The Daily Cartoonist

Industry news for the professional cartoonist

Bleeker to be syndicated through King Features

Alan Gardner313 mins

Jonathan Mahood’s Bleeker, The Rechargeable Dog has been picked up by King Features Syndicate and is set to launch on January 3rd. Jonathan’s strip has been on the web since 2006 and is currently running on GoComics.com.

As for the launch of a well established webcomic, Jonathan writes that the national launch will include older strips to help set the characters and premise of the story, but it will include new material as well.

So, this fresh start will be exactly that…on January 3rd 2011, Skip will meet Bleeker for the first time. The comic will restart from the beginning to allow new readers a chance to get to know the characters just as the characters themselves, get to know each other. To be clear, this doesn’t mean I’m going to rerun 4 1/2 years of comics. That would be boring for longtime readers and also for me too! For the first month and a half I have reworked some introductory strips and added a bunch of new ones. I hope this brief introductory period will be fun for longtime fans as well. Knowing Bleeker’s ineptitude for all things canine and Skip’s ineptitude in general should make for an extra layer of fun with these early comics. Look for Karl, the angry robot vacuum cleaner, to make his first appearance early in the new year. It’s not often you get a chance to start over, so for me it’s been great to iron out some of those early wrinkles and know that moving forward, everything will fit together.

31 thoughts on “Bleeker to be syndicated through King Features”

  4. I’m a longtime fan of Bleeker! Good luck Jonathan! It will likely fill the void on my comics kingdom page left from My Cage ending.

  6. Maybe in some cities Bleeker can replace the soon to depart Brenda Starr comic strip in the cities still carrying Mrs. Starr.

  13. >>>There is hope for us web comic cartoonists yet!!!

    I’m confused. I thought conventional newspaper syndication was dead and the web was the future for comics. So why all the gushing when a web cartoon gets a syndicate deal? Why does a newspaper syndicate deal give “hope for web cartoonists” since most web cartoonists are so quick to disparage syndication? Could it be that most web cartoonists really wish for a syndicate to pick them up? Is that why , given the unlimited format that the web offers design wise, that most web cartoons are drawn as syndicated newspapers features are?

  17. @Tony

    My intent was to bear no ill will. I’m glad for Jonathan. I’m just confused given the vitriol expressed towards the syndicated community on this board in the past, why the gushing when a web based comic goes mainstream?

  18. Rick,

    I don’t think anyone here who’s congratulated Jonathan has slammed syndication in the past.

    There are a lot of web cartoonists out there who would like a print syndication deal. Many of them are on Comics Sherpa and GoComics. I used to be one of them.

    I think this move to print syndication is much deserved and long overdue. Congratulations, Jonathan!

  19. “I don?t think anyone here who?s congratulated Jonathan has slammed syndication in the past.”

    How do you know that?

  20. Vitriol escapes like a noxious gas resulting from the continuous deflating of markets for syndicated cartoons and the resulting diminishing job market for cartoonists…

    It is a very frustrating time for traditional syndicated cartoons, but at least there is still a market and Jonathan Mahood’s accomplishment proves the dream is STILL real… Congrats!

  21. Rick, do you honestly not understand that there are only a handful of web cartoonists making a decent living, just as there are only a handful of syndicated cartoonists living entirely on the proceeds of their cartoons? Is your strip really on a par with Doonesbury, Zits and Foxtrot, that you can be so indifferent to the Lesser Talents? (I would note that the creators of those strip don’t behave this way. Charles Schulz, Johnny Hart and Lynn Johnston, in particular, are or were well known for their outreach to those just starting out.)

    This back-and-forth over whose nib is longer than whose is childish and should be beneath your dignity. The true karate master doesn’t ever get in fights, because he doesn’t feel the need to prove anything. If you’re a successful cartoonist, you shouldn’t feel the need to get into it either. Success breeds generosity of spirit.

    I’m not a cartoonist, but, as a freelance writer, I know how much it matters to have a regular, dependable check each month, no matter what the actual amount. I’m fortunate in that my main client now is guaranteed through the end of the fiscal year and is enough to allow me to pay the rent and buy groceries. My other freelance income goes to my mechanic, my dentist and the dog’s vet.

    I suspect a lot of syndicated cartoonists live the same lifestyle, and I would suggest to you that it is petty and childish to deny anyone that modest advantage in a tough world.

  22. @ Mike

    You missed my point completely.

    Your condemnation is way off target.

    My issue is not with Jonathan…

    I commend his launch and welcome him into the community of syndicated cartoonists.

    I was pointing out the hypocrisy of those commending Jonathan on his launch who in previous discussions in this forum lambasted traditional syndication on principle.

  25. Thought I’d pipe in again, since some of the discussion was directed at my supportive post to Jonathan?

    I?m new to all of this. I had an idea and created a comic strip ( ?Hoxwinder Hall? ), and although I started a website to publish it and ?bring it to the masses?, I?d much rather be a syndicated comic strip artist, and get PAID for writing, drawing, creating the strip. Newspaper syndication still seems to be the best path for achieving that dream.

    So my strip is on the web for now, and developing a decent following, but in all honesty my goal is to eventually be picked up by a newspaper syndicate and (hopefully) one day be able to make the strip my full-time gig. I still have that dream.

    Merry Christmas, everyone!

  26. Rick,

    One person. ONE said that getting syndicated means hope for webcomics “after all.” one. one guy.

    One guy making a comment is not a total reversal of opinion among those of us who have spoken negatively about syndication deals. We still think they’re crappy deals. Despite Bleaker getting a shot at syndication. For the most part.

    Despite that, I think that most people are willing to say something nice to a person who just got some good news. And despite our opinion that a syndication deal is not FOR US, we can still wish the creative minds at Bleaker good luck and be hopeful for them.

    So what are YOU up to these days? You sound sour-grapeish

  29. Pastafalooza for disciples of the FSM!

    Festivus for the RESTofUS!

    Eat, Drink, and celebrate life.

    No ONE and No con game masquerading as a philosphy has a patent on that.

    Yet.

    Myself, I am a Pogoist, ( a follower of POGO, the greatest 20th Century prophet { Gandhi, King, Mandela, and Santayana notwithstanding} ).
    Be good to each other. Share when you can. Don’t let pride get in the way of need.

    Remember… Most of us came here BROKE, STUPID, and HELPLESS.
    AND, Despite all our efforts….will leave pretty much the same way.

  31. I love these stupid back-and-forths between the puffy-chested artists in their different mediums. Cripes, quit stealing Jon’s thunder and take this discussion somewhere relevant.

    Congratulations, Jon. This deal should’ve happened a couple years ago in my opinion

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