TILLIE FLIES AGAIN

I thought I'd share a link with you. A comic strip I wrote and drew was recently published in the Asbury Park Press' 2007 Summer Guide. See and hear an audio slideshow version of it by clicking here.

I hadn't drawn for the Press in years. (Longtime readers may remember that from 1987 until 1993, I did a weekly Sunday strip called "Rocktoons." And I was good for several illustrations a week when I first joined the Press in 1983. That was another lifetime.)

Since I was 5, it was my dream to become a professional cartoonist. Alas, I've done a lot of cartooning professionally, but I never became a professional cartoonist. I reserve that exhalted title for people like my old buddy Steve Breen. That guy's got Pelican Ink in his veins.

When I began illustrating this latest strip -- titled "Beach Blanket Bistros" and starring arcade icon Tillie -- I was pretty darned rusty. I began with the Popeye-themed panel (the easiest one to draw) and built my way up to the opening panel of Tillie flying over a panoramic vista (by far the most challenging). It was fun getting my "drawing chops" back. It was like falling off a bike!