Comic Strip Ideas

I have always dreamed of being a newspaper cartoonist, with a daily comic strip (plus Sundays).  The recurring characters, extended gags and stories, and creativity of lettering have always been the way I think about cartoons.  I made a few formal submissions to the “syndicates” that control which comic strips get promoted to newspapers, but they get literally thousands of submissions, and the odds of being accepted are similar to winning the lottery.  The syndicates won’t invest in all the promotional effort, unless they feel the strip has the potential for a widespread audience.  Which usually means the format is formulaic, limited, and… boring.

 

Exceptions to this rule are few.  I consider Pogo, Peanuts, and Calvin & Hobbes to be the pinnacle of the newspaper comic strip format, with honorable mention to Doonsbury, B.C., and Bloom County.  I’m also a big fan of the “old style” comic strips, where the artists had more room in which to create their masterpieces – like Krazy Kat, or Little Nemo in Slumberland.

 

Here are a few examples of my comic strip ideas, from just a few sample strips, to more elaborate presentations.