say, "My (dad, aunt, dog, insert your name here)loves coffee," and they'll buy it for them. I get a lot of impulsebuys.
"I think what people expect is a superhero parody done in thekey of coffee. They expect aPopeye the Sailor type of storyline,where the superhero is fighting some anti-coffee supervillain -- that kindof standard fare plot. But they open the book, and they realize it's existentialism.He's always making fun of the social norms. It has content."
On his website (www.TooMuchCoffeeMan.com), Wheeler offers 121 TMCMon-line strips of his Java-entrenched subject, and a whole lot of analysis.
"More of that comes from my Dad being a therapist, getting thatinfluence and growing up in Berkeley, too, where everyone is way over-educatedfor their jobs," Wheeler states. "My Mom ( a teacher) had a gardenerat one point who was a lawyer, and all of my teachers in middle schoolshad graduate degrees. People were way overeducated, but dysfunctional too.They had all this observation and knowledge and it's paralyzing. I justsaw that over and over again."
Wheeler's own educational journey included stabs at architecture andcinema.
"Comic book artistry didn't come until after college."
The film-maker aspect of his aspirations may be realized after all,as Canadian animation house Nelvana has optionedToo Much Coffee Manas a series and is busy shopping around.
Wheeler is wary.
"I'm a little bit nervous because one of the reasons I movedaway from that in college is because I saw what a collaborative effort itwas, and how much compromise was involved in the projects.
"That's one of the great things about doing the comic book: you'redoing it yourself. You don't have to justify your decisions. If you wantto skip the action/adventure part of an action/adventure story, you justdo it."
Instead, Wheeler is finding that people are attempting to find motivationand explanation for all thingsToo Much Coffee Man, rather than justadhering to the Beatles' old pearl of wisdom, "Let It Be."
"Why is he doing this? Because." states Wheeler.
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THANKS: BETH RIMMELS
©1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink
