Laura's China episode to air this week

If you're at least an occasional visitor to this site, you probably know that Candorville is translated into Spanish for a growing number of Spanish-language newspapers. In fact, since humor often loses a lot in translations, many of the comics are entirely re-written, sometimes with entirely different themes and jokes. For that reason, I opted to have the translations done by someone who understands where I'm coming from and what I'm trying to say. More importantly, I wanted them translated by someone who's smarter and funnier than I am. Who better than my wife, Laura Bustamante?

What you may not know is, Laura's also a reporter/host for a nationally syndicated television show called Latin Eyes. Latin Eyes "(brings you) the best of Latin culture, music, travel, food & entertainment" every week, in English. Laura's interviewed people such as the president of Honduras, the band Jaguares, Latin American superstar Ricardo Montaner, and many others. Recently she travelled to China to host an episode and perform with her Ensambles, Ballet Folklorico de San Francisco in a festival in Beijing.

Be sure to check your local listings, or check out the Latin Eyes website to see where it airs in your area. If you live in the SF Bay Area, you can catch the show on KRON-4 this Saturday at 4pm. If you live outside the Bay Area, you can see it next Saturday.

Now maybe if she can translate Candorville into Chinese...

•••

Writer's Block

In my discussion forum, a poster recently asked the same question many of you ask via e-mail: What happens when you get writer's block?"

If you read Candorville, you may know that writer's block is Lemont Brown's constant nemesis. Lemont should have been a cartoonist. Comic strips, by necessity, are self-contained stories told in about four panels. If, like me, you like to mix things up and occasionally tell longer stories, then each day still needs to make sense as a self-contained chapter within that story. There usually isn't room for more than a single observation, or for the introduction of more than a single theme within the context of one comic strip. As our illustrious leader would say, "it's hard work" to do that day in and day out in sickness and in health, and still make it funny or meaningful -- or on a good day, both. But the one advantage this medium has over longer form writing is that it's easier to overcome writer's block.

It's been my experience that in the cartoon world, where what you're going for is a single gem of an idea each day, writer's block is simply your mind telling you it's time to get up from the drawing board and go talk to another living person. Ask how her day went, then go home and add a punchline. But change the names to protect the innocent.

If only Lemont knew how to draw...

•••

Today's a good day

Voter Turnout Is Reported as Heavy in Most Areas.
Regardless of who wins, this is turning out to be a beautiful day for America. Voter turnout is higher than I've ever seen. People seem to be hoping to encounter long lines. When I went to vote, people seemed more than happy to wait the extra time to get a paper ballot rather than trust their vote to an unaccountable electronic machine.

Americans are turning out in droves.

•••

Candorville in San Francisco

No, it's not in the San Francisco Chronicle (yet), but it is on San Francisco's toilets. Lemont Brown, star of Candorville, has been seen on several posters mounted on outdoor bathrooms and kiosks in San Francisco for the past few weeks. He's there to lend his support to the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development commission's annual Pool Toss. The Pool Toss is a fund-raiser where San Franciscans bid on the right to toss a celebrity into a pool at one of the City's swanky hotels. The money raised goes to a great cause: acquiring and renovating run-down buildings to provide the poor with affordable housing, and providing day care for the working-class (and largely unemployed class) tenderloin community.

Laura and I will be poolside tonight, trying to stay dry.

You can find out more about the Pool Toss or donate to the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development's fund at TNDC's website.

Candorville now running in Dallas and Santa Rosa

Candorville starts running today in the Dallas Morning News. Candorville has appeared Monday through Friday in Quick, a tabloid edition of the Dallas Morning News aimed at twenty-somethings, and in Al Dia, Texas' preeminent Spanish language paper (owned by the DMN), since 2003. Starting today, it'll also appear in full color, in the Sunday pages of the DMN!

Candorville also began running last week in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the great paper covering the San Francisco Bay Area for Sonoma, Santa Rosa and other Napa County cities.

We're honored to be appearing in those fine papers, especially since we have family in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and friends who read the Santa Rosa P-D.

The first person in each city to mail us a copy of the comics page will receive a free signed sketch of the Candorville cast, or a free signed print of the weekday strip of your choice. E-mail us for details.

If you live in Dallas or Santa Rosa and you like what you see, it would be a good idea to write to the paper and tell them so. If you live in Santa Rosa, click here to contact them. Papers need to hear from their readers to determine what you like to see. If you don't like what you see... um... disregard this last paragraph. I was only kidding.

Second Rudy Park book is on the way

Andrews McMeel - our publisher - just sent us the advance copies of the second Rudy Park book, and they look better than I'd imagined!

For those who don't know, aside from Candorville, I also collaborate on a comic strip called Rudy Park with writer Theron Heir. Rudy Park appears in nearly 100 papers and websites, and the first book - The People Must Be Wired - which came out last Fall, sold through its first printing in just a couple months. The second book, Peace, Love & Lattes picks up where the first one left off: Rudy's pining away for Darlene (who barely knows he's alive and resents knowing even that much about him). Mrs. Cohen, the cafe's resident cantankerous octogenarian, is at Rudy's throat. Armstrong, the cheap and greedy cafe owner is busy watering down the coffee and scamming his patrons. Uncle Mort is desperately trying to scream some sense into the cafe's apathetic, easily manipulated clientele. Randy is picking up chicks while trying to live down a reputation as a dumb jock, and Monkey is still hoping against hope for a bite of a Taco Bell taco. And an unexpected romance between two of the regulars causes both happiness and revulsion.

All this is set against our nation's year-long buildup to the war in Iraq, and there are guest appearances by Donald Rumsfeld (who tries to kick Rudy's @$$), Dick Cheney, John Ashcroft (still hiding in the pastry container, watching Rudy's every move) and Michael Jackson, among other celebs. The Rudy Park story really kicks into high gear in this book.

Rudy Park: Peace, Love & Lattes is available for preorder through Amazon.com, and will be in book stores throughout the country in just a couple weeks.

The first Candorville book will be released by Andrews McMeel in Fall 2005, followed by a second one in Fall 2006. Don't forget, anyone who writes a letter to your local paper asking them to give you Candorville will receive a free copy of the first Candorville book, and other assorted goodies - provided you send us a copy of the note, and the paper adds Candorville to their lineup within 1 year.

From an upcoming Sunday strip

A preliminary sketch from an upcoming Sunday strip (assuming it gets approved). This is Susan Garcia, one of the main characters. Rumor has it her looks and some of her personality traits are inspired by my wife (man, I have to get used to saying that - I've been calling her my "girlfriend" for 6 years!), Laura Bustamante. I have no idea how I got this lucky.

I'll post sketches here from time to time, just for those of you who take the time to check out the Candorville site.

•••

The wedding

I've been wanting to comment on the wedding, but I haven't had time. Still don't, as I'm trying to get a little bit ahead on the strips before we have to leave for Mexico on Friday. But I don't want to go that long without posting something, so I'll paste an e-mail I sent to a couple folks who asked me how the wedding went. Like the wedding, it's short and to the point:

Laura was stunning. I first saw her in her dress as she walked down the aisle with her mother. I'd never seen her that happy before. She was glowing.

About 300 people showed up.

It was an unconventional wedding. The ceremony was very short and to the point. My brother and her sister placed a ceremonial lasso around us (a Roman Catholic tradition). The minister spoke a bit about marriage, and about the history of wedding rings while we put ours on each other. We said our vows, including some funny "P.S" ones, and we signed the decorative marriage certificate I designed. Then, at the end, we jumped over a ceremonial broom. That's a custom which originated in Western Africa and was brought here by slaves.

Laura's folklorico group performed for us. I'll never forget that. I love those guys. Then a small stage was set up, and Laura performed the cajon, which had been her father's favorite dance. When she finished, I stood up and helped her off the stage, then we began our first dance. The first dance was a danzón. I'd been nervous about that part since dancing isn't my thing. We only rehearsed 5 times (with Norberto Martinez, a superb dancer/choreographer friend of ours), but on the day of the wedding, somehow it all went perfectly. Everyone was right - when the lights dimmed and we started to dance, everyone else disappeared and all I saw was Laura. People were impressed - a lot of them have been asking for videos of the dance. Some assumed I was a professional dancer, so I guess I didn't do too badly.

It was the best night of our lives.

My grandmother was going to sing the song "Always" to us at our wedding, but she passed away in February. So my Mom sang it to us for her. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. Matt also gave a toast, which was more of a roast.

For a brief honeymoon, we spent a few days at Disney's Grand Californian hotel. Then we spent a couple days with people in Laura's family who had contributed to the wedding. I didn't know most of them, but it's customary to do that.

At the guest sign-in table, there was a huge mounted photo of her father, Laura, her mom and me, taken at Laura's graduation back in 2000. It felt like he was there the whole night, and that he made sure it all went perfectly. He was even there on the honeymoon, we thought, because at Disneyland, we kept getting the shortest lines and the best seats on the rides. Everything was going our way, as if someone was looking out for us.

•••

Locked out

Laura and I spent the afternoon in the city looking for shoes that would go with her wedding dress. I don't know if it's the influence of Sex and the City, but women's shoes sure are going through a tacky phase. Everything is so pointy, it's like women are forced to walk around wearing weapons on their feet. Worse still, pointy shoes make a woman's feet look nearly twice as big as they really are. Pointy. Big. Watching a group of them walk by is like watching a herd of ninja ducks.

After weeks of looking, we found the perfect pair at Nordstrom's. After celebrating over Fluorescent Orange Chicken at Panda Express, it was time to get on with the day. I had work to do, and Laura was headed down to San Mateo to visit some friends of ours (happy birthday, Grant!).

So I'm on BART, about to get off at my station after a 30 minute ride back from San Francisco. As I reach for my BART ticket, I notice my pocket is awfully light. ...I don't have my keys. I left them in Laura's car. Being a typical city-boy, I only know my neighbors by their distinctive nods. The woman upstairs nods hello only when she's sure I've seen her see me. Otherwise she scurries past like the wind. The guy across the hall from me, when I run into him, gives me a stoned nod - it takes just a few seconds too long to go up and down again, and sometimes he does it cross-eyed. The thug at the other end of the hall usually gives me the thug nod - his chin goes up, but it doesn't come down until I back away. Slowly.

Since I only know them by their nods, I can't very well hang out with them until Laura gets back with my keys. So I walked 3 miles to the nearest Apple Store, where I can check my e-mail as a line of people breathe down my neck, waiting their turn to use the beautiful 17 inch Powerbook I've bogarted. I haven't made any real friends in my apartment, but I just finished responding to an e-friend from Stuttgart, Germany, and another from Georgia. I don't know if that's Georgia, US or the ex-Soviet one -- I don't know him well enough to ask. If only I could see how he nods...

Lazy reporters

A reader e-mailed me the URL to an article that appeared on the Chicago Tribune's website, where a reporter named Eric Zorn accuses Candorville of ripping off an old Peanuts cartoon.

Here's the original article:

CLOUDY

I recently took note here of this "Candorville" comic strip in the Tribune showing two of the characters lying on their backs on the top of a building:
Lemont: Susan, see that cloud? What's it look like to you?

Susan: Sort of like President Polk in 1848. And there's his mighty army coming down from the north to steal half of Mexico. Over there's the INS loading a group of migrant famr workers onto a bus for deportation.

Lemont: I see a bunny.
I said I was pretty sure I'd seen "Peanuts" use almost the identical joke. Several readers sent me the following dialogue from a 1960 "Peanuts" strip that creator Charles Schulz once reportedly named as one of his most popular ever:
Lucy: If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations...what do you think you see, Linus?

Linus: Well, those clouds up there look to me like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean...that cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor...and that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen...I can see the Apostle Paul standing there to one side....

Lucy: Uh huh....that's very good....what do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?

Charlie Brown: Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie, but I changed my mind!
Coincidence? Homage? Rip-off?

I e-mailed "Candorville" creator Darrin Bell a week ago to ask for his explanation.

No answer yet.

The strip he mentioned was similar in structure to a recent Candorville strip, but c'mon. When you've got four panels to tell a story, there are only so many ways to do it. There are only so many ways to set up a gag and only so many punchlines that would be appropriate. I've seen Boondocks and Opus strips that are nearly identical to strips I drew years ago, but knowing the industry like I do, I realize this kind of thing is almost never a case of plagiarism. It's coincidence. Pick any cartoon in your local paper, and someone somewhere will have seen something very similar in one of the several million cartoons drawn in the past. In this case, they had to go back to 1960.

Still, I can accept skepticism. It's only natural. What I can't accept is lazy reporting.

My first journalism instructor, way back in high school, told us the definition of a lazy journalist is one who writes an accusatory article, and says the object of his attack "could not be reached for comment." Sometimes this is done by a procrastinating reporter who's working too close to deadline, and doesn't have time to properly track down the source. Other times, "couldn't be reached for comment" actually means "I didn't want to get a comment that would refute my assertions."

It's a rare thing indeed when you can't even contact the person's spokesman - which in this case would be my syndicate, the Washington Post Writers Group. The Tribune has the Writers Group telephone number, I'm sure, and logically, they would have been able to put Zorn in contact with the subject of his piece. A reporter working at one of the world's finest newspapers, you would think, would exhaust every weapon in his investigatory arsenal - even including the drastic measure of picking up a telephone - to get a quote from the subject of their article.

Zorn, however, ends his supposition by saying "I e-mailed 'Candorville' creator Darrin Bell a week ago to ask for his explanation.

No answer yet."

I never received any such e-mail from Mr. Zorn. Zorn could have called the Post Writers Group if he had really wanted to contact me. But that would mean he'd have to think of a different snarky ending for his article.

My high school journalism teacher would not be amused.

••••••••

A Zorn reader responded (see below) that I was inflating the issue by implying it appeared in the print edition instead of where it did appear - in Zorn's Tribune-hosted blog. I was incorrect in saying it ran in the paper. I assumed that, since Zorn is a Tribune reporter, it ran in the paper. But I don't see the significance of that observation. Was it meant to imply that something appearing on a newspaper's website doesn't need to be accurate or fair?

The kind of laziness evident in the Zorn article doesn't quite fall to the same level of a Jayson Blair, but it's somewhere in the same neighborhood.

••••••••

Candorville added to Ucomics!

Candorville, which already appears on Comics.com (which carries mainly United Media strips), has just been added to ucomics.com (which carries mainly Universal Press Syndicate strips). In related news, the Whopper has just been added to the menu at McDonald's, and Burger King will begin selling the Big Mac.

According to Ucomics:

"Candorville centers around the interactions between Lemont Brown, an intelligent young writer, Susan Garcia, a business woman, and Clyde, an angry young man with a dysfunctional past. This is a strip that is unafraid to take on controversial issues, and has touched on everything from gay marriage to racial profiling. Creator Darrin Bell has a lot to say, and he does it through the inventive use of thought bubbles, his crisp drawings and his deep understanding about the interactions that make us human. As the series progresses, the bonds between the characters become more apparent. Readers are sure to embrace Lemont, Susan and Clyde as they begin their journey into Candorville, available on My Comics Page."

and...

"Darrin Bell's Candorville is an insightful look at family, community and race through the eyes of Lemont Brown, a young black writer. Bell pulls no punches and delves into even the most controversial of issues. The wit and humor of the strip will draw you in."
•••

Saturday's cartoon

Saturday's Candorville strip featured Lemont sitting at a bar, watching TV. A few strips use this device - it goes back at least as far as Doonesbury, and it's also been a mainstay in such strips as Bloom County, Boondocks and Rudy Park. Some readers are annoyed by those strips, which usually feature the main character sitting in the same position for three panels. The only thing that changes is the text, and maybe the character's facial expression.

I'm not above using the TV device, for this one reason: There's just no getting around it. The television, for most Americans, is our constant companion. It's more loyal than the family dog. It tells us secrets about Paris Hilton and Michael Jackson. It keeps us informed (or misinformed) 24 hours a day on CNN, Fox and MSNBC. It tells us how we're supposed to dress, what we're supposed to eat, and what toys to buy our kids. It comforts us with sitcom families that are funnier than ours, and with the Sopranos and the Simpsons, who are more dysfunctional than most of us will ever be. With shows like Farscape and Babylon 5, it even dreams for us.

Ignoring that relationship just isn't an option. So I do my best to make those strips visually interesting.

•••

This Saturday's cartoon drew some protest from only one reader. In the cartoon, the TV was tuned to Fox News, and the anchor was talking about the Abu Grhaib torture scandal, in which photos emerged showing US troops torturing Iraqi prisoners. The Fox News anchor said "A recent poll shows a whopping 20% of Americans are fed up with all the outrage over the tortured Iraqi prisoners. After all, what they went through was nothing compared to the way Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups treat their prisoners." It goes on to say "America. Hey, at least we're not as bad as the terrorists."

Here's the note:

Dear Mr. Bell,

 In general I really enjoy your 'strip Candorville. However, I absolutely resent today's comparsion of America with Al Qaeda. This is absolutely uncalled for and without merit or justification. As I read your bio on your website I realized, however, that you are just another victim of a UC Berkely liberal brainwashing. Perhaps you should actually compare the awful events at Agu Ghaib with what the Hussein regeme engaged in on a quotidan[sic] basis, or what Al Qaeda is trying to accomplish with chemical and biological weapons.

And my response:

Dear XXXX,

I'm glad you (usually) enjoy Candorville. You should know, though, that in Berkeley, I'm often considered a conservative. I've drawn many cartoons - before and after 9-11 - condemning the likes of Al Qaeda, and one cartoon I drew after 9-11, showing the terrorists burning in hell, created a nationwide protest. I've been called, alternately, a Liberal, a communist, a fascist, a jack-booted thug, a reactionary, and a "victim of UC Berkeley liberal brainwashing."

On many issues, I'm conservative. On others, I take the liberal position. If you've enjoyed Candorville until today, I hope you'll ask yourself why you've enjoyed it. Have you enjoyed it because it's the product of liberal brainwashing, or the product of someone who takes each issue as it comes and examines it independently? Surely you couldn't have liked something that's the product of liberal brainwashing.

In this particular instance, I'm at a loss as to why you resent the comparison. I do point out that what we did pales in comparison to what Al Qaeda does. The point of this cartoon isn't that we're like Al Qaeda (you seriously misread it if you think that's the point). The point is, it's unhelpful when people such as Fox News excuse what we do by saying "Well, Al Qaeda is worse." OF COURSE they're worse. Nobody disputes that. The POINT of today's cartoon is that we SHOULD NOT compare ourselves to Al Qaeda. We should judge ours actions by our own principles, not by comparing them to the barbarity of terrorists.

Let's use kids as an analogy. What if your son stole a candy bar from the corner store. That's not a horrendous offense. But what if he tried to excuse it by saying "it's not as bad as Ken Lay. He stole billions from seniors' retirement accounts." Does that excuse what your son did, or are you still going to make him go back to the store and apologize? Aren't you still going to hold him accountable for his own actions, because he should have known better?

Look at this objectively, not through the prism of some barbaric group like Al Qaeda. According to our own principles - according to what the United States stands for in this world - is it okay to strip prisoners naked and force them to simulate sex acts with each other? Is it okay to beat them into unconsciousness, and in at least two cases, death? Is it okay to strap wires to their genitals and force them to stand on a box for several hours, telling them they'll be electrocuted if they fall?

My point is, we should behave in a way that makes ourselves proud, and not use the barbarity of Al Qaeda or Hussein to excuse our own bad behavior. Surely you can agree to that.

Thanks for taking the time to write, and I hope I've cleared up the misunderstanding.

•••

Getting married!

I've been looking for a tux the past few weeks. Laura and I are getting married next month, and it'll be outdoors. In Southern California. Getting heatstroke can put a damper on a wedding, so I'm looking for a good white or light gray tuxedo. I never knew how hard it would be to find one of those. If you want anything other than black, people at department stores look at you like you're speaking a foreign language.

Yesterday we walked all over downtown SF, from Macy's to Nieman Marcus and Saks Fifth, but nothing really grabbed our eye. Finally, we found the perfect place. And I'm keeping it all to myself.

A side note, if you're in SF, make sure you try the Lemon Herb Roasted Chicken at the Cheesecake Factory atop Macy's, overlooking Union Square. Trust me.

Face Time in the San Francisco Chronicle

I'll be in this Sunday's Face Time column in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Magazine. It's a regular Q&A column that features notable Bay Area residents. Somehow I slipped in, too.

Cover art for second Rudy Park book almost complete

Today, I'm finishing up work on the back cover for the second Rudy Park book, Peace, Love and Lattes. This design is a lot less cluttered than the first one. I'll post the front and back cover sometime in August, once the catalogs go out to retailers.

Last year, for the first book, The People Must Be Wired, we all thought it would be a good idea to show all seven of the main characters doing what they do best. It was the first collection, so it was necessary to introduce ALL the characters. Darlene was ignoring Randy who was hitting on her while standing next to Sadie who was giving the evil eye to Rudy who was tangled in gadget wires, one of which was being chewed on by Monkey who was standing next to Armstrong who was counting money next to Mort who was getting ready to drop some knowledge through his trusty bullhorn (whew!). Needless to say, that left me very few options for design considerations, and next to no chance I could create something that would really catch the eye on a book shelf. It turned out well, but I thought we could do better.

This year will be different. The front cover features only one main character. It's the one main character (and the one theme) that pretty much dominated the second year of the strip.

Back to work...

Hiking today

Great day for a hike at Mount Tam. I twisted my ankle playing tennis a couple weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure the best way to heal a twisted ankle is a 10 mile hike over rough terrain.

'Candidaldea' growing

Candidaldea, the Spanish-language version of Candorville, adds another newspaper to its growing list of clients. It will soon be seen in The Hispano Weekly, in Lubbock, Texas.

Candidaldea is produced by Darrin Bell and his fiancé, Laura Bustamante. Laura, a professional translator, is also an accomplished Spanish-language voiceover artist who's worked in the Spanish versions of several feature films including Jurassic Park, Casper, An American Tail (where she starred as Fievel), and many others. Currently she works as a television reporter for the Latin American culture show Latin Eyes. Latin Eyes is currently appearing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno, CA, Louisville, KY and other cities, and will be seen nationwide through syndication later this year.

Creating Candidaldea isn't as easy as it seems. Some things just don't translate directly from English to Spanish. So when the humor isn't universal, Laura basically rewrites the cartoon, with a different joke, and sometimes an entirely different storyline. It's a challenge, but it's important to do it right.

Star Trek: Enterprise NOT cancelled

Trek Today is reporting that, contrary to predictions, UPN has officially renewed Star Trek: Enterprise. In other news, high quality genre shows Farscape, Firefly, Odyssey 5 and Angel are still dead.

I'm beginning to think the only thing I need to do to keep a series I like on the air is not to like it. And vice versa. I've just now decided I love America's Next Top Model, Will & Grace, and the entire UPN network.

In all fairness, Enterprise improved a great deal in its third season. There were story arcs (okay, one long arc) with real consequences, there were a few genuine surprises, and they've given a reason for the formation of the Federation. Unfortunately, it isn't the same reason given by all the other Trek shows & films over the past 30+ years.

What's the point of making a prequel if it's not going to stick to the established stories and concepts?

Bakersfield story to be continued...

The one-week test of Candorville in the Bakersfield Californian is nearly over, but this week's story is not. In a couple weeks, Susan's going to have to get time off to attend her uncle's funeral in Bakersfield, and she might be bringing a friend or two - along with a big misunderstanding - with her. If you'd like to see what happens, you need to write or call the Bakersfield Californian and let them know. And be sure to complete the survey. They'll post it here at the end of next week.

Hello, Bakersfield!

If you live in or around Bakersfield, you can see Candorville this week in The Bakersfield Californian. The Californian is running a one-week test, and if you want to read it in your paper from now on, you'll have to complete their survey, or call or write them to tell them what you think.

If you send them a letter (and send a copy to us) AND they subsequently add Candorville, we'll send you a free sketch or a print of the daily strip of your choice. Feel free to e-mail us and let us know what you think!

Candorville to be tested in Bakersfield Californian Next Week

If you live in Bakersfield, keep an eye out for Candorville next week. The Bakersfield Californian is testing 10 new strips to see which ones readers want added to the paper. If you like what you see next week and you want to see Candorville in your paper every day, you need to complete their survey.

Fighting the Power on Air America Radio

If anyone ever doubted the intellect of Chuck D. (formerly of Public Enemy), check out his morning show Unfiltered on Air America, or his weekly Saturday show, Bring the Noise. Listening to Chuck D., I've suddenly remembered why I used to love rap when I was a kid. It used to have something to say.

Dear Diary...

Welcome to the Candorville blog. From time to time I may post something interesting (or not), like a sketch or a clip from a strip in progress. News, etc...



If you haven't heard of Candorville, it's a new comic strip about a diverse group of friends in the big city, who deal with the important issues of the day: war, discrimination, homelessness and writers' block. Check it out at Comics.com. If you like what you see, it wouldn't hurt if you'd write to your local paper and angrily demand that they add it to their comics pages. Threaten to stop reading their paper if they don't, and accuse them of having bad taste in clothing. But above all, be polite.

Candorville is my second syndicated strip. You can also see my first one, Rudy Park (co-created by writer Theron Heir), at comics.com.