Tighty Whities

Here's a close-up of Del's Spiderman Underoos from Friday's strip. (Strip? Perhaps I should rephrase that.) Click the image for a larger view, if you dare.

Back When Del Was a Woman

OK, so maybe Del himself was never a woman, but for a short time his role was filled by a woman named Linda, who was the golf pro at Blooming Dogleg Country Club. I like to think she left to pursue a better career, perhaps in the snow plowing industry. Also, Cosmo was known as "The All-Knowing Bird of Enlightenment". This was thankfully shortened to "Sweet Bird of Truth" for brevity's sake.

Del's Doppelganger

I was watching yesterday's coverage of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament. That's right, I was watching golf on TV. Some say it's as boring as watching paint dry, but if you're sitting in a poorly ventilated room, watching paint dry isn't so bad, if you know what I mean.
One of the top 20 finishers was Troy Merritt, who looks a lot like Del. Obviously, this is a coincidence; I don't think Mr. Merritt intentionally grew sideburns to look like Del.

Wednesdy's Strip

Here's the rough version of today's strip. This is about the most straight forward idea I ever had for a strip, and it's a pretty good one to use in the first few months as it works to establish the relationship between Cosmo and Del.



Del is eating No-Doze-O's cereal-the only breakfast food with as much caffeine as five cups of coffee. Kids go crazy for it and even crazier after they eat it.

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/

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.

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.

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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!"

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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.

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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.