Cul de Sac Article on Boing Boing

Glenn Fleishman over at Boing Boing.net did a fantastic article about cartoonist Richard Thompson, creator of the comic strip Cul de Sac.
The article speaks of Richard's fight against Parkinson's disease, the help Richard has received from his cartooning colleagues to keep his strip going strong and a book that Richard's pal, Chris Sparks, has put together as a way to fund a cure for Parkinson's.

Buy the Team Cul de Sac book by Chris Sparks.

Interesting Print Comparisons of CdS

Today, I picked up three newspapers that run Cul de Sac on their comics pages.
There are interesting comparisons of sizes, color and, uh, stretching.

The first example is run in the correct proportion, but it's the smallest of the examples because the newspaper is tabloid size.

In the second example, notice how the person who lays out the comics page stretched the comic vertically to fit the space provided for the strip.
Cul de Sac wasn't the only comic strip stretched, which makes the solution simple: print the comics in the proportion in which they were intended and that leaves enough room to, yes you're reading this right, ADD a strip to the comics page.

The third example is run in the correct proportion, it's the largest of the examples and it's run in color daily, something that is not new to the comics pages, but also not common.

Day One

Written and sketched by Richard Thompson and inked by me.

It was exciting to see the strip in the paper.
It reprinted well, despite being printed so small in the paper.
This newspaper is tabloid size, so naturally there's not a lot of room for the comics.

Helping Richard Thompson

Today I begin a new adventure as the assistant to NCS Cartoonist of the Year, Richard Thompson. I will be helping out with art duties on his comic strip, Cul de Sac.

As some of you may know, in 2009 Richard announced he was diagnosed with Parkinson's.
Earlier this year, he took a hiatus from Cul de Sac to focus on treatment for his Parkinson's and he allowed some guest cartoonists to take over the strip while he was away.

During his hiatus, I got an e-mail from Richard asking if I'd like to help out on the strip.

I grew up wanting to draw a comic strip.
As a kid, I would read the comics in the newspaper every single day.
In elementary school, I drew Snoopy, Garfield, Popeye and other comic strip characters on classmates' folders for money.
That's how much I wanted to do it.

So of course, the opportunity to work on one of the best comic strips of all time was a no-brainer.
It's my childhood dream come true.

But it's more than that.

For me, first and foremost, it's about helping out a friend.
It's no secret that Parkinson's sucks.
If you know anyone who has it, you know how much more difficult it makes even the simplest of tasks.
Imagine trying to draw, ink or letter a comic strip that's printed about four inches wide in a newspaper.
And imagine doing that every day, week after week.
Those deadlines for a healthy person are hell, for someone dealing with something like Parkinson's, the deadlines are damn near impossible.

Lending Richard a hand, a drawing hand, is an honor.
Many people repeat this sentiment, Richard is one of the nicest, kindest people on the planet.
He really is. And I'm not just saying that because he's my boss.

Have no doubt, this change in Cul de Sac is a little blip to the dedicated CdS fan. Richard is manning the ship, writing every strip in the way only Richard can. I'm here to lend a hand with the art when and where he needs it.

Now if you will excuse me, Richard's coffee cup needs to be refilled and it's a 700 mile trip to get there.

Cul de Sac is back.


Link: Help fund the fight against Parkinson's disease by purchasing Chris Sparks' book, "Team Cul de Sac."

Stacy Curtis Inking Like Mo Willems Drawing Like Richard Thompson

(Cul de Sac comic strip ©2012 Richard Thompson.)

The Washington Post recently reported guest cartoonists pinch-hitting for "Cul de Sac" cartoonist, Richard Thompson, while he gets treatment for Parkinson's disease.

This week's guest cartoonist is the Magnificent Mo Willems!
Mo sketched his 'Cul de Sac' guest strips and bravely asked me to ink them for him while he jetted across the globe to visit schools in Dubai.

It was fun inking up Mo's awesome drawings.

Check them out all this week by clicking here.

Team Cul de Sac: Miss Bliss, Teacher of the Year

This is a piece I created for Team Cul de Sac and their efforts to raise money for Parkinson's disease research.

Visit the Team Cul de Sac blog to see pieces created by some really great artists!

Links:
Team Cul de Sac's Foundation Page.
"Cul de Sac" by the incredible Richard Thompson.