About Dana
Dana Claire Simpson grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington, drawing the entire time. She eventually graduated from the Evergreen State College, despite having spent all her time drawing, and not always for credit.
Attempts at doing real work along the way are hardly worth mentioning; the relevant fact is that, from 1998 to 2008, she drew the internet comic strip “Ozy and Millie.” After winning the Comic Strip Superstar contest in 2009, she is now preparing to launch a strip via Universal Press Syndicate, called “Heavenly Nostrils” (title pending).
She currently lives in Des Moines, Washington, with her tech genius husband and her fairly stupid cat.
She is emailable at dcsimpson at gmail dot com.
Hello Mrs. Simpson, my name is Alex Foix I would like to tell you two things. The first thing is that I’m a big fan of Ozy & Millie, the second thing is a question. See I was wondering if it would be okay to use characters from your old webcomic for the one I’m making.
I would encourage you to come up with your own characters! Creatively it’s much more interesting.
Great atircle, thank you again for writing.
Hey! MY name is Michael Lovins I’m a huge fan of Ozy and Millie, and noticed the site was redesigned. Do you still have the store to buy Ozy and Millie stuff?
Looks like the store is still up at http://www.cafepress.com/ozyandmillie. I’ll nudge Dana to put a link to it on the site.
I was on Moveon.org’s site and they had your cartoon, “Broken Vases” from I drew this.org w/o crediting you.
http://front.moveon.org/20-years-of-gop-strategy-in-one-little-cartoon/#.TpIKEfU2IOI.facebook
I told them that you drew it and gave them the link to the original cartoon.
I love your art and lost track of your site for a while. Congrats on getting married. Love the cat blogging.
Could. . . could it be. . . it’s just a faint glimmer of hope, but. . . more Ozy and Millie strips?
*Dies of severe squee.*
So let me get this straight… You created Ozy and Millie, my favorite comic, along with Calving & Hobbes and Bloom County… then you create the best darn political cartoon I’ve ever seen… THEN I find out recently that you also like ponies… and NOW you have a new blog!?
Are you determined to be the single most awesome force on the internet, or does it just happen that way?
Wait… did you really just attribute Calvin & Hobbes, and Bloom County to DC Simpson?
…She was “inspired” by those two syndicated strips from the 80s/90s… I’m sorry… I don’t want to be mean… but this was a total spit-take moment…and I’m eating raman noodles… can you imagine what a mess that would make? I’m hoping you’re just really young.
Naw. What he-she (I hate to assume–English needs a singular neutral pronoun!) is saying is that Ozy and Millie, Calvin and Hobbes and Bloom County are his-her three favorite strips.
Which is a HUGE compliment.
I am a woman, legally and biologically. I am female on my driver’s license and birth certificate. I think I have earned unambiguously feminine pronouns from you and everyone else.
Hello I have become intrigued by your choices of lovable comics. please come to my website sometime we may share somethings in common.
Hello there, I couldn’t find a fan email address or anything so I’ll just ask here haha,I am new to a lot of stuff here so I need help finding things but I found your comic “Raine Dog” and it seemed cool, but I can’t find more of the comic :/ all I could find was the Russian version XD http://furries.ru/rd/ but I would like to find all of it in English ofcourse, can you send me a link to the site or archive or something ???
Thank you, reply soon
Just so you know I loved your lastest Unicorn comic. Reading that comic strip is like a bowl of marshmellows; I just want more and more of it until I can’t get enough of it. When your strip goes full year can you release a print release of a collection book. I am a fan of ponies and comics too. Could you try to reply as soon as possible? Thank you.
Don’t worry, I do have a book contract, so at least one book is happening!
Anyway, is there a chance I could get your autograph? From the looks of your webpage I say you are a fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
I do sign autographs at conventions sometimes.
Which conventions and is WordPress better than Weebly because I am using Weebly? One more thing, How many strips of Heavenly Nostrils did you create?
You combined my two favorite things, unicorns and comics. What was your inspiration for the comic? How often do you log on to your website?
Dana, hi!
I remember first reading Ozy & Millie, in around 02-03. Back then it was the first thing I’d found on the internet that wasn’t tinged with the crass humour here in the states, that’s so wildly pervasive today for some odd reason.
I’m thrilled about your latest work (The title is still taking some time to get used to
), and I look forward to seeing it in syndication near my town, sometime soon. And also, I hope to see where RD goes. I won’t lie, the first iteration was a dud, for me. It had good intentions, but it’s like you said, narrative comics don’t do well when you are making them on the clock.
Thanks for the years of comics,
Albert H.
Hi Dana,
I’d like to point out that the site for ‘idrewthis’ doesn’t work. The text says it’s for sale.
Has the content been moved elsewhere? I love the comic, pity the last one I’ve seen was the one with Obama, saying ‘don’t screw it up, newman”.
I hope you’ll create more and, especially, that the previous ones have not been lost.
P.S.: Will there be any more comics of Ozzy and Millie in the future? I’ve read them all few times and I still don’t have enough.
Hi Dana,
I love “Heavenly Nostrils”, and read it regularly on GoComics. I’m an aspiring comic strip artist and I was wondering what software you use to ink and color them. Your line is really nice, and I’m assuming you do it digitally (or not?). Thanks for the great comic
.
I’ve added an answer to your question to my FAQ! But to answer you here, as well, I mainly use Manga Studio, which is a very useful program. Good luck cartooning!
When I read Heavenly Nostrils, I really miss the elegant brushwork of O&M.
I think working digitally adds a lot to my art! But I’ll be the first to admit it’s always a tradeoff.
Hi dana as you can see above my name is kevin i love to read this strip,i am very zen and random so irelate with both charactrs and have shared it with my friends. Though the one most into it as i am is my friend lili. In four years i will want to attend ohio state university to go and become a comic strip designer person or whatever you call it.the one who inspired me was bill waterson because recently i would get books and draw them. Yet when shared with my friends i love when they chuckle or smile at the strips same with this one and made me want to do that too. This strip is random at times and shows meaning to the world i love ozy and his personality and his fathers random morals and wisdom. Even though i se this comic at equal level of comedy as calvin and hobbes and cant ecide which ones better. But one thing that is in my mind is what will i create to be equal or geater than these two strips that i love, so i ask you if you can help me because im having drawing block for creativeness since so much i love (tigers and foxes) has already been done. Yet it would be so kind of you to help me in this dilemma of brain malfunction and thank you for this beautiful strip of enjoment.
Hello Dana, I’ve sent you an e-mail several days ago. Please check if you see this comment.
Hello, Dana! I am a big fan of Heavenly Nostrils, and I like to write and perform songs. I have been considering writing a song about Phoebe and Marigold, and I would like some of your personal input in writing it. If you have any ideas for something to put into my song, I would love to hear about it.
Just wanted to drop a line letting you know I’m thrilled to discover (albeit a little late) that your new comic is available.
I’ve been a longtime fan of your work, from the Ozy and Millie days. I’ve enjoyed everything of yours I’ve ever seen.
Just wanted to gush some praise atcha. You go, girl!
@_@ U r my # 1 fan now!! LOL.
A long time ago, when the Earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you’ve ever seen
They’d run around free while the Earth was being born
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn
There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn
The Lord seen some sinning and it gave Him pain
And He says, “Stand back, I’m going to make it rain”
He says, “Hey Noah, I’ll tell you what to do
Build me a floating zoo,
and take some of those…
Green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
Don’t you forget My unicorns
Old Noah was there to answer the call
He finished up making the ark just as the rain started to fall
He marched the animals two by two
And he called out as they came through
Hey Lord,
I’ve got green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but Lord, I’m so forlorn
I just can’t find no unicorns”
And Noah looked out through the driving rain
Them unicorns were hiding, playing silly games
Kicking and splashing while the rain was falling
Oh, them silly unicorns
There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Noah cried, “Close the door because the rain is falling
And we just can’t wait for no unicorns”
The ark started moving, it drifted with the tide
The unicorns looked up from the rocks and they cried
And the waters came down and sort of floated them away
That’s why you never see unicorns to this very day
You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you’re born
You’re never gonna see no unicorns
[New Lyrics Added]
Now you might think this is the ending to the song,
But I’ll have to tell you friends that in fact you’re wrong
You see, Unicorns are magical, so when the rain started pouring,
They grew themselves some wings and they took to soaring.
You’ll see green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
But if you’re looking for the unicorns, don’t be forlorn,
The second star to the right and straight on until morning.
What happened to the link to the T-Shirts? I wanna buy one for a fan for xmas…
Hi Dana,
Love the new comic… I need to search for what you’re up to more frequently! ^v^
Hehe, from around 2005 to some time after it ended, most of me and my friends conversations would always end up including random Ozy & Millie quotes in some ways… that got somewhat replaced by random My Little Pony quotes around 2011 for some reason, tough…
While some credit has to go to the usual suspects, like bill Watterson and Schultz, I can honestly say that Ozy & Millie influenced my approach to comics by showing how you can take inspiration from classic comic strips and still do it in a very modern and relevant way. And I’ve enjoyed your art since then as well. I just wanted to say thank you for the entertainment, the political commentary and insights, it’s been much apprechiated.
Is Rayne Dog ever going to complete? Last I saw was her getting caught (again) raiding garbage cans, then something about her getting shot on stage. I would really like to get a coherent end to the story…
Hello! I just wanted to say that I’m really enjoying “Heavenly Nostrils.” It’s funny, sweet, artistically pleasing, and has great characters.
Hi! Big fan of Heavenly Nostrils, but I was wondering. Is Phoebe going to grow up and mature like For Better or for Worse, or is she going to stay perpetually a kid like in Calvin and Hobbes?
I hope Phoebe doesn’t grow older in the comic — that way, she and Marigold can remain timeless!
Happy Birthday, Dana!
My horse’s birthday is today too!
Greetings, I have just finished reading your comic Ozy & Millie, and I must say that it was fantastic. It’s a shame that it ended, will there be no continuation or sequel to it. so many questions unanswered: will Ozy one day meet his mother, will his mother’s secret recipe finally be revealed, will Millie finally get on the terrorist watchlist, will Sorkowitz and Beau Vine ever learn sympathy, will Llewellyn’s sillyness ever come to an end? The world may never know. Lol, sorry, enjoyed the comic so much couldn’t help but ask such silly questions.