One of the greatest joys, for me, in cartooning is the ability to create something new when the mood and opportunity strikes. I get immense pleasure working on “Spectickles“, “Percenters”, and the other cartoons I’ve created myself or in collaboration with writers (“A Wing And A Prayer” with Ken Alley, “Karma Café” with Richard Cross).
From “A Wing And A Prayer” cartoon collection with author Ken Alley.
“Karma Café” with publisher Richard Cross.
But there are times when stepping away from familiar work to create something entirely new can recharge the creative batteries. Such is the case with “Foggy Bottom”, my latest collaborative effort with artist, writer, and fellow military veteran Dave Ditullio.
Dave and I come from odd backgrounds for cartoonists. He was in BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) training at the same time I was going through SWCC (Special Warfare Combatant Craft Crewman) training at the same facility although we didn’t know each other at the time. The training is similar (a high-quality beat-down of historic proportions), but our missions are different. Dave had to leave training due to a family issue and I went on to serve overseas with the SWCC Teams. We actually met for the first time at a Naval Reserve Center in Buffalo, NY and hit it off right away. We’re both absurdly competitive and our military backgrounds make us something of an anomaly in our geographic region. Luckily, our wives are patient beyond measure as Dave and I typically turn our competitive nature into abusing one another. Rarer still is the fact that we’re both artists – exceptionally unusual coming from our Special Warfare calling.
We recently decided to use the energy we typically expend on abusing one another into a cartoon we call “Foggy Bottom”, the embarrassingly odd name of a Washington D.C. suburb, although that has nothing to do with our cartoon. We’ve developed a cast of underwater characters and present them in a single panel format. We’ve got TONS of material, and we have the good fortune to be represented by Bill Kellogg’s Ink Bottle Syndicate, so keep your eyes peeled for “Foggy Bottom” in your local weekly newspaper. And, if misfortune should find you without “Foggy Bottom” in your local weekly newspaper, by the power of Thor’s Hammer, demand it!
