See them in the funny digital papers

Labor Day comic, and some other Comics that I enjoy.

It’s Labor Day Weekend. Most people are going back to work or school in a few days.

When you draw a comic strip, every day is a work day unless you get far enough ahead of the publication date to take some time off. Comic strip artists can do this; editorial cartoonists cannot. A hundred or even fifty years ago, cartoonists worked very close to the publication date. Few of them took vacations.

I follow Lynn Johnston’s advice and stay about eight weeks ahead of publication. It’s easy to change an online comic strip if I get a better idea. I’ve moved a lot of strips around and redrawn a few that were done months ago, since the characters’ designs and personalities have changed since June. It’s called ‘evolution’ in animation, and it’s happening very fast online. Everything happens very fast online.

I have a special Labor Day Sunday strip for September 3 featuring a guest appearance by Nikola Tesla. I enjoyed drawing him and the history is true even though I made a slight change: he was four years old when he discovered electricity, but a moustache would look silly on a little kid, even in the comics.

Nikola Tesla makes a guest appearance in the September 3 FurBabies Sunday strip.

I’m pretty proud of the strip. All of the facts in it are true.

Here’s a sneak preview of one of the October strips. I am pleased to say that the entire month is devoted to Halloween and I don’t once mention a pumpkin.

Kate reacts to something Halloweeny.

Here is one more teaser.. Floof and the toilet will appear on September 20. I draw characters and backgrounds separately on paper, then composite them. Whatever works.

Floof has a sad.

The FurBabies audience is growing —thank you all very much for reading it. I’m still learning what type of story works best for the characters and audience. You get immediate reader feedback with online comics. Newspaper comic artists had it a bit easier since only the editor got the feedback. Online comics are a constant learning experience.

The GoComics site gives me an opportunity to see new and unfamiliar comics that may not appear in local newspapers. I confess that it’s been four years since I read a daily paper, and the Toronto STAR had a limited comics page, all in black and white. The Globe and Mail did not print comics at all.

When you publish online, you can do every daily strip in color. That is encouraged. If you see a black and white strip on GoComics, it is usually still appearing in newspapers.

I have my own personal comics page delivered to my inbox every morning. Naturally it leads with FurBabies. I follow old favorites like Broom Hilda, Over the Hedge, For Better or for Worse, Peanuts, Pickles, Non Sequitur, Jump Start, Herb and Jamaal, and B.C. among others and newer ones like Ten Cats and U.F.O. These strips need no introduction. (and if you don’t know Broom Hilda, it’s one of the most consistently hilarious and imaginatively designed comics of all time. Broomie has been drawn by creator Russell Myers since 1970.)

Here are a few unfamiliar and newer comics on the site that I find interesting, well drawn and funny. Some are, or were, published in regional papers. Some are only found online. One strip appeared in only one local paper. Sadly, some of these comics are no longer being updated. Tragically, one cartoonist has died. Regrettably, very few of the ones I like are drawn by women. This is not due to a lack of female cartoonists on the site. Some of them draw strips that are very popular. This list is my personal taste. Your mileage may differ.

I love the work of Cuban artist Gustavo Rodriguez. His UNDERSTANDING CHAOS appears on GoComics and Instagram, along with his political cartoons. Rodriguez has a great sense of color and design.

Richard Thompson’s CUL DE SAC about an eccentric family in a small eccentric Maine town, ran from 2004 until 2012. Thompson died in 2016. His RICHARD’S POOR ALMANAC originally appeared in the Washington POST, though I remember seeing it in NEW YORK magazine. Thompson is original, hilarious, a wonderful cartoonist, and sorely missed. Both strips are a delight.

Glenn McCoy’s THE DUPLEX is about a bachelor and his dog who lives next door to a woman whom he never seems to connect with. I like the design and layout and it’s very funny.

Liz Climo is a former SIMPSONS animator who has a line of charming greeting cards in addition to her comic about a gentle animal world. Her writing and draftsmanship are both delightful.

Rapper Keith Knight has three comics on the site. I particularly like THE KNIGHT LIFE, although it is in reruns (it is available elsewhere on the Web). He has a wonderful loose drawing style that I enjoy and his writing is great.

HARLEY by Dan Thompson is about a biker who rides around the country with his cat. It’s a joy to look at and has been around for a while…I’m surprised I hadn’t seen it earlier.

Allison Barrows’ PRETEENA is a funny and beautifully drawn strip about tween girls. Barrows has moved on (she has had an amazing career) and the comic is in reruns. At least we can see it here.

SPIRIT OF THE STAIRCASE by Matthew Foltz-Gray appeared only in one Knoxville, Tennessee paper and is now in reruns. Foltz-Gray has moved on to other things, and his style has changed. It was designed as a full page comic (like Little Nemo in Slumberland, which actually appears on the GoComics site!) and shares some artistic similarity with McCay’s strip. This makes it a bit hard to see on the digital page but it’s worth it. I did not know that l’esprit d’escalier was a French expression for not remembering a good comeback until after the occasion has passed.

Other interesting strips on the site are LUCKY COW, ON A CLAIRE DAY, OUT OF THE GENE POOL, and others as they say, too numerous to mention.

It’s an interesting new world and there is far more variety on the comics page than there is in feature animation. Comics are creator-driven. That should tell us something.

See you in the funny papers!