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The Far Side Of My Cartoon Life

I loved my years of living on Capital Hill in Washington, D.C. I was your typical hippie-turned-yuppie. Still thought like a sixties, guy, dressed like an eighties one. I liked my paycheck more than a bag of pot or the Beatles White Album.

By Rick London

I loved my years of living on Capital Hill in Washington, D.C.  I was your typical hippie-turned-yuppie.  Still thought like a sixties, guy, dressed like an eighties one.  I liked my paycheck more than a bag of pot or the Beatles White Album.

Several friends called me one day with an invitation to see a Gary Larson Far Side exhibit at the Smithsonian.  I didn’t want to go. I was tired after a long day’s work. They talked me into it.

Don’t misunderstand why I wanted to stay home, given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I loved and still love The Far Side, but at the end of the day I was usually exhausted and the though that went through my head was, “Why wait in a long line for an exhibit, when I can simply open the Post or Times any day of the week and there’s The Far Side.

The girls insisted I go with them.  So I did.  They picked me up and we were on our way.  The lines, though long, moved quickly and the exhibit was beyond my wildest imagination.  The panel cartoons had been blown up onto 5 or 6 foot poster boards and were hanging from the ceiling.  Many of them were my Far Sides of all time.

The increased size added a whole new dimension to my favorite cartoon.

Something inside me started going wrong. My nervers were twitching and I had trouble catching my breath. Could it have been a heart attack? I went home that night and cried, not knowing why at first.

It was a long exhibit with hundreds of images but well worth it. Now, back home, I was too sad to eat or watch television.  Then I remembered. I had created a similar panel cartoon in the early ‘70’s and stuffed it away in both my psyche and closet.  I had done so with so many dreams, I wondered if any of them would ever die.  Obviously this one was with me a long time.

Rule number one: Never show your parents any lofty dreams no matter what your age, especially if they are full-blown business professionals.  MY mom hated them and insisted my dong my homewwork first and then deciding. I did my homework but had already decided. I just didn’t know how or when, only that it would somebady happen

For anyone who has ever had an offbeat cartoon in their heads, study Gary Larson and his work and see what he had to go through to get them syndicated.

Ten years later, I launched Londons Times Cartoons with one other artist. Since that time I have worked with numerous artists and I’ve continued writing and assigning the cartoons.  The site has become the biggest of its kind on the Internet and certainly the most visited (over 8.9 million visitors since 2005 when we began counting).  The cartoon itself is nearly 11 years old.  We have seven cartoon merchandise stores.

So may obstalces and naysayers, so little time. Was I to listen to the naysayers or follow my bliss?  Bliss one out and I was able to make a rea contribution to the world, as small as it was.  If I can do it, anyone can.

Rick London once considered himsself a failure in every apect of his life. Now he owns 8 e-stores and a main cartoon site of offbeat Hilarious Rick London Cartoons It's All Gary Larson's Fault

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