COMIC STRIPS & PANELS IN US PAPERS

A small sampling from my recent trip.

The first time I went to the USA was back in 1993 and I have visited there several times since. On each of my trips I have been a very enthusiastic collector of American newspapers, particularly so I can see, and enjoy, what comic strips are included in their pages.

The first thing you notice about American papers and their comic strip page is just how many strips and panels are included. Over the years the number of strips and the size of their reproduction in the paper, may have decreased....but the number of strips in each paper far exceeds that which we have in Australian papers. More about this later.

Another thing you notice is the size and shape of the newspapers. To my recollection, this has also changed over the years. Not just from a broadsheet to tabloid format, as we have seen in Australia but, it seems, the common size for newspapers these days is, if you can imagine it, a broadsheet cut in half vertically. So an unopened newspaper, say the Los Angeles Times, is 58cms long/high and 28cms wide. Some papers, for example the St Louis Post-Dispatch, are even longer (60cms). 

And a third thing (well, really, it is a continuation of the first thing) you notice about the comic strip page is that it is, in most cases, an actual PAGE FULL OF COMICS!
Some daily papers even have more than one page of comics! 

And as for Sunday papers, well they can have multiple pages for their comic strip section.

To my knowledge, the most comic strips that any Australian daily newspaper has is the standardized (unfortunately) selection of the News Ltd metropolitan papers.
These capital city papers have 8 strips together (1/2 page) plus DILBERT in the business section. The eight strips featured in these papers are: HAGAR, FRED BASSET, THE PHANTOM, GINGER MEGGS, CALVIN & HOBBS, INSANITY STREAK, SNAKE and GARFIELD.

So, our largest circulation Australian daily newspapers have 9 (8 + Dilbert) strips.

Compare that to American newspapers....the smallest circulation daily paper that I picked up (the Sandusky Register...I'm sure you've all heard of it!) has eleven comics (11) every day!

Equivalent circulation American papers (to our Aussie metropolitan dailies) carry, on average, 3-4 times as many cartoons! 

For example, the Kansas City Star features 33 strips/panels in its daily edition.
The Chicago Tribune features 21 strips.

And Sundays?...
The Miami Herald has 35 strips in its Sunday edition! That is serious column space!
Even the Pharos Tribune (out of Logansport) with a Sunday circulation of just over 10,200, features 23 strips/panels!

Anyway, enough of my commentary.
Whilst in Canada and the US recently I picked up 17 newspapers (a mix of daily and Sunday editions).
For those interested in checking out what, and how many, strips appear in these papers, my summary below shows the paper's name, town, publication frequency and circulation.

USA/CANADA NEWSPAPERS & COMICS

MIAMI HERALD (Sunday - colour) - 190,751
PEANUTS, ZITS, WUMO, GARFIELD, DILBERT, BLONDIE, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, DENNIS THE MENACE, HAGAR, MARMADUKE, TAKE IT FROM THE TINKERSONS, THE FLYING McCOYS, BIZARRO, LUANN, BARNEY & CLYDE, DOONESBURY, BEETLE BAILEY, WIZARD OF ID, STONE SOUP, RHYMES WITH ORANGE, DUSTIN, DEFLOCKED, THE ARGYLE SWEATER, PICKLES, REALITY CHECK, GET FUZZY, CLOSE TO HOME, JUMP START, ROSE IS ROSE, FOXTROT, NON SEQUITUR, BALDO, BABY BLUES, FAMILY CIRCUS, CURTIS

CHICAGO TRIBUNE (Daily - B&W) - 448,930
DILBERT, BABY BLUES, ZITS, MR BOFFO, FRAZZ, PEANUTS, PICKLES, DICK TRACEY, ANIMAL CRACKERS, PRICKLY CITY,
THE ARGYLE SWEATER, BLISS, DUSTIN, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, BLONDIE, HAGAR, MUTTS, WUMO, SHERMAN’S LAGOON, BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY, BROOM HILDA

CHICAGO TRIBUNE (Sunday - colour) - 853,324
DILBERT, BABY BLUES, ZITS, PICKLES, WUMO, FRAZZ, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, MISTER BOFFO, BREWSTER ROCKIT, TAKE IT FROM THE TINKERSONS, NON SEQUITUR, FOXTROT, DOGS OF C-KENNEL, CLASSIC PEANUTS, BLONDIE, BROOM HILDA, DUSTIN, THE LOCKHORNS, HAGAR, SHERMAN’S LAGOON, MUTTS, DICK TRACCEY, DOONESBURY, PRICKLY CITY

THE PROVINCE, Vancouver (DAILY - B&W) - 144,537
GET FUZZY, THE OTHER COAST, ROSE IS ROSE, HAGAR, GRAND AVENUE, HERMAN, PARDON MY PLANET, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, RUDY PARK, TINA’S GROOVE, SHERMAN’S LAGOON, DILBERT, BLONDIE, ONE BIG HAPPY, ZACK HILL,
ZITS, HEART OF THE CITY, BABY BLUES, LUANN, DOG EAT DOUG, GARFIELD

VANCOUVER SUN (daily - colour) - 156,158
ADAM, REX MORGAN MD, MONTY, REPLY ALL, SALLY FORTH, OVERBOARD, MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM, BIZARRO, TUNDRA, BETTY, MISTER BOFFO, BEN, FLYING McCOYS, RUBES, SPEEDBUMP, FAMILY CIRCUS

THE PHAROS TRIBUNE, Logansport (Sunday - colour) - 10,259
CLASSIC PEANUTS, DILBERT, HAGAR, THE BORN LOSER, GARFIELD, BEETLE BAILEY, HI AND LOIS, DOONESBURY, FRANK AND  ERNEST, FAMILY CIRCUS, ZITS, BLONDIE, PICKLES, NON SEQUITUR, CRANKSHAFT, FOXTROT, SLYLOCK FOX, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, GET FUZZY, THE LOCKHORNS, DENNIS THE MENACE, BABY BLUES, MUTTS

RENO GAZETTE - JOURNAL (daily - B&W) - 146,442
BC, THE BORN LOSER, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, BEETLE BAILEY, ZITS, GARFIELD, BALDO, PICKLES, DOONESBURY, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, DILBERT, PEANUTS, GET FUZZY, BLONDIE, WIZARD OF ID, BABY BLUES, NON SEQUITUR, THE FLYING McCOYS, DENNIS THE MENACE

THE STATE JOURNAL REGISTER, Springfield (Sunday - colour) -
PICKLES, FAMILY CIRCUS, ZITS, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, BIZARRO, DILBERT, MARY WORTH, BEETLE BAILEY, GET FUZZY, WILL ‘N ETHEL SHERMAN’S LAGOON, DOONESBURY, BLONDIE, HI AND LOIS, LUANN, FRANK AND ERNEST, FOXTROT, DENNIS THE MENACE, THE DUPLEX, STONE SOUP, BABY BLUES, THE BORN LOSER, FORT KNOX, IN THE BLEACHERS, MALLARD FILLMORE, MUTTS

THE STATE JOURNAL REGISTER, Springfield (Daily - B&W) - 40,753
FRAZZ, BEETLE BAILEY, MARY WORTH, SHERMAN’S LAGOON, DENNIS THE MENACE, BLONDIE, DILBERT, LUANN, GET FUZZY, MUTTS, FRANK AND ERNEST, FAMILY CIRCUS, BIZARRO, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, HI AND LOIS, BABY BLUES, PICKLES, THE BORN LOSER, MALLARD FILLMORE, DOONESBURY, ZITS

LA TIMES (Sunday - colour) - 954,010
DILBERT, DOONESBURY, GET FUZZY, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, LA CUCARACHA, LIO, MUTTS, ZITS, BLONDIE, BABY BLUES, MARMADUKE, PRICKLY CITY, DRABBLE, PEANUTS, SLYLOCK FOX, FOXTROT, JUMP START, IN THE BLEACHERS, CANDORVILLE, NON SEQUITUR, FRAZZ, BIZARRO

LA TIMES (Daily - colour) - 653,858
DOONESBURY, LA CUCARACHA, CANDORVILLE, HALF FULL, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, NON SEQUITUR, LIO, ZITS, TUNDRA, PRICKLY CITY, FRAZZ, DILBERT, BABY BLUES, CRANKSHAFT, JUMP START, 9 CHICKWEED LANE, BLONDIE, GET FUZZY, BIZARRO, DRABBLE, MUTTS, PEANUTS

ST LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (Sunday - colour) - 223,826
FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, DILBERT, NON SEQUITUR, ZITS, BABY BLUES, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, MUTTS, BLONDIE, DOONESBURY, FUNKY WINKERBEAN, PICKLES, FOXTROT, SALLY FORTH, SLYLOCK FOX, HI AND LOIS, GARFIELD, BEETLE BAILEY, FAMILY CIRCUS, RHYMES WITH ORANGE, MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM

ST LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (Daily - colour) - 137,380
DUSTIN, SALLY FORTH , PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM, DEFLOCKED, PICKLES, RHYMES WITH ORANGE, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, THE PAJAMA DIARIES, DILBERT, BABY BLUES, GARFIELD, MUTTS, PRICKLY CITY, HI AND LOIS, BEETLE BAILEY, FAMILY CIRCUS, SPEED BUMP, CORNERED, MARMADUKE, DRABBLE, ZIGGY, THE ARGYLE SWEATER, ZITS, FUNKY WINKERBEAN, BIZARRO, NON SEQUITUR, THE DUPLEX, TINA’S GROOVE, MARK TRAIL, LOLA, THE OTHER COAST, TAKE IT FROM THE TINKERSONS, BLONDIE

KANSAS CITY STAR (Sunday - colour) - 310,487
DILBERT, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, GARFIELD, BABY BLUES, GET FUZZY, ZITS, FOXTROT, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, NON SEQUITUR, BLONDIE, BEETLE BAILEY, ZIGGY, DOONESBURY, DENNIS THE MENACE, FAMILY CIRCUS, WUMO, WIZARD OF ID, DOODLES

KANSAS CITY STAR (Daily - B&W) - 200,365
DILBERT, BLONDIE, HAGAR, GARFIELD, BEETLE BAILEY, BC, WUMO, NON SEQUITUR, DIAMOND LIL, DENNIS THE MENACE, THE DUPLEX, LIO, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, ZITS, PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN, RHYMES WITH ORANGE, BABY BLUES, SALLY FORTH, WIZARD OF ID, FAMILY CIRCUS, MARMADUKE, ZIGGY, THE ARGYLE SEWATER, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, CURTIS, POOCH CAFÉ, RED AND ROVER, PICKLES, DUSTIN, CANDORVILLE, PRICKLY CITY, DOONESBURY, ZIPPY THE PINHEAD

THE REGISTER, Sandusky (daily - B&W) - 23,217
BEETLE BAILEY, BLONDIE, CRANKSHAFT, DILBERT, FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE, FUNKY WINKERBEAN, GARFIELD, GET FUZZY, NON SEQUITUR, PHOEBE AND HER UNICORN, ZITS

SUNDAY COMICS - LA newspaper Group
DRABBLE, PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, DILBERT, GET FUZZY, PICKLES, BIZARRO, F-MINUS, WUMO, THE BORN LOSER, ROSE IS ROSE, PAJAMA DIARIES, FOXTROT, RUBES, FAMILY CIRCUS, LUANN, BALDO, GARFIELD, TINA’S GROOVE, SHERMAN’S LAGOON, MARMADUKE, OFF THE MARK, FRANK AND ERNEST

2016 BUSHY TALES Calendar

A special Limited Edition A4 Wall Calendar for 2016 is now available for purchase.

This great gift idea is packed with the following features....

• A4 size - with hole punched for wall hanging
• 12 BT Sunday strips
• 6 BT daily strips
• 43 other pieces of BT art
• Many Australian and Internationally significant dates highlighted
• 12 "Wombat Words of Wisdom" quotable quotes
• A 2017 calendar page
• A special "Notes" page 

Here is a sample/typical month.....

AND THE COST?.....

For Australian orders, the calendar costs just $16.50 (postage included).

For international orders, the calendar costs just $22.00 (postage included).

This is great value!

HOW DO YOU ORDER?
The 2016 BUSHY TALES calendar is not available in any retail outlets....it can only be ordered from the BUSHY TALES website.

Go to www.bushytales.com/2016Calendar.html to place your order.

As soon as we receive confirmation of your order we will mail you your calendar(s). Simple as that!

We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Till next time.....

Joyfully yours,

Ian 

A Month to Remember! 

BUSHY TALES goes overseas and interstate!

In mid-October I nestled into my seat on the long-haul flight from Brisbane to Los Angeles, the first of 13 flights I would take in the next few weeks in North and South America and Australia.
The second, a connecting flight from L.A. to Vancouver followed just a few hours after the first flight, the two flights being separated by a couple of cups of coffee in an overpriced cafe in LAX.

The purpose of this trip was primarily to meet people that I am now dealing with in the Universal Uclick syndicate, as well as to meet the head of another syndicate that had been showing interest in taking on BUSHY TALES. And, as an additional bonus, I had planned on catching up with a couple of cartoonists that I had been having some wonderful contact with over a period of time. 

One of these cartoonists was the reason I found myself on a plane bound for Vancouver.

GRAHAM HARROP and "TEN CATS"

I had been exchanging emails with Graham for quite some time....since I first discovered his lovely strip, TEN CATS, and he first saw BUSHY TALES. I guess it has become a bit of a mutual-admiration society in some ways! In fact, we have even done a bit of "crossover" cartooning, featuring each other's characters in our own strips.

A recent example of Graham's TEN CATS - 

As well as this delightful strip, which won the coveted Reuben Award a couple of years ago for the best online comic strip, Graham is also one of the editorial cartoonists for the VANCOUVER SUN.

I was able to catch up with Graham on the day of the Canadian general election after he had finished his cartoon for the following day's paper...no prizes for guessing what it was about!

Anyway, Graham and I spent a delightful few hours together, enjoying good food and conversation in one of his favourite restaurants on the water's edge.

It was an honour for me to meet Graham and to get his encouragement and enthusiasm for the work that I do with BUSHY TALES. 

There were other things that I was able to do whilst in Vancouver (zip-lining up on Grouse Mountain etc) but the high point was the time I had with Graham talking about cartooning and life in general. 

From Vancouver I flew to Chicago where I picked up a hire car for a week, and set off for the next of my meetings....this time in Cleveland, Ohio.

CHIP SANSOM and "THE BORN LOSER"

As with Graham, Chip and I had been emailing for a while. it started after I had used the main character from TBL, Brutus Thornapple, in one of the BUSHY TALES strips. Chip loved it and we exchanged strips and friendship from that point.

THE BORN LOSER has been one of my favourite comic strips for decades. originally done by Chip's father, Art, THE BORN LOSER appears in over 1,000 papers worldwide. Chip started assisting his father with the strip many years ago and, then, when Art died, Chip continued the strip on. it is a readership favourite and a strip that people can readily relate to.

A recent BORN LOSER strip - 

Chip and I met at the Rock and Roll hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland...a great place to spend some time.

 

We enjoyed a meal and a couple of hours of energetic discussion on all sorts of things, particularly on cartooning and the changing world of newspapers and publishing.

Another good friendship was developed and, indeed, it felt like we had been friends for years already. 

Then it was back in the car and off in the direction of Kansas City, Missouri, the home of Universal Uclick Syndicate. 

UNIVERSAL UCLICK SYNDICATE

This is the syndicate (mentioned in previous blogs) that has BUSHY TALES under contract for worldwide digital rights. I have always been a person who values relationships and meeting the people that you deal with. So, having secured the syndication agreement with this company, I felt it was important to find my way to KC and say "G'day!". After all, the good people at Universal probably don't get to hear that all that often.

The syndicate has its own building in the middle of downtown Kansas City.
 

When I arrived everyone was abuzz with excitement. I was soon to find that it was not because of my being in town. Oh, no.
It happened to be that the first game of the World Series (baseball) was to be played in Kansas City that very night between the home team, the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets. The World Series is, as the name implies, a series of games (best of seven) between the two top teams from the different baseball regions/competitions. The name, World Series, is a bit of a misnomer as the teams are all based in the US (with the Toronto Blue Jays included...maybe for that international flavour).

Anyway, I arrived at the syndicate and had a wonderful time being shown around and introduced to everyone (including John Glynn the CEO) by Shena Wolf, the Acquisitions Editor.

It was great to find out more about the syndication process and to meet the people that I have contact with in the syndicate.

Then, after work, we went for drinks at one of the local watering holes.....before everyone disappeared to get to the stadium for the game, or to get the best seat in front of the telly.
(I watched the game and, yes, it was exciting...going for a mammoth 14 innings instead of the normal 9 before a winner was determined. And, yes, it was the Royals who won this first game and who went on to wrap up the World Series.)  

RENO, NEVADA, and INK BOTTLE SYNDICATE

The last meeting I had arranged for this trip was with Bill Kellogg, the Managing Director of INK BOTTLE SYNDICATE. This is a smaller syndicate that gives more personalized attention to a small stable of features. it grew out of the success of the TUNDRA comic strip (drawn by Chad Carpenter) which became the world's most successful self-syndicated comic strip (over 650 papers) under the management of Bill. 

Ink Bottle Syndicate (read Bill) had shown interest in taking on BUSHY TALES to represent to newspapers around the US/Canada. Again, it was a good time to meet personally and discuss things directly. Emails are good, but nothing beats the personal touch, in my opinion, anyway.

It had been snowing around Reno for the last couple of days and the temperature was very, very low. But things were a lot warmer in the huge casino that we went to for a meal and chat (yes, that's all we did there).

The outcome of this meeting was very positive with Bill offering a contract to represent BUSHY TALES to the print media of North America. 

So, all in all, the purpose of my trip to the US had been successfully fulfilled. Hopefully, the activities and meetings of the trip will open doors and help further the progress of BUSHY TALES in the US and other markets.

I realize that nothing happens overnight in this industry.....but I hope that the foundations we are laying with BT augers well for the future of the strip.

After flying home I had just a few days before Robyn, my wife, and I set off for Melbourne.....

MELBOURNE and THE AUSTRALIAN CARTOONISTS' ASSOCIATION AWARDS.

There were two things that drew us (pardon the pun) to Melbourne. Firstly, our eldest daughter lives in Melbourne and it was an opportune time to visit with her. And, secondly, the ACA (Australian Cartoonists' Association) annual awards night, THE STANLEYS, were on.

The Stanleys are named after Stan Cross, legendary cartoonist of early last century. It is an occasion when as many of Australia's cartoonists as can make it get together for various activities, culminating in the Stanley Awards night/dinner.

The ACA happens to be the world's oldest cartooning association (previously known as the Black and White Artist's Club and other names). 

This was the first time in many years that I had attended The Stanley's, and there are many people in the industry that have "come along" since I was last at such an event.
But it was good to catch up with some old friends and to make some new ones, as well.

The personal highlight of the night for me was to named as one of the nominations for the Comic Strip Artist of the year.

I did not win the award (my good friend Gary Clark, SWAMP, did...again!) but it was a huge honour and affirmation to me just to be named as one of the nominations for the award by my cartooning peers. I hope that I can continue to build on the growing success of the strip in the months and years ahead.

So the past month has been a very busy one...but a very good one.

BUSHY TALES is steadily gaining attention and a place of its own in the comic strip world, and I am very thankful for that. It has taken a lot of work over the past few years. Speaking of which, I think another deadline is coming up and I need to get back to the drawing desk!

Until next time!

Joyfully yours,

Ian  

Well, it has been such a crazy-busy month that we have got way behind in getting the BUSH WEEK blog out there for you. Sorry about that.
Here are a few things that have been happening.....

"BUSHY TALES" ART PRINTS 

...now available!

Now you can get your very own print of your favourite BUSHY TALES strip.

All you have to do is to go to the BUSHY TALES website homepage, click on the links to the Art Prints page and order your favourite Sunday, or daily, strip.
It's that simple!

The prices are really quite reasonable (ie low!), especially when you consider that the price includes the packing and postage. Obviously, because of this, the prices for Australian and International orders are slightly different. 

You can check out all the details on the website (www.bushytales.com) but just to give you an idea.....

These prints are high-quality and in full colour, printed on good 300gsm A3 size card. Ideal for framing and hanging in that special spot in your home or office.

You can choose any of the BUSHY TALES strips published on the BT website, on the Facebook page, on GoComics, or any that you have seen elsewhere.

The important thing when ordering is to make sure you include a description (or number) of the particular strip you wish to purchase.

You will be able to add this description in the Note To Seller section of the checkout/payment details page.

PRICING DETAILS.....

DAILY STRIP PRINT - AUSTRALIA

PRICE: Just $35 AUD
(postage within Australia included)

DAILY STRIP PRINT - INT'L

PRICE: Just $45 AUD (International postage included)

SUNDAY STRIP - AUSTRALIA

PRICE: Just $45 AUD 

(postage within Australia included)

SUNDAY STRIP - INT'L

PRICE: Just $55 AUD 

(International postage included)

Check it all out, and place your order, on the BUSHY TALES website....

www.bushytales.com 

"BUSHY TALES" on GoComics

It is now about 6 weeks since BUSHY TALES commenced publication on Universal Uclick syndicate's GoComics website (www.gocomics.com). In these weeks, BT has been steadily building a solid readership base which has been very encouraging. However, it is still only early days and there is a looooooong way to go before it could really be called a "success" in this latest stage of development. 

In this world of digital/online publishing, the way a comic strip is shown to be "popular" is through the number of subscribers/clicks/readers etc.

So, if you haven't already done so, we'd be really grateful if you could take out a FREE membership account with GoComics and add BUSHY TALES to your list of comics. Doing so will allow you to see BT every day (as well as lots of other great comic strips). 

Go on....do your bit for the WOMBATIFICATION OF THE WORLD!!!!

Thanks heaps!

And, finally.....

Coming up....

USA TRIP....
I (Ian) will be travelling to the US in October/November for a few weeks...a great opportunity of catching up with some of the best cartoonists in the business, as well as some strategic meetings with syndicate executives and newspaper editors. More on this in later editions of the BUSH WEEK blog.

"STANLEY AWARDS" - 2015
The Australian Cartoonist's Association (ACA), of which I am a member, will be holding its annual awards night in Melbourne a few days after I return from overseas. This will be the first time for many years that I have been able to attend the awards and I am looking forward to catching up with many of the great cartoonists we have in this country.

Well, that's it for this week.

Until next week!

Joyfully yours,

Ian

E: ian@bushytales.com

W: www.bushytales.com

New WOMBAT RAPPER Tee-shirts!

A new tee shirt design featuring Doug as the Wombat Rapper has just been released.
It is only available during a three week Teespring campign, so you'll have to get in quickly to order yours.

There are several different designs and styles (tee shirts and sweatshirts), as well as different sizes and colours to choose from.

Purchasing one of these great tee shirts will help publicize the BUSHY TALES comic strip, as well as give you something really fun and eye-catching to wear.

     

To order your shirt go to: www.teespring.com/wombat-rapper

Missing BUSHY TALES Sunday Strip....

Last week saw the launch of BUSHY TALES on the GoComics website. It was a special week for us....except for one strange thing....

For some reason, the Sunday strip that was meant to appear on August 2nd simply failed to materialize! I don't know why it didn't appear. I have tried to find out but, as yet, no one has let me know what the problem/cause was. I am certainly hoping it was just a one-off glitch and does not happen again because, to be quite honest, the Sunday BUSHY TALES strips are my favourites....and I am really excited about introducing them to a whole lot of new readers.

Not only that, but the one I had selected to be the very first Sunday BT strip to appear on GoComics was one of my all-time favourites (and one that I thought a lot of people would really enjoy, too).

So....if you were following the first week of BUSHY TALES on the GoComics site and noticed that there was no new strip for Sunday....here it is now.

Enjoy! (And share it around, if you like.)

Well, that's it for this week.

Until next week!

Joyfully yours,

Ian

ian@bushytales.com

www.bushytales.com

"BUSHY TALES" Launches on GoComics!

The BIG NEWS for us this week is the launch of BUSHY TALES by Universal Uclick syndicate on the huge GoComics website. The strip joins some of the biggest names in the world of cartooning on the website and you can subscribe (free) to receive BUSHY TALES in your email every day of the week.

If you do join GoComics (totally free) you get your own comics page, the ability to save favourites and have various collections...as well as the opportunity of engaging and interacting with other comics fans and creators through the "comments" section for every cartoon featured on the site.

Alternatively, you can purchase a PRO Membership (for a small annual fee) that gives you even more extra benefits.

We would love it if you elected to subscribe to receive BUSHY TALES.....the success of the comic strip on such a website is gauged by the number of subscribers it has which, in turn, generates more advertising interest and other publishing opportunities.

And, besides, there are a lot worse things in life than receiving a free BUSHY TALES strip in your Inbox every day, aren't there?

To check it out, and subscribe, simply follow the link..... www.gocomics.com/bushy-tales


Thanks heaps! We really appreciate your support.
And please...don't forget to spread the word about BUSHY TALES to your family and friends...and help us with the 
wombatification of the world!

It's good to be back!

Well, I've had a few weeks off from blogging.....some time away on holidays, as well as a lot of extra work getting ready for the launch of BUSHY TALES on GoComics next Monday, July 27th....more on that next week. 
But now I'm back on deck and hitting the blogosphere once more!

27th ROTARY NATIONAL CARTOON AWARDS

This annual event was held at The Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour last Saturday. It was the first time I had been able to go down and be there for the Awards night and it was a great experience. 

There were six different sections to the awards, recognizing some of the various types of cartoons (political, caricatures, comic strip, etc)....and, all up, over 600 cartoons were submitted. Each of the categories was very hotly contested and the quality of the cartoons was truly quite inspiring.

I had entered some of the BUSHY TALES strips in the Best Comic Strip section. 

Whilst I did not win, or get the runner-up award, I was very pleased to have one of the BT strips judged as one of the five finalists in the category. The strip that was so honoured is this one shown here.....

I really enjoyed drawing this particular strip and it was a buzz for me to have it presented as one of the finalists in the Comic Strip category, especially considering the exceptional quality of the other entries.

Next year I hope BUSHY TALES might be able to do even better!

I'd like to acknowledge the great job that Fran Stephenson and her team of volunteers do in organizing this incredible showcase of Australian Cartooning talent.

If you are down in Coffs Harbour, do yourself a favour and get along to The Bunker Cartoon Gallery, John Champion Way, Coffs Harbour. It is the only cartoon gallery in Australia and one of the largest cartoon collections in the Southern Hemisphere.

DOUG TAKES UP GOLF!....

Since the last blog (too long ago), Doug has taken up the great game of golf. You might remember he was struck by a golf ball driven by Snoopy when he (Doug) was on his journey back to his old home. It must have left an impression on him because it was soon after he arrived back at the Bluff that Doug started swinging the ol' clubs. He's not yet mastered the game (who of us ever does?) but he is enjoying it nonetheless. Watch out for Doug on your local course...you never know where he might turn up for a game.

Here are the first BUSHY TALES golfing strips....

Well, that's it for this week.

Until next week!

Joyfully yours,

Ian

ian@bushytales.com

www.bushytales.com

SUNDAY STRIP TITLE FRAME ART

When I started drawing BUSHY TALES it was initially in the Sunday strip format. It wasn't long before the daily strip was introduced, but right from the start the Sunday strip has always had a special focus for me.
There are many reasons for this....the extra space to develop a gag, the enhanced opportunity to create something aesthetically pleasing....and the BT title frame!

Different cartoonists have different approaches to their Sunday strip title frame. Some have a set panel/frame in which nothing ever changes, whilst others play around with their title and its placement quite a bit.

With BUSHY TALES, I have kept the frame size and the hand-drawn title lettering the same, but every week the background image is different.

From the very beginning I have loved having the opportunity to create a title frame that is eye-catching and artistically pleasing. Often, it takes me as long to draw (and colour) the title frame as it does the rest of the strip. 

The title frame sometimes alludes to the content of the strip, or sets the scene for it, but not always. Sometimes the title frame works just as a beautiful background scene before the story/gag starts in the next panel.
I also put a lot of time into working on the colours in the title frame so that they complement the colours of the rest of the strip. Usually, I colour the title frame last of all so that I can best achieve this effect.

Overall, I am very proud of the BT title frames. In fact, I have used them as page headers on the BUSHY TALES website to good effect, changing them every now and again for variety.
You can check out the BUSHY TALES website at www.bushytales.com

Here are some of my personal favourite BT title frames from the last few years. I hope you like them, too.

Until next week......

Joyfully yours!

Ian

ian@bushytales.com

www.bushytales.com