Published: July 31, 2008 07:33 pm            

‘Geezer’ to end Sunday

This Sunday will mark the end of a seven year adventure for a lovable, yet elderly superhero who has appeared in tthe Daily Democrat’s Entertainment pages.

Kevin Stark, creator and artist of “Geezer” announced this week that Sunday’s cartoon strip will be his last for a while.

“I don't see this as a total end to the strip, just a leave-of-absence for an undetermined amount of time,” Stark said.

“Also, there have been several things going on in my personal life that have required more of my attention. Maintaining the comic strip keeps me on a tight schedule, while producing the books gives me more flexibility.

“It seemed like a good time to put the strip on hiatus for awhile and take Geezer to the next level,” he added.

The “next level,” according to Stark, is a second graphic novel to follow up on the first one published last year and taking Geezer to other mediums.

“I'm presently working on several books for Geezer and I needed more time to devote to those. Each book is 32 pages of full-color art, and since I do all the writing, penciling, inking and color, I couldn't keep doing both the strip and the books and maintain the quality,” he said.

Also on the drawing board is a possible cartoon series and a line of action figures for the superhero.

The “Geezer” cartoon strip first appeared in the Daily Democrat in 2001 when the editor of the paper at that time, Mark Bratcher, approached Stark about drawing a local cartoon strip.

“I already had the character of Geezer designed and had his background all worked out and it was my intention to do a series of comic books, not a comic strip,” Stark recalled.

“When Mark approached me I thought this would be a good test to see if I would get tired of writing and drawing the same set of characters over and over. If I could maintain my interest in the strip, then I felt it wouldn't be a problem to produce the books.”

From that time to the present, Stark said he has never grown tired of producing the daily strip for the Democrat.

“The experience has really helped with my writing and has allowed me to really flesh out the characters and Geezer's background,” he said.

“I am going to miss the ‘open-ended’ part of the comic strip. I could make a story last for a month or just a couple of weeks, there was no page limit, like what I have in doing the books,” he added.

The first Geezer graphic novel, published by Yellow Lab Productions, has almost sold out and Stark has already started on the second book’s story and art work.

“The graphic novel will be distributed nationwide by a large distributing company sometime this fall, and the ‘live-action’ Geezer has made appearances at conventions across the country and will continue to do so,” Stark said.

Also, Stark is working on several merchandising opportunities for America’s oldest superhero.

“There is a whole line of merchandise coming out, including Geezer cereal, caps, shirts, etc. We've also signed a deal with an agent to make a lot of this stuff happen. He is the same guy that made the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles famous, so we think we're in good hands.

“It takes lots of time to produce this stuff, so being able to free up some time by not doing the strip, allows me to take it further.”

        

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