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Cartoonist Dan Davis concentrates as he draws a comic strip in his home studio just north of Celina.
CELINA - Cartoonist Dan Davis has come full circle in his career of drawing and working on comic strips.
The 65-year-old shared his experiences as a comic book artist, graphic designer, illustrator and cartoonist from his home studio just north of Celina earlier this week.
While he works full-time on two popular comic strips that appear in newspapers nationwide, the artist's most recent endeavor is a collection of original stories and illustrations evoking the nostalgia of the Golden Age of comic books from the 1940s.
Davis took on the role as sole artist for "Crankshaft" in 2017, a long-running spinoff of the retired popular strip "Funky Winkerbean," created by Tom Batiuk of Cleveland.
He also does penciling work for "Garfield," although he noted there's a team of artists. Despite sharing the same last name of "Garfield" originator Jim Davis of Muncie, Indiana, the artist said there's no relation.
Cartoonist Dan Davis draws Garfield and Odie. Davis primarily uses a software called Clip Studio Paint to create his drawings.
"I get the Standard every day and I get to see 'Garfield' and 'Crankshaft' side by side in there," he said. "That's really cool for me, the fact that I started by reading the comics in the Daily Standard. That's really what got me interested in reading the old comics. I still have some of those strips clipped out from the '60s."
Davis' most recent project is his comic book series, "All Luck Comics," which features three separate storylines.
The cover of Davis' first comic book is pictured. The series, "All Luck Comics," features three separate story lines ranging from freelance troubleshooters to a rouge spy to a space jockey. The first two issues are available for purchase online.
The books feature the stories of Captain Luck and Archie "Wink" Goodwin, freelance troubleshooters exploring a paranormal region of the Bermuda Triangle; April Thunder, a rogue spy; and Blast Carson, a hotshot space jockey who unintentionally finds himself battling dinosaurs on prehistoric Mars.
Davis has created two issues and is currently working on the third, which he said is slated to be completed this year. The first two books are available for purchase on Amazon.
Although he has a full-time job as a cartoonist, Davis said he created his own series to pay homage to the comic books he grew up reading. The project has been a process years in the making.
"(The title) was kind of reminiscent of the old comic books from the '40s, like 'More Fun Comics' or 'All Suspense Features,'" he said.
Davis said he can create two to three comic books a year. The first two issues of "All Luck Comics" are 32 pages a piece, while he hopes the third edition will be 52 pages.
He said it can take anywhere between $5,000-$20,000 in crowdfunding to create a comic book when including the cost of his labor, production, printing and publication.
A page of Davis' comic book. The series, "All Luck Comics," features three separate story lines ranging from freelance troubleshooters to a rouge spy to a space jockey. The first two issues are available for purchase online.
Davis said he has a tendency to daydream while working on comics such as "Garfield," which inspires the characters and plot for his own series.
"It's more of a wish fantasy type of thing. I'll start to think of things as to fill the time up and then as soon as I've got a chance, I'll jot those ideas down," he said of creating the plots. "I'll lay out six pages or so of the story at a time. I do it in steps where I'll draw everything finished and then I'll script it and letter it right on the page because you can't do that digitally. Then, I put it all together and send the files out to the printer."
Davis said got his first big job in the comic book world by interning for DC Comics in New York nearly 50 years ago, working on "Batman" and "Green Lantern" editions. He also worked for Bongo Comics, a company founded by "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening.
Eventually, technology and the internet made it possible to live anywhere and still work in the business, he said.
Davis said he prefers digital drawing since he began working from home. When he had to hand-draw comics, he would often rush to complete his work so the ink could dry before it was picked up by FedEx to meet his deadline.
Nowadays Davis draws on a computer, where he can easily correct mistakes, enlarge or reduce drawings and search the internet for references.
"It's been what I thought I always wanted to do," he said of his profession, specifically working on comic strips. "It's work day in and day out and the deadlines are relentless, but it's fun work."
