That's Just My Opinion

Thursday's strip is about Dewey's opinion of Cosmo's poetry.

Speaking of opinions...there are many questions that people do not ever, ever want to be asked in polite conversation. These include, "Are you for or against abortion?" "How much money do you make?" and "What do you think of my finger paintings?" This is because most all of us try to avoid conflict.
A great social experiment to try would be to ask co-workers or strangers for their opinions and see if they give you complimentary answers. For example, try asking your co-worker if she thinks getting a flaming Harley Davidson logo tattooed on your neck would impress business clients. My guess is she'll tell you it would look quite lovely, when she is actually thinking, "this guy is a psychopath who shouldn't be allowed to own a stapler."
And if a crazy lady comes up to you in the mall and asks you what you think of her eyebrows that aren't eyebrows at all but actually painted on red lipstick, you'll probably say, "Looks good!" and dive behind the Isotoner Gloves display in order to avoid any conflict.
Basically, there are only a few people we can count on to give us an honest opinion. Namely, our spouses and our case workers.

Monday's strip

This rough version from today's strip is rather bland in comparison to the finished version here. Having the golfers drink from Cosmo's water cooler instead of Dewey and Flip adds more tension and is definitely grosser. Plus I think Dewey would probably prefer bird flavored water.

Random Sketchyness

I really need to think of a strip that involves Dewey wearing a bikini. Hopefully the Mom from Foxtrot will be there too.

Christmas Cartoons

A For Better or For Worse Christmas cartoon that I believe only aired in Canada.

But Canadian brand Christmas humor doesn't get much better than this Bob & Doug McKenzie classic:

Friday's Strip

Today's strip is an adaptation of one I did a few years ago in an older strip. I like the older version with little Roger better, as he's way too young to be watching Jerry Springer plus his new world view has been completely shaped by his TV viewing.

AAAAH!

Fashion accessories

There was a time in America where dogs were Man's Best Friend; a companion to take hunting for ducks, foxes, etc. And the dogs were well trained. In many cases, trained well enough to drive their master home after he had too many "hunting beers."

Today, if you are a small dog such as a Chihuahua or Dennis Kucinich, you are no longer Man's Best Friend. Women have claimed you as a fashion accessory.

From what I've seen, this is just fine with the dogs. They get to go to all kinds of places in purses or little carrying cases that no large dog or other animal could ever dream of going. You never see a woman in an airplane take that little bag of peanuts and hand it to the squirrel in her purse.

Personally, I would rather carry a more useful animal with me in case of an emergency. Something with thumbs, like a raccoon. That way, when I would be out hunting, with the sights of my gun locked onto an unsuspecting mallard, I could at least have somebody to open my beer.

More animal accessories here.

Quiz

How about a useless In the Sticks quiz?

If you get the question correct, you will find the answer's corresponding strip. If you're wrong you will see an early In the Sticks animation test.



Who is Cosmo's girlfriend?

A) A pink flamingo lawn ornament
B) A red breasted nuthatch
C) A golf club head cover



What does Cosmo prefer to use for driving golfers crazy?

A) Scary hats
B) The sound of ripping Velcro
C) Post-1995 R.E.M.



What do Flip and Cosmo take offense to while at their "Reality Checkpoint"?

A) The reality show "Jersey Shore"
B) Guys who wear polyester and grow ponytails
C) Hipsters who ride fixed gear bikes

Sketchbook

Yahoo!

The gang from Blooming Dogleg Country Club have been called a bunch of yahoos so it's fitting that now they can be seen everyday on the Yahoo! web site's section of comic strips. You don't even need a Yahoo! account (most people have approximately 43) to check it out everyday.

Twitter (of course)

Along with Cosmo's musing (http://twitter.com/cosmojay), the In the Sticks comic strip now has it's own Twitter page here: http://twitter.com/golfcomic. Only 4,081,402 followers behind Ashton Kutcher!

Zagnuts

In today's strip, there are some rather unappetizing items in the vending machine. (Click on the drawing for easier viewing.)

Unfortunately, they don't seem to stock Homer Simpson's favorite snack, Nuts and Gum.

Sketchbook Page

Also, check out the continuing saga of golf club head cover love here.

Early Animation

Here's a link to an early animation of today's strip: http://gocomics.typepad.com/editors/2009/07/in-the-sticks-beta-animation-.html

Del.icious

The top panel is an old rough from back when Del was a high school student and part-time greens keeper at the golf course. It wasn't intentional, but I think Del looked like Dave Marshak from the Ski School movie.
Here's the complete strip:http://www.gocomics.com/inthesticks/2009/11/30/

Public Speaking

Looking through some previous work, I remembered the name of this family-based strip was Kick Me.
As in the "kick me" signs kids might put on each others' backs. All the characters in this strip seemed like they were going around in life unknowingly wearing one of those signs.

Febreze

With all the cross-promotional marketing going on these days, there has to be an expensive cologne or perfume somewhere that is actually Febreze.

Cosmo Illustration

A slightly different illustration style for Cosmo. He knows many a bird song, (he's a huge Wings fan) but his repertoire isn't as big as this bird's:

Dad's Collection

I'm sure many children have had the excitement of finding a treasure of toys ruined by learning that they aren't allowed to touch their dad's "collection." I'm not sure what it says about our society that instead of adventuring into the wild to hunt animals and collect their pelts, we drive to Target and hunt for Ewok action figures. Personally, I would prefer to hunt actual Ewoks, but I don't know if space tourism will ever make it to Endor in my lifetime.

Another Old Strip

All I know about this is that it's a lot harder to draw a soccer ball than you might think.

Model Sheet

The model sheet for the main characters of In the Sticks.

Old strip

Another pre-In the Sticks comic strip idea. I don't remember what the name of the strip was, but it centered around the two kids and their families. The drawings were rather crude; if you trace around your thumb and add ears you could draw Roger. And his dad (minus the ears).

A Dam Nuisance?

An interesting story from an English newspaper involving a golf course, a gnawed on tree and an escaped beaver named Mrs. B.
Flip is especially proud.

http://tinyurl.com/ylzxyjg

Doodling Dewey

Dewey didn't stumble upon the idea of wearing a vest until he got a job as a greeter at Humongo Mart, which was fitting, because they wouldn't let him in Humongo Mart without any clothes on. And ever since he discovered the Partridge Family reruns on cable, he knows how cool a fringed vest can make one look and feel.

Comic Strips on TV

This is an ad for Blondie and Cathy TV specials from CBS circa 1987. Imagine a young kid's excitement:

Mom: "Hey son, there are going to be some animated comic strip specials on TV tonight, would you like to stay up late and watch them?"

Son: "Oh boy! Yeah! What are they? Calvin and Hobbes?! Garfield?! The Wee Pals?!"

Mom: "Blondie and Cathy"

Son: "Uhhh..."

Mom: "TV Guide says 'Lonnie Anderson stars as the voice of Blondie followed by the nuerotic adventures of Cathy!'"

Son: "Isn't Lonnie Anderson dating Burt Reynolds?"

Mom: "On second thought, maybe you shouldn't be staying up so late."

It's too bad there aren't as many animated comic strip TV shows as there were in the 80's, and both of these are fun to watch if you can find the complete shows.

Lunch Box

Here's a panel from Wednesday's strip. Notice that Dewey has shown up for his substitute teaching interview with an A-Team lunch box. Similarly, I think a great, untapped area for marketing potential would be to sell officially licensed briefcases that look similar to graphic lunch boxes. Just imagine if your lawyer showed up to your court case toting a Chuck Norris briefcase. Instant respect.

On an Entertainment Note...

Cosmo has been finding the pop singer Rhianna more appealing now that she looks like a cockatiel. However, she will never replace Cosmo's number one celebrity crush, Phyllis Diller:

Flip-in' Out

Here are some looks Flip went through during the development process. These also show off the emotional range of Blooming Dogleg's resident beaver: from annoyed to conniving to irate.



His hobbies include listening to vintage Art Bell podcasts and collecting back issues of "Love and Ammo Quarterly".
Flip is of the North American Beaver species, as opposed to the European Beaver, which can be identified by its' preference for tight jeans.

Playing Through

An article in English newspaper Telegraph notes that golf courses could double as excellent bird sanctuaries. A good idea, but there's always the possibility of this happening:

I'm not sure what the ruling would be for having a bird with a spork run through your putting line.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6491469/Golf-courses-can-help-save-birdies-say-RSPB.html

Cosmo's Book

Cosmo is still working on his book "Things Guys Should Never Say to Each Other", but he's already designed a cover:

Dewey Deliciousness

Some astute readers from GoComics.com noticed Dewey looks a lot like a Hot Pocket. So here he is as an actual Hot Pocket (pepperoni, I believe). And Cosmo as a pizza roll, for good measure.

Personally, I think all Hot Pockets should come individually wrapped in tiny fringed vests.

The Bird Flew

Cosmo's glad the Swine Flu finally made everyone forget about the Bird Flu. He hopes

someday we can finally focus on the real germ carrying threats to humanity: small children.

Halloweenies

Cosmo and Dewey will be tuning in tonight to that great autumn television event everyone loves (no, not The Martha Stewart Halloween Special ): It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Mostly, it reminds Dewey of a simpler time, when there were no cell phones, nobody cared what their credit score was and a man couldn't hide behind the Internet to build his collection of cute porcelain owls.

The Cultivation of Cosmo

These are some of the designs Cosmo the Blue Jay went through over the years. As you can see, he didn't change much during the course of development.

Cosmo was so named because he was originally very philosophical, such as he wondered about the "cosmos".

As all amateur ornithologists are aware, blue jays' beaks are black, not yellow like Cosmo's. Cosmo won't admit it, but all his friends know he dyes his beak to look younger.

FERT!

Did you know the top Google searches for "armpit" are rash, pain, lump, fat, stains, hair and sweat? What about armpit music? Or as Dewey would put it, "The Sweet Science?" or is that "The Sweat Science?" Either way, you should really hear him squeeze out the Rice-A-Roni jingle.

Classic Comedy

Anybody remember the show Fernwood 2night?

Pre- In the Sticks

This is a strip from a comic I did prior to In the Sticks called Jack 2.0. It's the story of a boy and his robot. I'm sure you can all relate.

The Development of Del

These are some various looks that Del went through during the development of In the Sticks. Looking at him now, he seems to be on a yo-yo diet. Just be glad there are no pictures of him in his favorite cut-off blue jean shorts.

In the Sticks sales kit

A comic strip's sales kit is what a syndicate's brave sales people take on the road to sell the strip to newspapers. It contains background information on the characters and creator along with some sample strips. Above are some rough initial ideas for the In the Sticks sales kit. Below is the final version.

Cosmo is now on Twitter

Cosmo the Blue Jay has been tweeting for years, so now that he's heard about Twitter, he decided he might as well get paid for it. (Nobody told him he's not getting paid.) If you've been searching for some enlightenment this is the closest thing you'll get from Cosmo: http://twitter.com/CosmoJay

In the Sticks on GoComics.com

In the Sticks is now on GoComics.com. From squiggly pencil drawings to the finished colored strip, it will be a behind the scenes look at the development process of a comic strip. Intrigued? Indifferent? Printed it out and picked your teeth with it? Feel free to leave a comment here, or at the GoComics.com site here: http://www.gocomics.com/inthesticks

Blooming Dogleg Logo

Visitors to Blooming Dogleg never leave without a few items sporting the Country Club's unique logo, such as golf balls, towels, and shirts. Individuals who sign up for a lifetime club membership may opt for something more permanent:

History

Blooming Dogleg Country Club has a long and dignified history. It began several decades ago as a center of city government but quickly converted into a psychiatric hospital. At the time, the owners thought the real turning point in making it a valuable piece of land was when it was visited by foreign dignitaries. Unfortunately, those dignitaries were fleeing Czarists from Russia who quickly established an autocracy which had a serious detriment on tee times. More to come...

All You Need to Know About Blooming Dogleg Country Club

As you can see, Dewey is emphatic about his love for Blooming Dogleg Country Club and its amenities. However, if you visit, you may want to watch out for the many water hazards and the rather large sand trap on hole number twelve. More Blooming Dogleg info to come...

Poster

This mini-poster is an homage to the best golf movie NOT featuring the Three Stooges... Happy Gilmore.

If you've been recently imprisoned for financial crimes, printing this out and posting on your cell wall will remind you of those blissful days of eighteen hole business meetings. Poster's prison value equivalent = 1 cigarette.

Meet the characters of In The Sticks

Be it trimming weeds, mowing fairways or getting Cosmo unstuck from the vending machine, this ex-pro golfer usually enjoys owning the Blooming Dogleg Country Club. He’ll tell you that his passion for a well-manicured putting green keeps him at the course late into the night. Cosmo and Dewey would say it's because he can't get a date.

_______________________________

This poetry-writing blue jay is the eyes, ears and wings of Blooming Dogleg Country Club. His idea of an "early-bird special" is taking a soak in the breakfast buffet's guacamole dip. And when Cosmo dons the velvet fez he found in the caddy shack men’s room, he transforms from North American blue jay to "THE SWEET BIRD OF TRUTH!"

_______________________________

Dewey is a sweet, lovable bear who's not afraid to express his emotions. He's an occasional caddy for the country club's members, although he has yet to perfect his knowledge of golf lingo (he often calls for a repairman when somebody's putt breaks). Dewey believes that the fairway lawnmower is out to get him and his luscious pelt.

_______________________________

Flip is a bit misanthropic and often states that he's "not a people person and I don’t like lawyers either." Flip prefers to keep to himself, lurking in the course's pond and admiring the duplex-dam with outdoor pool he constructed with "found" golf gear.

ITS A Comic Strip!

In The Sticks has been picked up for syndication by Universal Press Syndicate. Its a comic strip about an ex-golf pro who's inherited the dilapidated Blooming Dogleg Country Club and the three odd animals who live there. Check out some sample strips here: http://www.amuniversal.com/ups/features/in_the_sticks/index.htm