Happy Anniversary Ozzark & Company

It's that time of year again, with birthdays and annual markings of being a year older. Today marks the 27th anniversary of the creation of my comic strip, Ozzark & Company, which I created in 1982 when I was a wee lad. I last explained Ozzark's origination and how I developed him and the others into a coherent cartoon series; I used to literally manufacture comic books with my drawings in them and send them around to publishers. If those publishers were still around, I'd send them a note reminding them about it, but that would probably end up in the bin as well.

This time I want to talk about the future of Ozzark & Company. As many of you have noticed, I haven't drawn any new strips in a while, though I do draw doodles and sketches to keep myself practiced (a couple of which are inserted, not to mention a lost strip from the site I designed at Golden Lotus Magazine). I've been very busy with writing and film making; I'm debuting a spec commercial I directed any day now (my producer says tonight, we'll see!), but the main reason I haven't drawn the strip is because of where I live (and whom I live with). As most of you know by now, I live in a basement apartment below a loud family of ig'nant folk whom I would not mind if they were to just up and leave, like some past residents have done. I also have a very unstable roommate situation; all of which represents a complete and unwelcome distraction from the stable, quiet environment I develop my artwork in.

I've often found it impossible to draw under these circumstances, so I'm planning to build a studio space from the office I will eventually have as my films start to come together. When that happens, I can guarantee you will see Ozzark & Company on a weekly (if not more) basis.

As it is in the Ozzark universe, Ozzark & Sillone will be moving in together, but I will not reveal how or why. The rest of the gang are still up to their crazy antics; Rhalo, Zane and Tone have formed a band with a few other folk, Mikey becomes a spoken word artist and writer, Aquil tries out for pro football. Tradge tries to stay a step ahead of prevailing technology and Fats... well, Fats is Fats, and continues to be the foil to Ozzark's well-laid out plans. Meanwhile, Mrs. Tee-Jay and Junior continue to make cameo appearances, Sis visits from her Rhodes Scholar studies in Europe and Ouncey mysteriously hides in his room, buried in study...

The thing with Ouncey... I've developed an alternate universe for him and a different time line, where he is a roving mercenary-type on a mission to reunite his lost family in a world that is nearing apocalypse (as opposed to a post-apocalypse world these type of characters often find themselves in). With the world falling apart, Ouncey also finds himself developing mystic powers the same way others go through puberty, yet it's his studies that have helped him to survive as the world around him dissolves into anarchy. Hopefully I can find a way to not echo so much of the stuff that's already out there...

So, that's that. Ozzark & Company lives on, with good intentions and plans I intend to keep. Who knows, the way things go, you might see these guys on a television screen in the relatively near future. Time will tell, but thanks for continuing to support. >;)