Breaking the Curse
Back in late September, I am certain someone placed a curse on me. My kitchen flooded right as my wife and I were walking out the door for our first vacation together in nearly two decades. Big changes at the day job placed huge new roles on top of the massive tasks I was already responsible for… plus my best friends at the job were all let go. Little things here and there kept piling up all through December. January also kept tacking on more rough spots… but February began rolling so smoothly.
February saw my best comic con appearance ever! I made more money at the one day show called BrazCon than I have ever made at any other show. I left that show last week feeling as if the curse was lifted! Finally I could stop waiting for the next big sucker punch!
Enter Monday! I have worked so late all week last week. Work continues to pile up and I just cannot keep up. Top it off with the fact that I have been sick as a dog since Tuesday, and I have felt like crud all week. I have not slept since Tuesday either. I sleep for an hour or so before I wake up in total fear over all my deadlines. Last week was the roughest week at work I have ever had in the eight years. I just have this feeling the curse is about to take the punishment up a notch very soon.
I need someone to lift this terrible curse which has fallen upon me!
In today’s comic strip, we witness Frenchy once again having trouble with math. I love writing this silly little comic strips. When I work on these comic strips, my troubles are all shielded away. For a day, I am in an alternate universe where, in my imagination, I am a syndicated cartoonist working on his daily comic strips and I haven’t a care in the world.
I have settled on the reality that my comic strip will never be my retirement plan. I may never see my dream come true, but I just need that one day each month that I work on my comic strip for the three weekly newspapers to make me feel as if I am actually a success!
Lesson for younger cartoonists!
I meet so many young cartoonists at my comic con appearances. I am always asked for advice. The biggest piece of advice my sound gloomy, but it is not meant to be. My advice is never to crave fame and fortune. I did and I was unable to enjoy cartooning. I stopped believing I was going to be rich and famous a 5 years ago… and I began loving my hobby beyond measure!
You do not need to make money at your passion for cartooning. Here is a big secret, I spend more money on my supplies than I make at these shows or from the three newspapers I am in. I am actually seriously contemplating a break from comic con appearances in 2021 because I do not make money at these shows and risk losing $200 to $500 per show with every outing. I was lucky that every show last year had great turnouts and I broke even.
Please have fun with your cartooning dream. When life hands you lemons, drawing your silly comic strips will serve up a sweet glass of lemonade.
We live in a world where anyone can launch a free WordPress blog and live the dream of being a cartoonist. Social media helps us all gain an audience. We are extremely lucky to have these technological advancements to allow us to shine brighter than the stars we are reaching for.
– Davy
