What started as a grand design for a Prince Valiant-esque Sunday strip, turned into a parody/gag strip when I realized how much work Prince Valiant quality would be.
This in turn, became the springboard for a terrible 5-minute cartoon when I realized just how un-funny I was. (I refuse to lead any of you purposely to so hideous a thing, but it’s on Youtube if you absolutely must torture yourselves or close friends.)
It then sat on a shelf for years until I worked for a newspaper and thought: “Aha! What a lovely home for Buster this would be.”
Turns out, not so much. I did 30 strips, submitted for what I thought was a sure thing, and got slapped down. Truth be told, they were right, those 30 strips weren’t awful, but they weren’t good either. Just one long meandering yawn that lasted for about 5 weeks.
So, I re-did the lot of them, found a new voice, and finally figured out an actual adventure for Buster to go, instead of an initial 3 week plummet to seemingly inevitable doom, only to be snatched to safety at the last minute by his gal Argo. Also, it was the first time I tried to ink my own stuff. So even if the story didn’t put you to sleep, the ‘art,’ such as it was, would have deterred even the most valiant of heart.
Now then, a few years down the road, I’m finally trotting it out, putting it online, continuing the adventure, and this time, it reads good, and looks good.
And I’ve got no complaints.
You are right – it isn’t terrible. 30 minutes up?