I thought it might be interesting to develop an all new comic strip in public, both for my fans AND for aspiring cartoonists and comic strip makers out there to see how I’m approaching it. If you’re interested in this journey… read on!

write what you know… unless it’s something everyone knows already…

You’ll hear that tip a lot from professional artists and writers and it’s true. “Write what you know” — It’s probably why so many comic strips by dudes (and dudettes) in their teens and 20’s are about their little group of friends, or two guys playing video games or drinking beer, or laughing at pop-culture. Because, frankly, you don’t “KNOW” very much when you’re young. There’s nothing wrong with ANY of those topics, mind you, in fact the most successful comic strip (of maybe ALL TIME? if not close) is called Penny Arcade, about two guys who, well, play video games and laugh at popular culture. But, for the love of christ (or whatever god you pray to), there are too many comic strips trying to copy what’s already successful. I always encourage creators to go and try to make something original in their own voice instead of trying to copy some other success. If you’re thinking “WOW! Those guys hold their own conventions and were in Time Magazine, I should do a comic about video games too!”, you’ve already failed before you lifted your pencil. In fact, I don’t think you should think about the “business” side of things at all when you’re first developing a story, setting and characters.

writing what I know…

So the name of the new comic strip I’m developing is called “Trader Don’s” – It’s going to revolve around Polynesian pop culture, primarily a tiki bar. Why? Because I am a tikiphile. A lover of all things tiki. It’s something I know about. I love the art, the culture, the people… it’s what I’ve been doing with me “free” time for the last decade. I’ve secretly (or not so secretly) wanted to open a real tiki bar for ages, but to do it right, it’s just a terrible business to be in money wise (which is why you don’t see many REAL tiki bars in operation anymore) – But then I thought… wait, i could open one in a comic strip and not have to worry about the day to day operations of a working tiki bar. Brilliant.

For those who haven’t a clue… here’s what tiki is not…

TIKI is NOT “Jimmy Buffett” or Margaritaville. Or cheap dollar store flamingos or parrots. Tiki is NOT inflatable (well, sometimes, maybe inflatable)… Nothing wrong with any of that, mind you, but it’s not “Tiki”

If you want to know what Tiki really is… see the Mai-Kai restaurant. Or a Trader Vic’s or Don the Beachcomber. Or better yet, a Tiki-Ti on Sunset in Los Angeles. Visit a Tiki Farm. Go to a Hukilau, a Tiki Oasis, or a Luau by a Lake.

what’s in a name…

The name “Trader Don” originated because I noticed a lot of my friends in the Tiki community put “Trader” in the front of their names to be hip and awesome (ahem, Trader Scott from Knoxville). It’s literally the easiest way to give yourself a “tiki” name. ofcourse it’s an homage to “Trader Vic’s” and the old time “adventurers” who would bring things back to the mainland from far off places…  But when I put “Trader” in front of my real first name, Don, it was an even cooler homage to both of those classic tiki brands… Trader Vic’s and Don the Beachcomber. The more I said “Trader Don’s” the more I liked this idea.

A side note… when I was at “Trader Vic’s” Atlanta over the summer, the urinals have mats that say “DON” inside , and that gave me a good chuckle… You’re inside Trader Vic’s, peeing on Don the Beachcomber.

But I digress…

For now, the working title of my new comic strip is “Trader Don’s”- I say “working title” because there’s always a chance of changing the name if something cooler comes along during the development process.

When an idea is just taking shape, the last thing creators out there should really worry about is the name. At this point in the game, it’s all about the setting, the characters and story!

Next time I’ll cover the plot I’ve settled on and some initial characters.  In the meantime, here’s some random tiki sketches from the moleskine…