Fayette-cetera: September 2008

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

A single entry for Fayette-cetera on September 27 2008

This strip might be able to make you do 2 things: first, you just might get a chuckle out of it. Secondly, you'll get good eye exercise when - after reading it - you roll your eyes up. Yes, it's certainly an eye-roller.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Last comic of Summer 2008

Time drags...or does it?

Cartoonist Alert September 13 2008

Meet and shake hands with real syndicated cartoonist and enjoy all the festivities at Walt Disney's Hometown Annual Toonfest, on Saturday September 20, in Marceline, Missouri! See you there!!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Pattin' Myself on the Back September 6 2008

To the other "Fayette-cetera" Valued Characters:

You should have received your congratulatory letter by now, and if you didn't receive one, please contact me.

Again, heartfelt thanks goes out to you and yours for making this comic feature what it is today.

Let's do lunch!

Sincerely,

Head Cartoonist

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The "Last Saturday in August" yearly event

When will the Gosselbaums ever learn? They invite everyone in town to their "Last Saturday in August Gosselbaum Party" - except the 2 homeless dogs, Spatz and Sassy. The dogs wouldn't mind it so much if it weren't for the simply delicious Gosselburgers that one can only find at this particular party. What will the dogs think of next year?

Cake and more for August 23 2008

Imagine: you've been smelling that cake baking all day, and you know the icing is going to be twice as delicious. Then, it's gone. What would you do? Would you also step "out of the box" to get it?

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