Tony Millionaire, an old school illustrator, still inspires Kupperman.

Question: Who are your heroes?

Michael Kupperman: Who are my heroes? Well, among people I actually know, I wouldn't say hero, but I look up a bit to Tony Millionaire, for example, who is a little bit older than me and I think is just one of the most amazing artists around, truly a classic version of a cartoonist.

As far as heroes from the past, I don't know. It's tough to say because I feel like we're living in such a different landscape now and I feel like people judge themselves by the yardstick of the past all the time and it's just not possible any more. When you look past at the lives that these people led, they're just so outlandish, I mean, I'm thinking of the big strip cartoonists who were very popular in the 30's, 40's, 50's, who lived these huge, outlandish lives full of color and event. And that's just not the same any more.

 I think we really are in a different version of life now and we're living a different version of what it means to relate to each other and be human. And art is judged by very different standards of what it used to be.

Recorded on December 19, 2009