The Inquiring Minds Explained

Who are The Inquiring Minds? Well, they're two, sometimes three, kids who seek out all things strange and unusual in their hometown of Three Craters Lake. Actually, they seek fame and fortune through seeking out the strange and unusual, and they are one of my comic strips.

I'm not sure which came first, since both Knight and Day and The Inquiring Minds both evolved from my earliest attempts at cartooning, but they've been around for some time now. Both of these strips were considered for syndication, but fate, and bad timing, led me in other directions. Still, they're good stuff, and worth pursuing in my spare time.

I've talked briefly on Syndication before, and it is something that I will once again pursue, when ready. I'm actually working on another comic strip, but for now, I'm not finished with The Inquiring Minds. The nice thing about NOT being syndicated, is that i can follow my own rules, as I kind of explained in my last post. I am working on a definitive collection of The Inquiring Minds, and to be honest, I have to say that it's a beauty. I love this book, and it is my masterpiece, so far. Full color, and packed with years of material, including my older strips that later evolved into The Inquiring Minds.

Because I am creating the book on my own, I am filling it with all sorts of material, and creating material with the book in mind. I have the freedom right now to draw each strip to a size that fits that strip the best. This explains why the last two strips are radically different in size. Since the new book will be 8.5 x 11 inches, I am using that full space when necessary, so I don't have to force the dialog.


Why should you care? Well, if you haven't read The Inquiring Minds before, consider their bragging rights. A strip has appeared in a PBS featured book about the Underground Railroad, and another strip appears in an 8th Grade literature textbook. Not bad for a part time strip, eh? (There are other accolades, but I have to save something for the book, eh?)

I'm still looking for other venues for the strip, and would love to have the strip appear in a monthly magazine. There's plenty of material, and I'd love to create more, for a magazine willing to showcase a great strip like this. Any offers? I'd love to hear from you Art Directors out there. :0) (Serious inquiries only, please. I've already dealt with one children's magazine whose Editor was VERY unprofessional.)



Meanwhile, stay tooned here and at www.HappyGlyphs.com for more of The Inquiring Minds. For a nice preview, we still have copies of our full color mini-comic for sale at the site, and a web preview at this page.

Cheers, JOHN ;0)

New Toon

I've been so busy lately, that I haven't had the time to draw any cartoons, which is pretty sad considering that I'm a Cartoonist. My Freelance career has taken me towards finer illustration, and my basic tooning skills have been getting rusty, so... I pushed all else aside and drew up the following. It's important to keep all of your skills sharp and up to date, and that's the excuse I'm sticking with.

Of course, I jumped back into things with a full page Sunday toon, instead of a nice little daily, but that's the way it goes. :0) I drew this at an unusually larger size for me, since the new book I am working on gives me the extra room to play. Sometimes choosing the size of a toon can be the hardest decision when you're a web cartoonist. When you're in the newspapers, you go with the size they give you, but on the web you have freedom to roam. I love books, though, so I always plan everything for print and web.

The inspiration for this came from my Travel Blog. I spoke of a day at the beach, and found myself looking for a cartoon about fishing. Couldn't find one, so I sent the Inquiring Minds down to the lake, and of course, they couldn't just go fishing. No... they had to make a big deal of things, as usual. :0)





Hope you like it! Cheers, JOHN :0)