News Briefs for April 16, 2008

Comments ¹²

1. MJ

   Hey Wit, Pinkerton rocks. Thanks for the funnies! Congrats on the upcoming projects.

2. Jeff Dunn

   Creators has a new strip called Scary Gary.

   http://www.creators.com/comics/scary-gary.html

3. Jeff Dunn

   oh, and it looks like they picked up the quigmans too.

4. Eric Burke

   The more samples of Scary Gary that I read, the more I really like it. I like the greeting card-like art, and the writing is decent. Many of the jokes could be seen coming, but I still liked the toon.

   Here was my fav of the samples:
   http://www.creators.com/comics/scary-gary/18586.html

   And if the Capp family wants to bring back L’il Abner maybe they can also bring back The Honeymooners to prime time tv?

   That would be swell…

5. Charles Brubaker

   Not the first time the revival of “Li’l Abner” was considered. They tried that back in the late ’80s and even made it far to have it listed in the Editor & Publisher’s list of syndicated features. But at the last second, they dropped out and so it was never printed.

   “Scary Gary” looks unique and interesting. Especially the artwork, which is very different from the style seen in Buford’s previous strip, “Meatloaf Night” (distributed by United Media for couple years). The design of the character Gary reminds me too much of Ted Rall’s artwork, tho…

6. Guy Gilchrist

   I hope the new strip is a big hit for Mark. Mark is a fantastic talent and a great guy. I enjoyed “Meatloaf” when it was with United….and I know I will be enjoying Scary Gary.

7. Malc McGookin

   I guess the concept of Scary Gary is classic movie monsters living in suburbia, as the Addams Family is, but if so, why do the syndicates keep pushing the line that concepts should be original, ground-breaking, relevant, whatever?

   I’ve got nothing against this strip, I haven’t seen enough of it to have an opinion as to the level of its humor, I guess I’m bemoaning the general direction of entertainment in general (there’s a TV series about a vampire cop, for god’s sake).

   Once again, in newspaper cartooning it’s about who’s installed as the two or three gatekeepers to the whole industry. What are their qualifications?

8. Mark Buford

   Thank you for the kind words, everyone. The sales people are on the road with it now. I’ll know soon if there’s a market for suburban monsters.

9. Mike Witmer

   I’ve read through the small archive over on Creators. I think that, even though they are monsters, people can relate. Scary Gary has a cute, charming feel to it too. Good luck, Mark.

10. John Lotshaw

    Mark was kind enough to show us some of the initial strips for “Scary Gary” at our Atlanta cartoonist’s group. Needless to say, he had us in stitches with them. Congrats, Mark, on the strip and on creating a funny strip.

11. patty leidy

    Mark is a talent that keeps me giggling. I am so excited for him,
    it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Now if he could only stop wearing those nylon purple disco pants when he’s at the drawing table,……..

12. John DeAngelis

    I am a cartoonist living in Arizona…I will
    make my note here, short ‘n sweet…Mark Buford’s SCARY GARY, is the best thing to
    happen to the cartoon world…I am a fan of
    many talentd cartoonists nation wide, but, I
    am grateful and refreshed and remotivated to
    see earth shaking work again, like Marks.
    I am no brown-noser…Marks feature is on top,
    Hands down man. Unbelievable stuff.

    John DeAngelis / http://www.drawingthelinecartoons.com

    author of BONZ & MACKENZY FEATURE
    AND DRAWING THE LINE CARTOONS