THE JOURNEY CONTINUES...

Doug. Jack and Sugar have been lost in the strange city as they try and find their way to Doug's old home (previously destroyed in a huge bushfire).

With a little bit of help (or not) from some more "borrowed" characters from other strips, our travellers finally seem to be getting back on track.

The visiting characters in this fun little "crossover" series-within-a-series are.......

SNOOPY from the PEANUTS comic strip by Charles Schulz.

LARSEN E. PETTIFOGGER the lawyer from the WIZARD OF ID strip by Brant Parker and Johnny Hart.

And, JOE and CRUNCHY, police partners from the JUMP START strip by Robb Armstrong.

Once delivered beyond the city limits, our trio of travellers will wend their way on to more adventures as they get closer to their destination. Stay tuned for the coming strips! 

For the record, it has been great fun for me drawing this series of strips so far....it has given me the opportunity of placing the characters into unfamiliar surroundings and meeting some interesting characters along the way. (And some of the other cartoonists whose characters I have "borrowed" have been very positive and affirming in their response!)

MEDICAL TIME-OUT

It might be a couple of weeks before the next BUSH WEEK blog comes out.....I will be going in to hospital for double knee replacement surgery.
The time in hospital and the subsequent recovery time from this surgery will mean a bit of a break in the publishing of the blog.

I'll be back with the next blog, or at least an update on things, as soon as I can comfortably do so.
Here's to successful surgery and swift recovery!

HELP US PROMOTE BUSHY TALES

Here are a couple of ideas on how you might be able to assist us….

•If your local, or favourite, newspaper does not run BUSHY TALES as one of its comic strips, why not drop the editor a friendly note (mail or email) requesting it?
Editors are interested in what their readership wants, so it might help to get their attention.

You could suggest the editor contacts me at ian@bushytales.com for further information.

•Share the BUSHY TALES strip with others on Facebook and ask your friends and family to “Like” the BT Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BushyTalesComicStrip). 

This will enhance the profile of the strip and spread the word about it.
We would love to have a growing online readership…and it will further increase the opportunities of print publication, too.

•Subscribe to BUSHY TALES at the GoComics website (it is entirely free) and receive BT daily online and in your inbox. Your support in this way will further advance the chances of broader syndication.
Go to www.gocomics.com/bushytales 

Of course, if your newspaper does take the strip on, don’t forget to drop the editor a line and thank him/her! Positive comments are few and far between…but very much appreciated!

And thank you for your continued readership and enjoyment of the BUSHY TALES comic strip. Long may you enjoy it!

CARTOON CROSSOVER FUN!

BUSHY TALES and TEN CATS
This past week has seen these two comic strips share their characters!
This sometimes happens between comic strips (they are often called "crossover" strips because the characters "cross over" from one strip to the other) and can be a lot of fun.

I have enjoyed the TEN CATS comic strip ever since I first came across it a few years ago on the US syndicate website, www.gocomics.com. I think it is a great cartoon and extremely well drawn with a cast of delightful characters (ten of them are cats, obviously).
TEN CATS won the 2012 NCS Reuben Award for best online comic strip (the Reuben Awards are like the Academy Awards for cartoonists) which gives some idea of the high quality and popularity of the strip.
Anyway, it so happened that the TEN CATS cartoonist, Graham Harrop, also became quite a fan of BUSHY TALES and, over the last couple of years, we have enjoyed corresponding and encouraging each other (though I am sure most of the benefit and pleasure of this has been mine).

Over the past few years I have featured some other comic strip characters in BT but in recent times I had the desire to incorporate TEN CATS into my strip...and last week gave me a great opportunity to do so.

As mentioned in the last couple of posts, Doug, Jack and Sugar have left The Bluff on a great adventure...a journey back to Doug's old home (previously destroyed by a wild bushfire). En route, the trio find themselves in a large city full of inherent dangers for every wombat, rabbit and sugar-glider passing through (it's a good thing Wombatman is travelling with them!).
Whilst writing the strips for last week, I had an idea of how I could "borrow" some of Graham's ten cats and infuse them into this BUSHY TALES story line.
I contacted Graham to see if he was okay with the idea, which he thankfully was.
You can see the crossover action in the last one of these three strips.....

 I am pleased to say that Graham loved the strip and it proved to be a big hit on the GoComics site when published last week. 
But that was not the end of it.....Graham then wrote to me asking if he could return the favour. Of course, I was thrilled with the prospect so quickly said "Yes!"
Thus, yesterday (Sunday) TEN CATS had a special reference to BUSHY TALES.....

So....a bit of fun for a couple of cartoonists and, hopefully, some of those who read the respective strips.
By the way, you can subscribe to receive BUSHY TALES and TEN CATS ( and lots more great comic strips) FREE every day to your email.
Simply go to www.gocomics.com and find your desired comic strip/cartoon and then follow the appropriate prompts.

BUSHY TALES Activities-for young readers
On this page you will occasionally discover some fun activities to enjoy!
And, sometimes, we might even feature some of your drawings, too!So here are the first couple....more will be added in the weeks ahead! Have fun!

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Next week I will answer another question, or two, 
from our readers.
This will be a recurring feature of this blog, so it is 
never too late to send in your questions.
Simply email your questions, or comments, to:
bushweekblog@bushytales.com 

I'd love to hear from you!

Until next week.
Joyfully yours,

Ian 

WEBSITE: www.bushytales.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/BushyTalesComicStrip