Fayette-cetera: February 2008

Friday, February 22, 2008

Fayette-cetera for February 23 2008

Where would a comic strip be without a little drama? It's almost hard to believe that at one time the comic pages were full of drama strips - Brenda Starr, Gasoline Alley, Mark Trail and the like. The gang from "Fayette-cetera" would never work well in a real strip of drama...they just wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. I once thought of a strip called "Dinah's Tea" (during the heyday of the evening drama on TV called "Dynasty"). This would have involved Myrtle Gosselbaum (featured in the first panel) as Dinah, and she would have had a lot of Mary Hartmann, Mary Hartmann style adventures. (Does anyone remember Mary Hartmann and her wacky world?) But hey, we all face our own little dramas here and there, and these characters are no different. For Spatz, the drama is not being able to reach the itchy spot, and not having anyone around to itch it for him! I've been through this!! The characters in today's strip: Panel 1: Ed and Myrtle Gosselbaum; Panel 2: Elsie and Sage Weatherwise; Panel 3: Steffie Tucker, Panel 4: Adam Tucker and his mom, Joan; Panel 5: Spatz and Panel 6: Baby William and his father, Tom.

February 16 2008

I am so pleased with the new size of "Fayette-cetera". For those of you who never saw the old strip, it was thin and long and ran along the top of the newspaper page. But I was the one who designed the size back in 2003, and thought it would be a unique look. However, it became very limiting, and I just couldn't expand in any way or shape. This new verticle size is like opening a new door in my life.
I like the challenge of making a cartoon based on the upcoming events in and around Fayette. But can you imagine anyone really having such computer problems and questions as these folks? I've heard a few funny things over the years concerning people and their computers, and I've had a few of my own. By the way, the second panel contains strip regular Ed Gosselbaum and his mother, Elda. That's Fred in the first panel - big nose and big ears. But honestly, he's a character who's always been in my mind since I can remember, and it's been fun putting him down on paper.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

A sneak peek at this weekend's strip!

Okay...so far, so good! I was holding my breath on the last cartoon (the first of the new design), because although everything went okay on this end, you just never know until you actually see it published. But those fine folks at the Fayette Newspaper office are top notch with making things look swell in all aspects of their paper, and I'm pleased as hawaiian punch about how it came out. So, here's numba 2 in this new series. Spatz and his buddy, Sassy, are homeless, and are constantly looking for SOMEONE to adopt them. When that doesn't happen, they'll settle for free food (I mean, who wouldn't?) And they do it with heart, too!

Monday, February 4, 2008

A new beginning in my cartoon world!

I can't believe it took me this long to finally get "Fayette-cetera" into the electronic world, but I've always been a few years off the mainstream anyhows! So, here is the first one in it's new form, which was published on February 2 2008 - enjoy!

About these characters and their Fayette heritage...

"Fayette-cetera" was first published in September of 2003, in the Democrat-Leader, one of two papers from the same Fayette newspaper group. The Democrat-Leader is published each Saturday, and has been a good training ground for Myrtle and her gang.

Actually, "Fayette-cetera" is a combination of two of my past comic creations: Myrtle, Ed, Elsie and Spatz were developed for a strip called "Bugrow, MO", back in the mid '80's. It was published here and there, in a few magazines, and in The Maneater, a publication from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Also appearing in The Maneater was "Potshots", which involved the lives, in still pictures, of the Tucker clan: Steffie and Adam. This ran for several years in The Maneater, in the early '90's. Since that time, the Tucker Mom and Dad have changed; Tom and Jone were from "Bugrow", and I added Steffie and Adam to their family for "Fayette-cetera".

It's been a character mish mash of sorts, and I've so enjoyed developing the relationships between all of them over these last 4 plus years. It's one thing to draw a comic feature that a few friends read here and there; it's another thing to have many people reading the feature week after week. That's where I draw my inspiration, because as a life-long comic reader, I know what I like, and I know which comic strips will give it to me...so I try to exhibit some of those same characteristics in "Fayette-cetera".

MYRTLE GOSSELBAUM would be my oldest creation (I'm not sure she would apprecate this statement). There's something about her that I've always liked, and I can see bits and pieces of my Mom in her, plus some other friends and relatives I have known.

ED GOSSELBAUM, Myrtle's husband, was right there at the start when Myrtle appeared, back in the mid '80's. The first strips back then dealt with a gorilla that Myrtle saw outside their family window. Ed thought Myrtle was just seeing things. Their relationship reminds me of the way my Mom and Dad got along: usually fussing about one thing or another.

TREVOR GOSSELBAUM, Myrtle and Ed's son, has "evolved" in recent years. Back in the '80's, he was more of a clean-cut fellow, but through the years he has evolved into the song-writing, band playing, living at home "artist". I'm sure he'll one day write a song about all these characters. He is good friends with TAYLOR.

ELISE and SAGE WEATHERWISE are the loving couple who have been together for ages. Their only child is Joan, who is married to Thom Tucker. Sage came about from another project that I had worked on for a character that was needed for a weather book that was being produced for children. As far as I know, the book never came about - but Sage was just too good looking to let go, and made the perfect comanion for Elsie, who actually was Mrs. Offerokker in the previous strip, "Bugrow, Mo". In that comic feature, she acted just as her name applied, but her personality changed dramatically after meeting SAGE.

More to come...

Fayette-cetera