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Madison BluesSo, there's a slight chance that you might've come across a brief mention or two around the site about this comic strip. Short story is that I did a comic strip in college. It was called Madison Blues. Click the thumbnails for pages 1 through 3 from the "Angst Man" storyline. |
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Long story is that I was working at The Daily Cardinal college paper between (or instead of) classes at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mainly illustrations for the page 2 editorials and some Bucky Badger graphics. Then the paper's editor dropped the New York Times crossword puzzle (apparently students wanted something they could do during lectures, and the NYT crossword was much tougher than whatever our rival, the Badger Herald, used). This left a slot on the comics page, and somehow I got it. My comic was pretty standard college stuff -- couple of college kids getting into antics in college. (I was in college at the time; dunno if I mentioned that.) It wasn't memorable; I didn't know what I was doing and I was trying too hard. Inspiration struck at last when I learned that the editor was considering bringing back the NYT crossword. Thus, a character known only as the Megalomaniacal Crossword was born. His (its? does a crossword puzzle have a gender?) plan was to transform the entire comics page into a giant crossword... starting with replacing my comic strip. With this, I began loosening up, grooving on the absurdity of the storyline and breaking the fourth wall quite a bit. Naturally, the Megalomaniacal Crossword won the battle. |
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Not to worry. I got a second chance over the summer, and started a new strip called Mason Dixon Line. At first a series of one-off gags only marginally about the title characters (two friends named Mason O'Rourke and Jefferson Davis Dixon -- yes, still trying too hard), I had my first good idea: Cuddles, a possessed teddy bear on trial for selling indulgences without a license. (Cuddles is my response to that freakish fabric softener mascot, Snuggle, as well as the cloying sweetness of the Carebears.) I showed up as myself a bit later, followed by bumbling aliens. Nothing brilliant, but some fun stuff happened. Then that strip was canned. I was almost out of college by this point but hadn't learned my lesson (still haven't, if this web site is any indication). So I got one more crack at a strip. I pulled the main character of Madison Blues, Nick Wagner, out of limbo (literally) and went on one more romp with Mason, Jeff, Cuddles, the vulture that no one owns and a few dozen other characters. The Megalomaniacal Crossword reappeared also, channeling Gary Oldman from Bram Stoker's Dracula. That run of the strip I self-published in Buy This Book or the Vulture Gets It. Still hit-or-miss, but I was getting an inkling of where to take it. Progress has been slow since, due to pursuing different creative paths (I present this web site as Exhibit A)... and, more recently, procrastination.
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Good news is that I've figured out a new hook that doesn't revolve around being in college, which should give a re-designed Cuddles (brand new look! same old pain in the ass!) and others in the gang one more go of it. A pitch will be ready in the near future, then we'll see. And if you're still interested after all this, I have copies left of Buy This Book... |
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