Community Member of the Month: Quality Jeverage

BrentGamer does his first interview for member of the month with Quality Jeverage: the artist behind Weekly Porridge and nerd role model. We get to learn how he got here, how he makes Weekly Porridge, and the most pressing question of all: whether he likes waffles or pancakes. Click “read more” for the full interview.

BrentGamer: I gotta do my Community Spotlight interview, and guess who the first community member to be interviewed is?

Quality Jeverage: Ooh, I’m getting all tingly inside.

BrentGamer: First of all, how did you come up with the name QualityJeverage? It sounds like a slogan for a catapult company.

QualityJeverage: A Catapult Company? That’s a new one. Anyway, to be honest, I don’t really remember how I came up with it. It was at least 4 years ago. The story I like to use nowadays is that I like the word “Beverage” (You can’t deny it’s a really cool word.), my name is Jeff, and of course, I’m a quality person. So you do some simple math and you end up with QualityJeverage! That’s really all there is to it.

BrentGamer: How did you learn about Podtacular’s existence?

QualityJeverage: It was way back, when Podtacular wore diapers and struggled to walk, around Episode 2. I was looking at Bungie.net, which, back then, was something I rarely did. As I scrolled down the page I noticed a tiny, out-of-the-way article that told of a Halo 2 Podcast called “Podtacular”. I thought to myself, “Why the hell not?”, so I followed the link and started listening. It’s really amazing that I found it, I almost NEVER went to Bungie.net back then, I was just very bored that particular day and decided to drop in. I guess I got lucky!

BrentGamer: Are you sure that Foo Mo Jive wasn’t sending you subliminal messages, telling you to join Podtacular?

QualityJeverage: Sometimes I wonder. That guy has always seemed a little off…

BrentGamer: How did you come up with the idea for Weekly Porridge?

QualityJeverage: Well, I first got the idea of doing a comic strip shortly after Spelchek left. He kept talking about his new podcast “The Electric Pony Show”, and I decided to drop by their website. While poking around, I found a comic strip that Spelchek had done called “Beret Day”. While reading it, I thought it would be a great idea for Podtacular to have something like that. It was just an idle thought though, I didn’t go anywhere with it. Then, about a month later, I was feeling bored and remembered that idea I had. So I decided I would give it a shot. First I had to tackle the name, I wanted something that started with P, because Podtacular started with P (That’s really how it happened. No complex planning process or anything.). The first word that came to my mind was, oddly enough, Porridge. I knew that wasn’t enough though, it needed something more. So I added a “Weekly” to the title, because I was planning on releasing a new strip each week. Of course nowadays, there are two strips each week, but I kept the original name because it had a great ring to it, somehow “Bi-Weekly Porridge” doesn’t sound very good.

To be honest, I had no idea the comic would be so well-accepted. I thought I’d be able to do 2, maybe 3 strips and then it would just sink. But people loved it, so I kept it going. At this point, I have no intention of stopping.

BrentGamer: So, 7 Day Oatmeal was never put into consideration when you were choosing a name for the comic?

QualityJeverage: Haha, no. Weekly Porridge was my first idea, and I stuck with it.

BrentGamer: How do you decide what to make a Podtacular member look like when you put them into Weekly Porridge?

QualityJeverage: Well, I go through a bit of a process in my head. First, I look at their personality, some of the people have very distinct and vivid personalities that can easily be translated into a visual. That’s rarely the case though, so I usually find ways to make things out of their names. Some are easier than others, for example, Cowbel is a giant Cow bell, that’s simple. But others require some imagination, one of my favourite characters is Dialpex. He’s a phone with massive, muscly arms. The phone part is obviously derived from “Dial”, but the “pex” wasn’t as easy. I eventually looked at it like “Pecks”, and while one’s “pecks” aren’t part of the arm, they do imply strength. So I gave Dialpex the persona of a very strong phone. If their names don’t give me ideas either, then I’ll just think of something funny.

My character is the exception to the rule though, I’m actually based on Spelchek’s character in Beret Day. If you can find that strip (I’m sure Spelchek would provide a link if asked.), you’ll notice that my character in Porridge is very similar in appearance to Spelchek’s.

BrentGamer: Final Question – Waffles or Pancakes?

QualityJeverage: Wow. That’s a tough one. You know, they’re both very strong contenders. Pancakes are nice and flat, so the your toppings will spread, but Waffles have nice little compartments for easy distribution. I’m going to have to pick Waffles, just because of all the possibilities. If you want a Waffle with syrup, and a waffle with butter, but not together, you can just do half-and-half! The toppings won’t spread because of those trusty compartments!