All shop talk this time, but I promise a rip-snortin' rant in the September issue. Right now I'm relatively relaxed, despite the nightmare our public servants are making out of health care reform, because somehow I managed to get through my first year as a capitalist.So I'll let the cartoonists tackle the politics, and I'll answer a few of the most frequently-asked questions about the Tucson Comic News. First off,
What do you mean, first anniversary? Wasn't your first issue last September? Well, for most of you, it was, because you never got to see Issue Zero, which I started producing the day I arrived in Tucson, literally before I was even unpacked. I just plugged the computer in and slapped that thing together. I only printed up 1000 copies, but I used those to attract my first advertisers. I will be having a little party to celebrate the anniversary of Issue One on September 10th, down at Gentle Ben's, at 4pm. I'll be buying beers and whatnot for my advertisers and friends, but if you're in the neighbo rhood, stop on by.
Well, how's it going, anyway? I'm the eternal optimist, but looking at it objectively, it seems to be going rather well. This issue has more ads than ever, which means lots more extra cartoons for you readers. This wouldn't have happened without you folks supporting my advertisers, and I'm mighty grateful for that. I wish there was room here to thank everybody who's advertised in the last year, but I will single out my first customer, Ron Edwards of TLC Furniture Repair, and those businesses who have been in every issue so far: Gentle Ben's, KXCI, The Garland, Coyote Wore Sideburns, Fair Wheel Bikes, Puzey Gallery, and Kippy's. Bless their hearts, and I'm sure you can think of a good way to thank them yourselves.
Why don't you run more Zippy? Okay, I will. There's three pages instead of two this issue, and if y'all continue to give your discretionary income to Comic News advertisers, we may be able to boost that again. I get asked about Zippy more than any other feature, but all of them have their fans. I'll be running a reader poll fairly soon to find exactly what you like most and least about this paper.
Where'd you get that cool trailer? A lot of you have seen me tooling around in my ComicNewsmobile, which is my old mountain bike with a trailer attached, sporting a big red Comic News logo on each side. Many of you hail me over to make some comments or suggestions about the paper, but a good chunk of the time, you just want to ask about the trailer. It was assembled by the good folks at Bootstraps to Share, 326 South Norris, phone 628-7950, and for a very reasonable price, too. For reasons of both ideology and economics, I haven't owned a car in over five years. I cover this whole city on my bike selling ads, and some of my clients may or may not be aware that I've bicycled many miles to see them. So, one little hint: if you're unable to make an appointment, it'd make a big difference to me if you could phone and tell me. Oh, and for the rest of you, thanks for all the shouts of support, but please don't honk your horns; it scares the Bejeezus out of me.
Where do you get your cartoons from? I pay monthly fees to eight big cartoon syndicates and a number of independent cartoonists around the country. I pay for everything I receive, whether I use it or not, so that I can select the very choicest cartoons to share with you folks. The rest of them go into my filing cabinet, and a lot of them are pretty damn funny too.
What's the deal with Krazy Kat? If you gotta ask, it's probably not your cup of tea, but I try to have something fore everybody here, (excepting Republicans of course). But, hey, give it time, maybe it'll grow on you.
Are you actually making a living at this? Well, yes and no. Every issue except the dismal July issue (they told me Tucson summers were tough, but whew!) has turned a profit, but that's without counting the sizable nest egg I spent on getting this thing launched. That's all gone now, and I have no other source of income besides this paper, at least until that mysterious other project I alluded to several months ago gets manifested (more on that next month). Luckily, the past year of effort does seem to be paying off, but one thing that would really help is a sizable subscription roll. Course, y'all can pick it up free here in Tucson, but if you can think of somebody, anywhere, who might appreciate this rag, well, there's a free T-shirt in it for you, and I'm rolling back the subscription price to the original $8.56 for the next month. If I can get me around a thousand subscribers who keep renewing, well, maybe I'll be able to start that US History Backwards theme park I've always dreamed of. Until then, thanks for everything, cartoon fans!