2016 ROTARY CARTOON AWARDS

A couple of weeks ago I enjoyed travelling down to Coffs Harbour (in northern New South Wales) for the annual Rotary Cartoon Awards presentation.

This was the 28th edition of the awards and it is one of the only two truly national events held each year for Australian cartoonists. The other one is, of course, the annual Stanley Awards, the major event of the Australian Cartoonist's Association.

As the name indicates, the Rotary Club (of Coffs Harbour) is the major sponsor of the awards each year, and the event has also had wonderful sponsorship and support from the local City Council and numerous other sponsors.
It really is a significant event in the calendar of cartoonists and cartoon lovers.

The Awards presentation and subsequent exhibition is held at The Bunker Cartoon Gallery, Australia's only dedicated cartoon gallery. It is an iconic building and environment, being centred in a refurbished World War 2 military bunker (hence the name). The Bunker gallery has a truly wonderful staff of volunteers who do an amazing job, not just with the Awards night, but throughout the whole year, showcasing the incredible heritage and quality of Australian cartoons/cartoonists, running workshops and many other associated activities.
If every you find yourself in Coffs Harbour, do yourself a favour and visit The Bunker Cartoon Gallery, John Champion Way. Coffs Harbour. You can also check out the website: www.bunkercartoongallery.com.au.

Personally, I love going to Coffs Harbour for a number of reasons....It is a beautifully scenic spot on the northern NSW coast....it is great to catch up with other cartooning mates...and it is where Robyn, my wife, and I honeymooned many years ago (40 in January to be exact!).

As usual, the standard of work on display was of exceptional quality across the range of the various cartooning "disciplines".....caricature, political, comic strip, sports, etc. 
I had entered some of my BUSHY TALES strips in the event and, whilst I did not win a prize, it was a great honour just to have my work hung on the walls alongside some true cartooning legends. And it is always a rare treat to spend time with such talented colleagues. 

The first photo shows the group of cartoonists who assembled on the night of the presentation. The second photo is of yours truly with one of the hung BUSHY TALES strips.

It was a great night....the winners were all very deserving of their awards, the opportunity to catch up with old (and newer) friends was terrific, and the chance to visit Coffs again was an additional bonus.
I am already looking forward to the 2017 Rotary Cartoon Awards in Coffs harbour! 

The World of BUSHY TALES

Where in the World Can a Wombat Go?

In recent times I have enjoyed taking Doug the Wombat out of the Aussie bush and into some other, more exotic, locations. It is not an easy thing to do and usually requires the "mechanism" of a dream sequence, or something similar.

The most recent example of this was drawn as a Sunday strip a couple of weeks ago.....

I had a lot of fun drawing this particular strip....I have been fortunate to have travelled extensively throughout the world, including many times in Turkey (it is one of my favourite countries) and I revelled in the opportunity of this idea coming together in the way it did.

And, whilst I was drawing this strip the thought occurred to me that some of the fans and followers of BUSHY TALES might have some ideas of places, or situations, that might possibly be suitable for a similar departure from the norm for Doug and his furry friends from BUSHY TALES.

So, here is my little challenge/request for you all......

If you can think of a place, or a situation, that you would like to see incorporated somehow into a BUSHY TALES strip, let me know your idea in the comments section of this blog below (or on the BT Facebook page....www.facebook.com/BushyTalesComicStrip). 

I cannot guarantee that I will be able to use your idea, but I can guarantee that I will read and consider all of your suggestions.
(If I do happen to use an idea suggested in this way, I will also credit that person in the strip. Woohoo!) 

So put your thinking caps on and let me know what you come up with. 

I look forward to seeing your ideas.

Until next time....

Joyfully yours,

Ian 

OFF ON THE CONVICT TRAIL.....

A Short Holiday in Tasmania

Well, I've just returned from a couple of weeks away from the drawing board. 

I love travelling and visiting places I've not seen before and, so, I was very pleased to set off for my first visit to Tasmania, one of the few parts of Australia that I have not previously been to. I have often heard about this island state's natural beauty and I was looking forward to having plenty of opportunity to exercise one of my other creative passions, photography.

Firstly, though, it was a short stopover in Melbourne to visit with a couple of our kids who live down that way. It was great to catch up with them and share some good times together. Part of the stopover was then spent tripping along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.
The iconic Twelve Apostles is a unique part of the ruggedly beautiful coastline and, consequently, a very popular spot for tourists and photographers alike. 

I always love the challenge of trying to get a shot that is a bit different to the one everyone else is taking and, thanks to a little bird that landed on a branch right in front of me at just the right time (late afternoon sunlight), I think I managed to!
Well, I think it's a pretty good shot, at least!

From Melbourne, Robyn and I flew down to Launceston. 

Unfortunately for us (but thankfully for the unusually drought-stricken island) it was raining. 

Not just a little bit, but a lot. 

And not just for a short period, but constantly. 

And the forecast projected rain for the next week, as well!
So much for seeing the natural beauty of Tasmania in good weather!

The plan was to pick up a car in Launceston and drive throughout the state, visiting many of the most scenic natural wonders as well as following along some of the historical trails and landmarks associated with the convict history of Tasmania.
The plan was a good one....but the wet weather seriously impeded the enjoyment and photographic exploits for the first few days.

As if to prove the point, when we arrived in the Cradle Mountain National Park we were met by sleet!
And that night, the first snow of the winter season fell.

It was bitterly cold with gale force winds blowing....but in my opinion snow is far more preferable to rain for photography so that was some considerable compensation.

Throughout the first half of the trip it was a case of trying to take photos that creatively showed the subject matter in an appealing way, even if that was not how we were actually experiencing it. A creative challenge to be sure! 

The second half of the trip picked up weather-wise and we actually had some good days when the sun broke through to see many of the significant parts of the state that harked back to the dark days of the convict settlements.

A highlight for us, as it is for many people, was the Port Arthur convict settlement. Sadly, this already sombre place of history has a more recent connection with tragedy. In 1996, it was the scene of Australia's worst mass-shooting when a lone killer (Martin Bryant) shot dead 36 people and left another 20+ injured.
This, then, became the catalyst for the government to introduce strict gun control legislation that has prevented similar such massacres in the 20 years since.
The memorial for those lost is a poignant reminder of the tragedy.

The coastline from Port Arthur down to Tasman Island is one of rugged beauty and extreme weather conditions. Beyond Tasman Island lies the Great Southern Ocean and Antarctica, and the wind was blowing directly from that direction, too! 

But, even though it was bitingly cold out on the water off this incredible coastline, the frosty temperature was nothing compared to the freezing and furious winds that we later met up on top of Mount Wellington, the peak that rises majestically behind Hobart, the state's

capital. The wind was one of the strongest I have experienced anywhere. And the coldest! But the views from the peak were well worth the frostbite!

All in all, it was a great trip in spite of the weather with many wonderful sights and experiences.
I will look forward to returning to Tassie sometime (in better weather, hopefully).

Here are a few more of the shots taken over the past couple of weeks.

However, whilst the trip is over, it did give me opportunity to think about a number of ideas that I am looking forward to introducing into the BUSHY TALES strip. 

In fact, next Sunday's strip, in particular, breaks some new ground for BUSHY TALES...so stay tuned!!!

Doug the Wombat Goes to Childcare!

The YOUNG DISCOVERER'S Child Care Centres adopt BUSHY TALES.

 You may have noticed that it is quite a while since the last BUSH WEEK blog was sent out. There have been a number of things keeping us somewhat busy since then. And one of these exciting new developments has been the partnership with the Young Discoverers group of child care and pre-school centres in the Gold Coast hinterland.

A little while ago I was approached by the good people at Crosslife Church ( a progressive, community-centred Baptist church) with an interest in using the BUSHY TALES characters in their child care centres, and even in using Doug as their "mascot".
After some initial discussions I was thrilled to agree to be associated with these great community centres for young children and their families. 

The use of the BT characters can help to highlight the positive values of the centres and, at the same time, add a little bit of humour and cartoon "flair" to their rooms.

(www.youngdiscoverers.org.au; www.crosslife.org.au)

Here are the first cartoons that illustrate some of the YD values.....

So, whilst you haven't heard from us for a while, we have been busy!
Hopefully, we will be back on track with regular blogs over the coming weeks.

Until next time.....

Joyfully yours,

Ian 

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