Comic Genius: Tony Carrillo

When Tony Carrillo started his comic strip, F Minus, as an undergrad at Arizona State University, he was just looking for a way to make some extra cash. As a fine arts student, he certainly never thought he'd wind up cracking jokes for a living. But within a year of doodling, his comic strip had a huge following on campus. Sort of a cross between the New Yorker's famously obtuse one-panel comics and The Far Side's offbeat sense of humor, F Minus is about the mundane hilarity of everyday life. In 2004, Carrillo's drawings scored him a six-month development deal with Universal Features Syndicate, the major comic strip syndication company in the country. Today, F Minus runs in 125 papers, and Carrillo's first book comes out later this fall. Not bad for a kid who still lives just blocks away from his old high school, McClintock.

When I’m stuck in traffic, I pound on the inside of the trunk and pray someone hears me.

One thing my mother doesn’t know about me is I would get candy by trading the notes she put in my lunchbox to kids whose mothers didn't love them, but did give them candy.

On Saturday night, you can find me bailing a stranger out of jail, then making him run errands for me for a week.

My favorite thing about summer in Phoenix is it thins out the elderly population.

If I could redo my first kiss, I’d kiss a willing participant.

The one dessert I refuse to eat is meatloaf. Because seriously, who wants meatloaf for dessert?

If I was mayor of Phoenix, I’d totally use the sash to meet chicks.

In high school, I was the kid who said his dad was an astronaut in space. But everyone knew he was in jail.

In another life, I was probably a plant, because now I hate vegetarians.

The one place in Phoenix I don’t want anyone to know about is my bathing suit area.

On my nightstand, you’ll find framed pictures of cats. I hate cats, but I love cat pictures!

The fictional character I’m most like is Abraham Lincoln.

One thing I want to do before I die is tell someone, "The gold . . . is buried . . . .in . . ." (dead).

The best thing about Phoenix is when people ask me where I'm from, I say "Penis." And when they say, "Penis?" I say, "What? No! I said Phoenix!"