When I got out of college I was certain that my future lay in cartooning and illustration. I had been very successful on campus with my comic strip Making the Grades, I'd done some spot and feature illustration for several local magazines, and I was now free to go out into the world and seek my fortune. However, I soon learned that my particular style was not what every editor was looking for. In fact, it seemed as thought it was a style that NONE of them were looking for. And a college success that was getting further and further behind me was not going to open doors for very much longer. I had to build up my professional resume if I was going to get anywhere.

I answered an ad to do feature writing for a regional weekly newspaper (whose name I think was Profiles of the Southern Tier). The editor was a very nice woman who agreed to give me some assignments to cut my teeth on and promised more work if those went well. While I had her attention, and her good graces, I decided to ask if Profiles was looking for any cartoons. When she half-heartedly said that they were thinking about trying to get one, I enthusiastically told her that I was a cartoonist. This seemed to impress her not at all. "Send me in some of your stuff and I'll have a look," she said ... though she didn't seem at all enthused by the notion. Still, being the brash young man I was ... I took her at her word and sent in the complete run of Making the Grades.

The next week I went into the office to turn over my first writing assignment. While I was there the editor called me into her office. "You didn't tell me you were GOOD!" she said. I later would learn that everyone who knows how to hold a Crayola thinks that he or she has the makings of a cartoonist ... and my editor thought I was just another wacko with a crayon. "I like your style and sense of humor, but this college stuff is too edgy for us. We're a family paper and we need a family strip. Do you think you can do that?" I said that I would try, and promised to have some samples to show her when I brought in my article for the following week.

I wracked my brains of the problem. You see, to me Making the Grades wasn't edgy at all ... I had no idea how to tone my stuff down to be more appropriate for a family audience. The only thing I could think of, and it seemed a silly distinction to me, was to make a strip ABOUT a family rather than about college students. If I did a few sample strips of my normal stuff switched to THAT perspective I could at least get my editor to tell me what "edges" she wanted me to smooth out. And after all, there was no deadline for this project ... I just wanted to get a paying gig eventually.

When I came to the office next the editor wasn't in, so I left her the 6 sample strips along with a note asking her to call me with her comments (and stressing the fact that I was willing to try again after getting her feedback). She called the next day saying, "I didn't know you were married! How many kids have you got? I remember when that same thing happened to us!"

For the record, I had (and still have) never been married ... and I have no children. But it did seem I had a hit ... at least with the editor.

The New Neighbors ran on and off in Profiles (as space allowed) for about 3 months. Then I left the country to pursue a career in teaching English as a Foreign Language. During one visit back to the States I had a crazy idea about self-syndicating the strip to small weekly papers around the country (if I got $50/month from 25 different weeklies that would get me $15k/year - not bad for a little side business) ... but that never really got off the ground.

Presented here are the original six strips that appeared in Profiles, plus the additional unpublished ten that I prepared during my get-rich-quick scheme. Enjoy!