Who *writes* this stuff?

Who is the man behind the pencil? None other than 21st century hero Laura Hughes, whose wit, talent and good old-fashioned verve have breathed life into the souls of Lance and Eskimo. Caught unawares between bites of an almond croissant, Laura chewed thoughtfully and, cheese dribbling down her wretched chin, was heard to quip, “Um, I like… things?” Laura is in her early twenties and resides in North America.

How can I leave feedback on the comics?

You may now comment on individual strips! You may also engage in discourse over at Chefelf’s Night Life. You may also write to me at laura at lance and eskimo dot com.

What’s the deal with this webcomic “started in 2007″? Haven’t you been doing this for a long time?

Yeah, but I just got around to publishing in this form (joke per page, unfolding storyline, regularly updated (ish) webcomic).I used to draw silly comics in endless sketchbooks in middle school and high school to amuse my friends. In 1997 or so my brother and I made our first website on Angelfire with information about the comic as our content. For a long time there were no comics, and for an even longer time there was only the Holiday Special (Warning: embedded MIDI. Yes, yes, I know.) Around 2000 I added the Valentine Special. Around that time, Nate aka Chefelf bought the domain Lance and Eskimo Dot Com as a surprise for my birthday, and a number of us posted daily comedy articles for a few years, which is why the domain is such a labyrinth of wonder. (If you came here via the comics, you might like to check out some of our essays and flash films.) I returned to the comic roots in 2003 with some VERY occasional one-page comics. Finally, in April of 2007 I started this here actual webcomic, about ten years after I really should have. On the plus side my art and storylines are undoubtedly better than they would have been then. I take a lot of my storyline inspiration from the old comics, rewriting them and streamlining them the way you would if you were telling someone else your dream.

Do the Lance and Eskimo characters have real life counterparts?

Yes and no. Way back in 1997 or so when the titular (hee) pair was born, Lance was supposed to represent me and Eskimo, my best friend Alison Blackwell (a much more skilled comic artist). Almost immediately, they started taking on lives of their own, and now any resemblance is purely coincidental. Paul the bartender “is” my brother Paul in sort of the same way, only less so. Chefelf is this guy.

Where did the name Eskimo Jones come from?

It sprang into Alison’s head, fully formed, after she had been thinking about Calico Jack Rackham a lot.

Is Lance Native American?

If you’re drawing that conclusion from the fact that his last name is naturey, I should warn you that he made it up himself.

Do Lance and Eskimo have parents?

Um… good question. I’ll get back to you on that.

What are Lance’s feelings about the artist formerly known as Prince?

Lance is neutral about Prince.

If Lance is lazy, how come he’s so buff?

He claims to do 600 push-ups a day.

So…

Um…

……

(Shuffling feet)

(breaking silence) Hey Laura! Are you afraid of heights?

No…

Well your fly is! Ha! Ha!

Oops! Um, gotta go. Comment below with your questions!