That's Mr. Frog to you.
Thursday, August 30, 2007 at 03:36PM 
There's a guy I know who is a helluva writer. He has mentioned me in his blog more than once, but I don't mention him near enough.
His name is Mark Heath and he writes in one of the most challenging forms I know of: the comic strip.
As I transitioned my career from drawing pictures about stories to writing stories that hopefully evoke pictures, I landed on this art form. I learned a lot about writing in my own attempts at a comic strip. In fact, it was the comic strip that made me realize I wanted to write in the first place.
Writing a strip is incredibly demanding, not just in the day to day act of creation but in the enormous scope. The comic strip writer creates a universe for his characters, then reveals to the reader their desires, their worries, their loves, pet peeves and everything in between. As well, readers expect the strip to be funny and are an angry lot when it's not.
The kicker is you might have barely 25 words to do this in, - oh, and YOU HAVE TO DRAW THE DAMN THING!!!
Short stories and novels seem a cakewalk compared to this. I sometimes wonder if John Updike thought this as he moved from comics into novels and short stories. I know he still speaks quite highly about cartoonists - and he should.
So on the day of his birthday (okay, one day late), my hat goes off to my good friend Mr. Heath for his inspirational work. It's really quite amazing what you do with some ink squibbles and a bunch of amphibians.
Check out Spot the Frog daily
Also Spot the Frog Collections are available at Amazon and wherever fine books are sold.
I happen to know that the intro to his new collection was written by someone I know (me).
Reader Comments (1)
Here's the best part of your flattery. You don't hesitate to inflate my ego until it shares the girth of a weather balloon -- and you're handy with the needle when I'm threatening to pop.
Many, many thanks.