Garfield, But Better

My friend Isaac sent me a link to Garfield Minus Garfield, which I thought was so funny I just had to share. I admit I grew up on Garfield, and as a child, Jim Davis's Garfield at Large, that unique horizontal-shaped collection of early fat cat cartoons, was one of my favorite books. Garfield was indeed one of the inspirations that led me to try my hand at cartooning.

Unfortunately over the years, the quality and humor level of Garfield has fallen to the point that it makes Ziggy greeting cards seem cutting edge. Who would have thought that the perfect way to revitalize Garfield is simply to remove the title character completely from each strip? Genius!

What I'm Reading: American Born Chinese

In one sitting I read the remarkable graphic novel American Born Chinese by Gene Yuen Wang, and I highly recommend it. The novel contains three stories that interweave and eventually come together in a surprising, satisfying resolution, showcasing in the process the author's unbounded creativity, humor, and sensitivity.

As an Asian-American I can relate to the theme that pervades each storyline; that growing up in a predominantly white culture can make it confusing, difficult, and sometimes embarrassing for a first generation kid to find his identity. The conflicted characters have demons to confront (figuratively and literally!), their cultural identities relentlessly dogging them and demanding to be faced.

As a cartoonist, I felt awed by the author's clean, expressive artwork. It is always refreshing for me to read comics of an Asian bent that do not follow a generic anime style. I also realize I have a lot more to learn as an artist, if I am ever to reach Wang's ability to so cleanly express emotions and actions.

Also, one of the stories centers on a monkey, and monkeys are extremely cool.

Comic Delay... But Don't Forget to Vote!

Unfortunately this week's comic will be delayed due to an action-packed weekend (we went to Vail to celebrate a friend's birthday) and a busy work week so far.

However, I did want to remind everyone who doesn't live in one of the states that already held a presidential primary/caucus, to vote! We live in Colorado, and like over 20 other states, our caucus takes place February 5. If you also live in our great state, please take a moment to figure out how to caucus. It's a rather baroque process, and not as straightforward as a primary - as we found out, having just moved from Florida last year.

You can find out here the location of your caucus (yes, the link is through Barack Obama's site - we are unabashed supporters of Obama - but I would emphasize that I would rather you vote, even if it's for someone else, than not vote at all!).

Have a Happy (and Literate) New Year

Happy Holidays everyone! As the new year rolls around, I wanted to throw out a link to author Doris Lessing's Nobel Prize speech. She contrasts the hunger for books - any books - felt in an impoverished African village, with the attitude in a privileged London school, where many students don't read at all and the library is half unused.

Looking around at the kids (and adults) in America today, I can see this sad lack of interest in literature, despite our country's seemingly unlimited resources. Are we so inundated with reality TV, YouTube, IMs, and text messages that we find it boring to stimulate our minds with some good old-fashioned reading?

Let's dedicate some extra time in 2008 to reading good books. It's amazing how much more a well-written novel will affect you than even the best movies and TV shows. I'm currently reading some great Hemingway and John Irving; what are you reading?

Comics + RSS = Super!

Since the inception of my little family comic strip, I wanted it to be available for easy consumption via RSS. I've found that RSS makes it convenient to keep up to date on the latest blog and news articles, so why not for web comics?

Recently I stumbled across Tapestry, an online directory of hundreds of online comic feeds. Awesome idea! Ironically, I found this resource at a time that I am actively trying to cut out RSS feeds and other noise, in an effort to be more productive and centered; but I think I will make an exception for the important things in life: comics and literature.

Delay

Sorry but due to illness and a busy schedule, this week's comic will be late. In the meantime, you should check out Achewood if you haven't already - perhaps the best comic ever (start from the beginning!).

New Educational Feature

The comic is finally back on schedule! For the last few weeks, I had been slogging through several huge projects at work, while simultaneously looking for a new job. I finally got a great new job, and now I have the chance to catch my breath and sit back in the cartooning seat.

I just finished adding a new vocabulary word feature for each comic. As some of you have noticed, I try to put a "word of the day" in each strip. This may come off as a bit pretentious, but my intention has always been that this comic should have some educational value. Now when you click on a comic, you get sent to the dictionary.com definition of the featured word. Could this humble comic strip be a valid SAT or GRE study tool? Perhaps!

Thanks to my friend Kristian for the idea to integrate the featured word into each comic page. Also I am glad finally to explain why I use big words in each strip, so that maybe I don't seem like such a conceited douche bag.