Somedays you just need a little boost.
Daily Dog Cartoons: A Little Help From Your Friends
Funny Comic Strips: Foster Dogs
It’s still true.
Get Ready, the Dog eat Doug Graphic Novels are Coming!
Finally, get to announce this news! It’s been nearly two years in the making. As many longtime readers know, I’ve wanted to expand Dog eat Doug beyond a newspaper comic strip. Newspaper comics are getting smaller and smaller which doesn’t leave room for storytelling. Now, Sophie, Doug and the rest of the gang are setting sail on a new adventure:
Brian Anderson's DOG EAT DOUG, an early reader series of books pitched as in the spirit of Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes, based on the syndicated comic creation of the same name, following the exploits of a chocolate Lab with a nose for the nuances of sarcasm and irony and a happy baby with limitless curiosity, to Michael Green at Marble Press, in a good deal, in a four-book deal, for publication launching in fall 2023, by Rosemary Stimola at Stimola Literary Studio
Yep! They’re getting a full on, graphic novel series! I’m already working on the second book and of course, I’ll be sharing some peeks here and on Instagram. Oh, and make sure you’ve signed up for my newsletter. I’ll be hosting some exclusives and a few giveaways. I’m also looking for a street team to help spread the word.
Get ready to experience Dog eat Doug like never before!
Dog Rescue - Comics vs. Reality
As much as the comic follows my real life, I should know by now that reality doesn’t always have the happiest ending. I write the strip months ahead of the publication date. A lot can change in a month, and a lot did.
As most of you know, I have foster dogs in and out all the time. Then came Annie and Louise. And for almost a year, they were sisters. Both had issues, Louise more so than Annie. Louise came from a horrid background and has a severe fear of humans. With dogs, she was normal.
After about six months we knew Annie and Louise had found their forever home. I had bonded with Annie from day one. That had never happened before with any dog. And I was committed to rehabbing Louise. A long and slow process, but worth it.
Then reality strayed from the comic. Weezy got provoked by someone outside the fence. She jumped up and came down on Annie, nipping her ear. Annie instinctively struck back. The two locked up. I got them apart. It was a case of mis-interpreted cues that changed everything. Now, whenever they were outside and Weezy got anxious, both girls thought the other would attack.
This becomes a situation that requires full time management, and with the other training Weezy needed and my Luther’s auto-immune disorder, not to mention the other fosters, the only way for me to help both girls was to have Annie moved. It tore my heart in half.
The rescue, however, had another plan. They knew from the start that we were Weezy’s last chance and had wanted to put her down from the get go. They weren’t willing to move Annie and told us the decision had already been made. If they moved Annie, we were told she would be boarded and would most likely meet the same fate as Weezy.
I’m in this to rescue dogs and to do whatever it takes to save as many as possible. Every dog deserves a chance, and after having Weezy for a year, there was no question that she deserved one. This was not some extreme, out of the ordinary situation.
This happens with dogs and if you’re going to help them you have to be ready to handle it. I had an outside, professional trainer assess Weezy. Their conclusion: there was no reason Weezy should be put down, other than it was the easy way out. Sadly, the trainer had seen this many times before.
The only way I could get the rescue to re-foster Annie was to adopt Weezy. So that’s what we did. I signed the papers and they took my Annie. “Sucked” is not a strong enough word for that day. The only bright spot, and the most important, was that both my girls got to live.
I’m keeping tabs on my Annie. And I’m keeping her in the strip. I’ll miss her forever. Dog rescue is not always easy and I never take the easy way out. My focus now will be giving Weezy the life she deserves, and nursing my Luther back to health.
Sneak Peek at this year's Halloween Comic.
It's no secret that I love doing a big Halloween strip every year. This one was a lot of fun. I started it a bit early just so I could get in more details. And yes, there are Easter eggs. This preview has one of the more obvious eggs. A little nod to Guillermo Del Torro's new film.
New Dog eat Doug Halloween T-Shirts
I'm still new to the t-shirt game and I've missed creating designs for a few holidays here and there but I certainly wasn't going to miss out on Halloween. Here's a few, some are Dog eat Doug inspired and some are for fun.
This is my favorite. Simple and cute. Looks a little Peanut-ish, don't you think?
Click here to buy
Patch the Pumpkin is from a Halloween story I wrote a while back. Hopefully I'll get around to finishing that book. I've always loved this little guy.
Click here to buy
This design was just because I wanted one. I thought it would be a little funny to say "Happy Holiday" at Halloween. That and who doesn't love a skeleton in a giant, flowery hat?
Click here to buy
One for my fellow Irish.
Click here to buy
Same as the first shirt, but sans moon. I like them both. Maybe I should do one with Sophie carrying a bone? Not sure how I didn't think of that before now.
Click here to buy
Click here if you would like to see all the Dog eat Doug shirts available on Amazon. Hopefully soon they will add the ability to have a separate storefront. For now, I'm thrilled with the quality of the shirts and how easy it is for people to order them at Amazon. Only had on hiccup so far. If you do have any issues, or an idea you'd like to see on a t-shirt, drop me a line!
Dog eat Doug Volume 9: The Ninth Comic Strip Collection @ Amazon.com.
Get your copy today! Click here.Officially out today! Notice anything different? I've gone back to what I call the "Garfield" sized books. Remember those collections? Apart from nostalgia, I went back to this format to help bring the costs a bit, which is a tall order when dealing with Amazon and Createspace.On the plus side, the book already has fifteen reviews in the first day! A humongous thank you to my newsletter subscribers. I'm working on putting together another free book as a thank you. It may or may not be Dog eat Doug related.I get a lot of questions about DeD volume 1 and when it might be re-released. Well, I can answer that now: soon. The lovely people at Andrews McMeel made it super easy for me to get the rights and the full color files so that I could publish it under my own banner. I'll have more on that once I get the files and stitch together the ebook version. Might add in some extras. Who knows?And lastly, a quick word on the Conjurers books. I have sent the final edits off to my publisher. Now we can start locking down the layout and the illustrations. That's something I can grind through much faster. So expect to start seeing lots of bits and pieces as the book comes together.It was a long, tough learning experience. Just to give you a rough idea, the first draft of book one was 90,000 words. Add to that the fact that I was doing something completely different with the illustrations, blending and weaving them in and out of the text. Well, myself and the genius team at Crown Books found a way through it. I think you're going to enjoy the ride.Source: Dog eat Doug Volume 9: The Ninth Comic Strip Collection - Kindle edition by Brian Anderson. Humor & Entertainment Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
Classic Comic Strips
As I rummage through the archives for the next collection, I thought I'd pull a few oldies out and share them on the sight. These are strips that I forgot about completely. It's like getting to read them for the first time. Sometimes they make me laugh. This one did, although the art is horrendous. Not sure if I was experimenting with new styles or hadn't slept in three days.So this obviously means I'm currently putting together volume 9, and I have made a few changes. First off, in order to reduce costs on the print versions, I'm going back to the smaller book size. Self-publishing image heavy books is a major hurdle. And printing them in color makes it similar to financing a Mars rover. Remember volume two? I picked that size because that was what Garfield collections looked like when I was a kid. I switched to the larger format just to deliver more comics in each book. The trade off, of course, was the price.Once I have the title and cover done, I'll post the new size here.
Classic Comic Strips
One of the fun parts of putting together the Dog eat Doug comic strip collections is seeing old strips for the first time, again. I don't remember half of these, and some of them surprise me. This is one I had forgotten about. Funny how 2013 can seem so long ago.
Sophie Anderson 2003-2016, our angel on loan from heaven.
The words don't seem to want to come together this morning, so a simple, brief story in pictures instead.
A New Collection of Puppy and Baby Comics
Click here to get "Dog eat Doug Volume 6".
It's here! The sixth collection of "Dog eat Doug" strips. Again, I can't thank everyone enough for supporting my self-publishing endeavor. I do have to ask for one quick favor: I need your reviews! It would appear, and thankfully so, that in this world of SEO, spambots and automated everything, word of mouth still caries the most weight.
So if you've picked up any of my family and kid friendly collections, I would be eternally grateful if you took a minute and gave them a rating on Amazon. Even say a few words. Thanks!
Also wanted to thank Amazon user TSOJ for their flattering review of the new collection:
Brian has one of the best contemporary children's cartoon strips on the market. You want Tim Burton? You want Clive Barker? You want a funny smell coming from a diaper? (well, maybe not that last one) You want cute babies and puppies living in a household that occasionally gets visited by sweet, huggable demon cats? Then you want Dog Eat Doug 6 (you probably want all of the previous 5 books, too). But, ya, get this book.
Not sure who you are, but thank you. Especially love how you snuck Clive Barker in there.
Dog eat Doug Volume Six
Yep. Volume six is almost patched together. That means there'll be some giveaways and deals on the past editions coming up. I'll announce everything in the newsletter first. So if you haven't signed up yet, drop your email in the hat and grab the free ebook while you're at it.
There will be some Conjurers news in a bit too, as I'm in the process of finalizing the copy and laying out the first the novel. That will hopefully include a final, set in stone publication date. Stay tuned!
Dog eat Doug Volume 4 is out!
Indeed, I have self published another volume. You can get the kindle or print version by visiting the "My Books" page. As you can tell, I went with a Bruce Lee tribute theme this time. Also, you may have noticed the newsletter signup field over there on the right. I've decided to have a special little list that will offer news and some special deals and giveaways as opposed to just casting things off into the social media winds. Sign up, and no worries, I won't be sending them often.
A Few Reviews for "Dog eat Doug" Volume 2
It Came from the Diaper Pail, Dog eat Doug Volume 2 - Kindle edition by Brian Anderson. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
My first ebook journey is off to a good start. Thanks to everyone who has checked it out so far. And thanks for the reviews! This one is from Rene R.:
Really loved reading It Came from the Diaper Pail. Look forward to re-reading it. Sophie is adorable and Doug is so cute. Thanks Brian for writing Dog eat Doug.
Although I quite liked this succinct write up from John Cuellar:
This is a pretty good comic strip.
If you download a copy, I truly appreciate the reviews. Click here to buy "It Came from the Diaper Pail, Dog eat Doug Volume 2" - Kindle edition
Yesterday's Missing Halloween Comic
Not sure what happened with yesterday's comic, but here it is. My annual Halloween strip. Had to draw some zombies. Give it a click for a larger version.
Morning jog
Posted with BlogsyWhere the Wild Sophies Are
Can't believe I've never tossed a reference to this in the strip before. This is a little peek at a strip that will run in March.
