About the Author

Average Joe is written, drawn and occasionally cursed at by Terence MacManus (me!).

This is the first comic strip which I have promoted on the internet, and as such I am still learning the art and craft of making comics digitally and posting them online. So please be forgiving of my art, writing and layout as it improves over time!

I am not a cartoonist by trade – in fact I work in a field about as far from cartooning as one can get. However, I learned early on that working as an archaeologist involves far less fist fights with Nazis, or shooting up canopic jars for ammo and health packs, than pop culture would have us believe (drat).

As a result, I now spend most of my evenings escaping into the reality of Average Joe, which I suppose is kind of the adult version of having imaginary friends…hmm.

I love comics, and have been an avid reader of comics since an early age. My first comic was a back issue of The Phantom which I received in a showbag from the Royal Melbourne Show (it had a paper cover – how nostalgic is that!). I was immediately hooked, and still collect The Phantom to this day.

My first foray into creating comics was during my last few years of high school, when the local council magazine I was writing for folded, and the council decided to promote mini-magazines (‘zines) instead. Four issues later, that project also fizzled out, and faced with the idea of paying for my own printing (well, photocopying) I turned away from creating comics.

It’s only been in the last couple of years, when I discovered the phenomenon that is webcomics, that the fire has been lit anew. I am excited to be able to share my work again, to potentially a much wider audience than the ‘zines ever allowed me to reach.

I live in Geelong, Victoria (Australia) with my angelic wife and demonic ginger cat. They have both been of great support to me throughout this venture; one by yowling and destroying every item of furniture we own whenever I sit down to draw, and the other by being a cat.