There is a new character in Gil Thorpe and it’s named after Andrew Gregory, a fan the strip. Neal Rubin, the current cartoonist for the feature adds a new character each year.
Rubin, who is also a features columnist for the Detroit News, said by e-mail that he has to come up with new characters every year, and he names some of them after fans.
“Sometimes I make them up, sometimes I use a character’s name to tip a hat to a friend, and often — Anne Mayer and Maureen Monte in the basketball storyline are current examples — I’ll name them for high bidders at charity auctions,” Rubin wrote.
Gregory is a 25 year old musician who struck up an e-mail correspondence with Neal.