Lead Paint made me do it

About the time I was coming up the ideas for Banks©, I was offered a job at the Adirondack Enterprise in Saranac Lake, NY. They ran this weekend supplement to the daily paper, and they needed a "creative mind" for editor. I was not a writer and had no clue what a newspaper editor did... And I was terrified, but took the job anyway.

The job turned out to be some of the best career experience I've ever had. I learned a Mac for the first time, learned QuarkXpress and got a first-hand education of the disjointed workings of a daily newspaper. I was also in charge of almost everything for a 24 page, weekly paper – The only thing I wasn't allowed to touch were the ads.

My days at the paper consisted of the following:

Tuesday was deadline, so I'd show up to my office – A filing cabniet drawer – Around 10am. My "office" contained all the local events and personal announcements sent in from the surrounding Adirondack Park, including everything from formal press realeases for an official NYS-sanctioned event, to a handwritten note that Mrs. Harrington was hosting Bridge in Bloomingdale next Thrusday, instead of Mrs. McKillip. Each week I'd rifle through the latest calendar items, throw in a couple of the regular local columns, fill the gaps with AP stories... And viola, the Adirondack Enterprise Weekender Edition was put to bed.

Why do I tell you this? Why should you care? Why the Hell do you read my stuff at all, if you have such questions?

ANYWAY, my reason is this: I was the editor. I could run what I wanted within reason, including comics.

And so, I give you all Lead Paint... Exclusive to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. Almost...

At one point, I sent Lead Paint to the syndicates. One editor sent me a form letter, along with my original samples. Someone had written "good" next to this Superman gag. I imagine he/she was in a 4 hour meeting that was just wrapping up, causing he/she to express his/her excitement on my samples.

Years ago, King Features had something called The New Breed, a comic panel featuring "up and coming" cartoonists. They ran a different panel from a different artist everyday. This cowboy comic ran one day. Or so they told me... Well, they paid me, anyway.


And there you have that... Whatever it was. Next time I'll tell you the REAL reason you read my stuff.

Daffodils and a gray dog

Here's the first time I colored Banks... And, I think, the only time he ever appeared in a gray hue. When the nice folks at the American Cancer Society of the Adirondacks needed a new button for their annual fund drive, I was asked and happy to oblige. It is my understanding that this design was only recently retired from the ranks and that's pretty cool.

In my many years of being a struggling cartoonist/artist/DJ/pharmacy tech/waiter/waitress/bartender and Minor League grounds crew, I've learned something about myself... Probably the only thing I'll ever learn about myself, actually... The work/jobs/commissions/assists you perform for nothing – for no monetary return – are the best.

Money rocks, kids, don't get me wrong. But I suck at almost everything and when I get the opportunity to help the greater good with my only better-than-average talent... Well, that's just a tickle under the armpit of my satisfaction quadrant... To quote a favorite mechanical deity.

Now, girly mush aside and on a completely artistic slant, my memory has always been that this was a particularly well-drawn piece.

Huh.

Apparently my days have been spent much less sober than I thought.

Yikes.

In the Beginning, there was a dog, a lady bug and a man with no eyes...

Back in 1997, I kept drawing this dog with an angular head a human-ish body. My favorite baseball player is Ernie Banks and one of my all time fav moving picture shows was and still is, Joe vs. The Volcano. So, with these two loves in mind, Banks© was born into comic strip form.

Here are the very first bunch of strips with Banks:




I remember being a bit frustrated that my previous tries at syndication were met with a rejection form letter – so, as I usually do when I'm frustrated – I tried something completely different. These strips may seem forced and simple now, but back in 1997, they were a breakthrough for me. They also got me my first non-form letter response from a syndicate... An editor at Universal Press Syndicate sent me a hand written note that he'd like to see more samples in 6 months or so.

Side note: I spent all day looking for that letter. I thought I still had it, but it must have been lost in the many moves since then. If I find it, I'll post it for sure.

After I got the letter, I sat down and drew another month's worth of Banks©, and then proceeded to do the dumbest thing that a young, aspiring cartoonist can: I got a big head and thought that whatever I drew from that point on was comedy gold. So, with my head swollen to the size of a small planet, I sent the second month to UPS within, like, a week of receiving his note. I think I even said something like, "As you can see, my comic has progressed past even my own expectations...".

I was (and still am) an Idiot.

Of course, I never heard anything more about Banks© from any syndicate, much less UPS. So, with my head still swollen, but slowly deflating, I soldiered on with the concept, continuing to submit it as many times as I could that year.

The moral of this brief encounter with my dream? Work harder, work humbled and stop filling your head with hot air.

Welcome to our little sordid story

There were many ideas before Banks and the gang of Barkeater Lake. There was horrible this thing called Planet Bruce back in 1993, which I drew to scale on huge sheets of newsprint. I could barely write back then and the artwork was pre-school, at best. After Bruce, I remember ideas ranging from a rip off of Calvin, to a rip off of the Li'l Rascals and something involving two sanitation engineers.

All submitted and regularly rejected from the syndicates.

Things were different in newspaper comics, back then... The Internet was in its infancy and it was still possible to make a better-than-average living as a syndication cartoonist. So it was a dream - A dream I pursued with blind perseverance. I was dumb, full of confidence and riddled with allergies. It was a magical time.

But I digress.

This is blog is not about those early years before Barkeater Lake. Those are fodder for my daily 4-hour hypnotic therapy sessions. No, this blog is about the road to Banks, Chuck, Delores and more beer and bacon than is recommended by four out of five doctors. This is about the history of Barkeater Lake.

So, sit back and enjoy a decade's worth of art, triumph, failure, compromise and whisky. I'll try and update a couple times a week with something new, so check back often.

Cheers, Beers and Bacon!

- Corey "Fake Rockstar" Pandolph