Love And Obsession

If you happened to read the February Reader's Digest, you would have seen the last magazine cartoon I submitted, and the last cartoon I sold. I remember drawing the rough for RD two years ago. It was rejected (as most things were.) Then last December the magazine's cartoon editor -- who liked the idea enough to hold on to it -- suggested a change (originally the woman is skating to the man while he shovels) and asked me to show it again.

I like this cartoon because it reminds me of the love I have for cartooning, and the fickle nature of love and cartooning.

In December 2002 I was obsessed with my strip. Spot the Frog was a box filled with roughs. Only Mary and another friend saw them. It was crazy to spend so much time on a strip that contributed nothing to the bills, and would eventually be thrown into the blades of a syndicate's submission shredder (or so I supposed, based on my previous 12 submissions.) But I couldn't stop thinking about Spot and Karl and the rest. I had this dreamy notion of syndication -- a carefree existence rich with applause -- and imagined how fine it would be to work with a contract, spared the uncertainty of freelance cartooning (not suspecting the fresh uncertainties that come with syndication.)

I drew the skating cartoon that December, with Spot on my mind, in the way that ice cream is often on my mind; which is to say, always. It was the last cartoon I drew before giving in to my Spot mania. I spent the next several months drawing nothing but Spot strips -- with Mary's support -- hoping for the best.

Love and obsession can lead to ruin. But if you're lucky, not always.

Comments

[Kitsune]

Spot, from a reader's prospective, seems to be doing very well! In fact, he seems to be rising above the rules! Not many are allowed to be featured in respectable newspapers garbed only in their underwear!

I think that there is some sort of fate in this world. Any itch that refuses to go away is worth a scratch or two just to see what happens. I had been toying with moving to Japan since mid-college, but I never really took it too seriously. Honestly, I didn't even have a good reason for my interest! It was just an unexplainable interest. So I took a 3 week exchange class to test my interest and found Japan a nice place. But it was just too far away for me to believe I would ever actually move there. Yet I couldn't stop thinking about it. One day, things just kind of fell into place (lack of a respectable job helped) and now I am here with a career, a fiance, and a life plan!

That Spot itch seems to have been quite worth the scratching! Perhaps it was meant to be!

[mark]

That's exactly it. Moving to Japan, changing careers, spending years on a book, climbing a mountain...things that matter most to those who do them.

George Mallory said he climbed Mount Everest because it was there.

I think he climbed Everest because HE was there.

[Janee]

It's so GOOD to feel passionate about what you do.