Zip and Earl are best friends. They have no job, no money and no clue.

No, these guys aren’t Sacramento State football players, or seniors obtaining their business degrees, these are the names of three characters created in the mind of someone who lives off Starbucks coffee and believes sleep is a waste of time.

Sac State junior Matt Steen, 22, is the creator of Unemployed comic strips, and the owner of the Web site www.unemployedcomics.com. His comic strips, which frequently appear in The State Hornet, have also appeared in News & Review type papers in Oregon and Nevada.

But this computer science major isn’t just a johnny-come-lately, in fact he’s been creating his own comics since he was 11.”My first comic was developed in fourth grade,” said Steen. “It was named after the characters, ‘Franky and his uncle Joe.’ It eventually turned into a comic book that I completed in the sixth grade.”

Since then Steen, who was born and raised in Sacramento, has known he wanted to do comics, but currently, he only works on that during his free time while he obtains his degree. “I don’t want to be stuck in a career I don’t like. I like video games, animation and I wanted to have a house someday, support a family. I saw computer science as a safety net.”

But Steen’s true definition of success is to one day walk down a street and see someone reading his comics in a larger paper.The 22 year old artist gets most of his ideas from living and observing everyday life.

“Sometimes I get my ideas from conversations I have overhead on campus, but most of the time I don’t know where my ideas come from,” said Steen. “I’ll (sit) down and just start drawing my characters and start a conversation. It just happens. Once I figure out a funny idea, I just start thinking how funny I can possibly make it. At the end I’ll look at it, and if it doesn’t make me laugh, then I know it won’t make anybody else laugh.”

Even though he has only has his Web site up since August 2002, Steen has already obtained a small fan base of young kids who enjoys his comic strips. He feels it’s important to respond to their e-mails to see what they think of his work. “Taking the time to make someone’s day is why we live, and a good reason why I want to make people laugh is because it makes me feel good.”

Steen is in no hurry to slow down soon. Besides being a full-time student and owner of his Web site, where he posts two to three new comic strips per week, he also works two jobs, mentors the youth at his church, and plays guitar in their band.

But that’s not enough for this dreamer, whose main comic influences include Dilbert and Garfield. “If you notice, my characters kind of look like the characters in the Garfield strips, with their big eyes,” he said.

He has also applied for a summer internship with Industrial Light and Magic, a George Lucas company, where he can improve his skills and learn something new.

Steen’s main goal is to enjoy life and make a living doing what he loves to do, drawing. If he can do that, he said, then he will be content.

Click here to send private feedback about this article to the State Hornet’s Features staff.