Conversation: Shary Flenniken, part 1

This interview was conducted by Bystander Publisher & Editor Michael Gerber, on June 4, 2023.

MG: So Shary, we're doing these interviews—which we want to do regularly—so the people who read the magazine know the contributors better, because they're really interested in you guys. But it’s a bit tough, because some of them will have read all the other interviews, and others won’t know you at all. My goal here is for you to come through as a person as much as  much as possible.

So, this next part is for those of you who’ve never really read any of Shary’s work. SHARY FLENNIKEN is best known for her long-running comic strip “Trots & Bonnie,” which features the adventures of teenaged girl Bonnie and her faithful dog Trots, as they navigate life and love in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, where the artist grew up and resides today. After starting as an underground cartoonist and a member of the infamous Air Pirates, Shary reached her largest audience in the “Funny Pages” section of The National Lampoon, starting in 1972. In 1979, she was brought on as an editor at Lampoon, staying through 1981.

A Trots and Bonnie strip from The National Lampoon, 1974.

As someone who grew up reading her strip, I knew we had to have Shary in The Bystander, and it’s been a pleasure to introduce her work to several generations of new fans. In part as a result of this exposure, a long-anticipated collection of Trots & Bonnie was published by New York Review of Comics in 2021 and has been a huge hit. You can order it here. (PS—I tried to link to Seattle’s own Powell’s, but they’re waiting for more copies.)

Shary, when did you and I meet? Do you remember what year that was?

SHARY: Well, my husband was still alive.

MG: I think I was contacting you before Bystander was launched.

We launched in October 2015, but [checks Gmail]…and you and I first talked in May 2015. We were talking about that pot-based comic magazine idea you had.