“Readers Choose 'Dustin' To Replace Retired 'Cathy' Strip” |
| Readers Choose 'Dustin' To Replace Retired 'Cathy' Strip Posted: 13 Jan 2011 06:32 PM PST 'It's taken two cartoonists a whole lot of work to create a guy that doesn't have a job," said Steve Kelley, creator and writer for "Dustin," the newst comic strip to join the Courant daily offerings starting Monday. When Cathy Guisewite, the creator of "Cathy," decided to end her popular strip this past fall, Courant readers were invited to vote for a new strip from three choices: "Dustin," the post-college kid who returns home to live, maybe forever; "Thatababy," the adventures of an adorable, often-mischievous baby and his sleep-deprived parents; and "Pajama Diaries," about Jill, an overextended mom with cute but needy kids and spouse. Readers cast more than 800 votes, with a majority going to "Dustin." The "Dustin'' strip, which launched Jan. 4, 2010 and is illustrated by political cartoonist Jeff Parker, features the Kudlicks: Dustin, a recent college graduate who is unmarried, unemployed and living back at home; Ed, a private lawyer who wishes his son would move out and get a job; Helen, a radio talk-show host and free-spirited shopaholic who encourages her son to find what he loves; and Megan, Dustin's 15-year-old sister, who is smart and destined for Harvard. This is a family and living arrangement that resonates with many today. "Most comic strips center around one or two characters," said Kelley. "'Dustin' really doesn't." Called a "sitcomic" by Kelley, "Dustin" is fueled by a trend that takes place in real life. Dustin's predicament makes him a boomerang kid, a twentysomething who goes off to college and then returns home without a job prospect. But Kelley and Parker had been working on the strip long before the recession hit. "The timing just worked out perfect," said Parker. "We had nothing to do with the economy!" The two had been working on "Dustin" for several years. Kelley, a full-time political cartoonist for The New Orleans Times-Picayune, and Parker, an editorial cartoonist for Florida Today, teamed up for "Dustin" after they met while attending the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists Convention. After nurturing the idea for "Dustin" for nearly 10 years, Kelley cycled through several potential partners for the strip until Parker happily accepted his invitation. Parker's experience on the comic strips "Blondie" and "Mother Goose and Grimm" — the latter being a project that he still works on today — worked well for Kelley, because he had never worked on a comic strip before. "I think Steve liked the idea of having somebody on his team with experience," said Parker. "I was thrilled that [Jeff] wanted desperately to sign up," said Kelley. "And away we went." With Parker in Florida and Kelley in Louisiana, the two have had to learn to collaborate while apart. They have not yet worked together on the project in the same room, said Kelley. Yet both said they think the arrangement has worked out great. And their process for creating the comics? Parker said he draws inspiration from his everyday experiences, as well as his time as a stand-up comedian."I'm always filtering irony and absurdity out of my daily experience and making notes," he said. "Then I make those notes into episodes of the comic strip. It's a constant process." Kelley, who works in a studio that he calls his "man-cave," works both digitally and by hand. He sketches on his computer, adds in dialogue using a font based off of his own handwriting and then hand-draws the actual art. "I tried to mix our drawing styles together for the comic," said Parker. "Steve's cartoons are very simple-lined, the lines flow, especially around the face. I tried to do that a little bit, though my drawing is more herky-jerky." The two, both inspired by the comic "Peanuts," have found a home in "Dustin," the comic strip and the character. "We've been very careful to make Dustin loveable," said Parker. "We're trying to keep the aspect of being such a daydreamer something that's endearing and approachable." Kelley said, "The inconvenient truth is that you have to work to earn money. … We repress this, but deep down inside, we're all couch potatoes. We'd love nothing more than just to watch 'The Real Housewives of Hollywood' and eat chips, but we can't do that." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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