Scott Adams is the
cartoonist who created “Dilbert.” He bared his soul in an interview in the San
Jose Mercury-News earlier this year. Despite his huge success, he envies Charles
Schultz, who had stratospheric success with “Peanuts.” Here’s how Scott explains
it:
"I'd be lying if I said it didn't bug me a little bit," he says. "I'm certainly aware that most people would be happy to be in my position. But whatever personality trait that causes you to work 10 years straight without taking a day off to make all this stuff happen is the same thing that prevents you from enjoying it. The hunger doesn't go away. It just transforms into hunger for something else. ... And it's not a good thing, by the way."
The article also mentions that Dilbert was rejected by every major syndicate before being accepted by United Media and initially appeared in only about three dozen newspapers.
Adams was the first syndicated cartoonist to put his email in his strip, which led to a big demand for more work-related gags (before then, most of the gags were about Dilbert’s life outside of work). When he gave his audience what they wanted, the popularity of the strip soared and it’s now in its 20th year.