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If you haven’t been reading Perry Bible Fellowship, you’re probably in the minority these days. From FOX News to Wired Magazine, PBF creator Nicholas Gurewitch is popping up everywhere to chat about his insanely popular webcomic.

To be honest, I’m not even sure how to describe the strip. It’s often described with the same set of adjectives commonly used for Gary Larson’s The Far Side, but I feel like that comparison doesn’t do it justice. It’s far edgier than Far Side at times, but at other moments, it’s far more sweet and touching. It does, however, find its subject matter in much of the same little contradictions, observations and juxtapositions that fueled Far Side. It’s a wry, intelligent strip that can look dramatically different from one to the next, but manages to maintain a consistent tone that’s endlessly entertaining.

I spoke with Gurewitch about the strip’s phenomenal success both online and in print, and his recent decision to slow production on Perry Bible Fellowship in order to explore life outside of the cartooning scene.

For longtime readers of Nicholas Gurewitch’s weekly, syndicated webcomic Perry Bible Fellowship, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when, late last year, the first print collection of the popular series became the fastest-selling graphic novel in the history of online bookseller Amazon.com.

What did come as a surprise, however, was the announcement that Gurewitch made a few months later.

“I feel I owe it to myself and the Perry Bible Fellowship not to turn a joyful diversion into a long career,” wrote Gurewitch in a widely publicized mid-February message to the newspaper and magazine editors running his PBF strips.

Just a few months after The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and Other Stories, made big news in the publishing world by selling more than $300,000 copies in pre-orders alone, Gurewitch made headlines once again by announcing that he would be cutting back on production of the strip — moving from a weekly schedule to a more manageable routine.

“I’m making this decision for a variety of reasons,” he explained, “but mainly because I want to do other things besides be a cartoonist.”

According to Gurewitch, the decision was made after realizing that the success of PBF had placed him at a series of creative, personal and professional crossroads, and there was no better time to begin walking a different path.

I spoke with Gurewitch recently about the decision to move Perry Bible Fellowship into “semi-retirement,” what he’s doing with his time these days and the frustrating divide between creator’s intent and audience’s interpretation.

COMICMIX: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me, Nick. Now that you have a bit more free time, how are you spending it?

NICHOLAS GUREWITCH: I’m working on a few more books to come out through Dark Horse and I’m writing a feature-length movie script that I’ve wanted to write for years. That’s at the forefront of my mind right now. I’m really excited about it.

CMix: The books you’re working on, are they related to PBF or are they different projects entirely?

NG: One is a sequel or replacement for the Colonel Sweeto book. It’s a more expensive book that has more comics in it. The other would be a spin-off, if you wanted to call it that — it’s a continuation of one of the stories.

CMix: What story?

NG: It’s the one with the French title that looks like a woodcut. It’s about the Grim Reaper trying to dispose of a baby. He fails, and it’s kind of a sad moment that makes you think, because it’s sad that he didn’t kill a baby. But I’m trying to play with that irony a little more in this small book that I’m doing.

More thrills, chills and spills can be found in the rest of the interview over at the place where everybody knows your name, ComicMix.