Another year, another “Watusi in Oz”-themed holiday piece! As many of you know, at the end of every year I send out a holiday piece to friends and family who have had an impact on my life that year, but as my audience has grown to include readers (via my website, FB, Twitter, & Instagram) I don’t know personally, I wanted to share the joy with my “virtual” friends as well. Thanks for taking the time to follow Watusi’s adventures every week. It’s much appreciated!
This year’s piece gives a peek at some of the adventure that occurred here in 2019. My Baum-length epic is entering its final phase (new episodes every Wednesday); I’d love to hear what you think about it, especially if you’re a fan of the original Oz books!
Besides this comic’s weekly presence in my schedule, I published seven other comics (including a collaboration with my friend Tom Cherry), helped kick off the Mid-South Cartoonist Association’s new ongoing comic series, made a dozen new prints, seven new paintings, and shared a gallery show with my friend Julie Nouwen. All in all, it was my most successful year as an artist yet, and I’m glad that comics can continue to be a part of my working life.
I hope you all have a happy start to your 2020! See you back here next week as we return to Winkie Country & “Watusi in Oz”!
This comic originally appeared in Watusi #7, way back in October 2003. While the main chunk of that issue was devoted to the middle section of my first continued Watusi story, it also featured strips created by students in my very first “Make a Minicomic” class. My goal with that class was to show students how they could make their own 8-page minicomic, and I led them step-by-step through to the completion of their own comic. What it really did, though, was teach myself that there’s a huge difference between creating a lesson plan and actually teaching a class, let alone motivating students to continue along the path of making art on their own. They say “those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” Well, I can’t teach.
