Funnies for Foodies

Cartoons and comics have delighted me all my life. 

As a girl, Sundays brought the biggest edition of the newspaper to my grandparents' home. Pappy could be fussy about his neat and tidy, new editions. So in search of the comics, I cautiously flipped through the boring black and white sections, being careful not to crinkle or crease the unread papers. Once I saw the kaleidoscope of colors peeking out at me, I gently tugged and unfolded it onto the living room rug. Being an only child, I made pals inside these scenic folds, including Blondie and Dagwood, who always gave me the giggles. Shrewdly encouraging me to read aloud, my grandmother often asked me what was so funny. 

At my local drugstore and soda shop, I stood on my tiptoes, wide eyed taking in the colorful covers of the comic books, displayed atop the magazine racks. As each new Archie comic book hit the stands, I was there waiting. Obsessed with the latest escapades of Archie and his buddies, Jughead, Betty, and Veronica...   I was always ready for the next one. 

Maybe one day I could become a cartoonist. Starting with one scene toons could not be that difficult? Right. If you can’t draw a circle, you can’t draw a toon. So, I stick to my highest and best use, imagining and developing the characters, planning out the scenes in my head, and writing the one-liners. And my illustrator magically draws the artwork, peppering the scene with his own humor.

Each month Culinary Cartoons features a new cartoon, inspired by 20 years of real life laughs inside restaurants, as a food and wine writer.

The first cartoon series is That Guy!
He is an obnoxious foodie who thinks he is charming and charismatic. He causes  a scene wherever he goes. And I am capturing each hilarious episode in cartoons. Stay tooned...

Jan Walsh