What is SnoogleZoo? SnoogleZoo is a cute webcomic updated 2 times weekly (Tuesday and Friday), that follows the life and times of an assortment of animals. Currently (January 2009) there are 38 episodes, and regular updates will resume in February. Until there we are posting some bits and peices of development work.

Who’s behind this thing? I’m Veronica Guzzardi, and I write, draw and manage SnoogleZoo. I consult my boyfriend Brad, who is a screenwriter, on story points, and “is this funny?” writing issues. So it’s sort of a team effort. I have an art blog, and Brad will soon have a blues podcast.

Where did the idea for SnoogleZoo come from? We have a lot of animals (dogs, small animals, and a couple of goats). The dogs are particularly snoogly- we’re the kind of indulgent owners that let them sleep on the bed with us. So, you know how dog owners do weird things with thier pets like sing them silly songs, and we started singing to the dogs about living in the SnoogleZoo, being part of the Snoogle Crew. That’s where the name came from, and for the past year I’ve been trying different concepts on it for size.

I started drawing some characters that were similar in style to Hello Kitty. I gave them all weird sounding names like OMG Panda, and Yoyo Neko, and they sort of grew on me. I have wanted to do a webcomic for a long time, but never really knew where to start, but all of a sudden I had this little collection of characters. I brought them all to Brad and said “I’ve got a world developing around these little guys. What do I do next?” So he and I sat down over a few breakfasts and talked about them and their world, and then story ideas started flowing!

Part of my hangup about starting a comic has been about wanting to do it “right” and therefore never getting started. So some of the art is less than stellar (it turns out I’m a terrible inker, but I’m sure I’ll improve over time), but right now it’s more important to me to get it out there on time every week. That’s why the story started with Efram trying to find the right instrument to play. I’m trying to find my voice here, too!