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Cartoonist taking a break to finish his house and recharge
December 22, 2002
Thom Gabrukiewicz, Redding Record-Searchlight
Wally Pike is an outdoors everyman.
His son and wife can out-fish him; his buddies range from a fly fishing snob to a cap-wearing, cigar-chomping redneck who stands out among rednecks. His wife and daughter ski (water and snow), and find novelty in Wally's every misfortune. His dog even dreams of a warm couch, rather than chasing quail.
Wally's the guy who tries to grab life by the horns, and doesn't always succeed.
Just like you and me.
Wally Pike is the cartoon creation of Tim Koziol of Spokane, Wash. He's been a regular feature of the Sunday Outdoors section for some two years now.
Next Sunday is the final panel that will run in the Record Searchlight — for the time being.
"I bought a house and don't really have time to devote to the strip," Koziol said Thursday. "I'd like to get my family's immediate shelter situation handled and look at a renewed marketing campaign for it in the spring."
The strip, Wally Pike's Outdoor Life, also has suffered some of the same troubles as hunting in this country. The participation in hunting dropped 7 percent in 2001, according to the latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation Survey.
"It hasn't really been growing," he said of the strip. "And I really don't have the time to market it like I need to."
It also doesn't help that he's selling an idea to a medium — newspapers — that have struggled to build readership in the face of rising costs and fierce competition from television and the Internet. Still, Koziol said he's up to the challenge — once his house is finished.
"A lot of papers seem to be increasing their outdoor coverage," he said. "That seems pretty encouraging."
Koziol has been drawing Wally Pike for about eight years, a strip he started when he lived in Montana.
"I was doing other strips before this one," he said. "But I like to hunt and fish and being outdoors is always on my mind.
"I decided an outdoor strip would be a good fit."
And Wally Pike and his family were born.
"Basically, it's humor that stems from my own experiences, I guess," Koziol said. "That's one way I come up with humor, use my own experiences and people I know."
Wally and his family have a host of friends that mimic the outdoor community.
"There's the certain kind of redneck hunter out there, the yuppy outdoorsman, the hippy," Koziol said. "Then there's Wally, an average Joe with a family who wants to get out of town once in a while who just wants to get out in nature.
"Most of my strips revolve around family."
Koziol got his start in cartooning as a grade-school student.
"I published my first cartoon at 14," he said. "I've always liked to draw and did a lot of wildlife art before the strips. But I really love pen and ink."
The idea of making cartooning pay came in high school.
"I got published in a national magazine and it made me mistakenly reason that I had a talent for it," he said with a laugh. "I started out with a strip about small-town life. I figured there were a thousand small town newspapers that would buy it."
But in the end, Koziol said the business end of cartooning is a drag.
"It is quite a task," he said. "But I still think the premise for an outdoor strip is strong. We'll see. I hope to return."
You can bet on it — when Koziol gets back to the drawing board, we'll return Wally Pike to the Record Searchlight.
Thom Gabrukiewicz's Outside column appears every Sunday in the Record Searchlight. He can be reached at 225-8230 or at tgabrukiewicz@redding.com.
December 22, 2002
Thom Gabrukiewicz, Redding Record-Searchlight
Wally Pike is an outdoors everyman.
His son and wife can out-fish him; his buddies range from a fly fishing snob to a cap-wearing, cigar-chomping redneck who stands out among rednecks. His wife and daughter ski (water and snow), and find novelty in Wally's every misfortune. His dog even dreams of a warm couch, rather than chasing quail.
Wally's the guy who tries to grab life by the horns, and doesn't always succeed.
Just like you and me.
Wally Pike is the cartoon creation of Tim Koziol of Spokane, Wash. He's been a regular feature of the Sunday Outdoors section for some two years now.
Next Sunday is the final panel that will run in the Record Searchlight — for the time being.
"I bought a house and don't really have time to devote to the strip," Koziol said Thursday. "I'd like to get my family's immediate shelter situation handled and look at a renewed marketing campaign for it in the spring."
The strip, Wally Pike's Outdoor Life, also has suffered some of the same troubles as hunting in this country. The participation in hunting dropped 7 percent in 2001, according to the latest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Outdoor Recreation Survey.
"It hasn't really been growing," he said of the strip. "And I really don't have the time to market it like I need to."
It also doesn't help that he's selling an idea to a medium — newspapers — that have struggled to build readership in the face of rising costs and fierce competition from television and the Internet. Still, Koziol said he's up to the challenge — once his house is finished.
"A lot of papers seem to be increasing their outdoor coverage," he said. "That seems pretty encouraging."
Koziol has been drawing Wally Pike for about eight years, a strip he started when he lived in Montana.
"I was doing other strips before this one," he said. "But I like to hunt and fish and being outdoors is always on my mind.
"I decided an outdoor strip would be a good fit."
And Wally Pike and his family were born.
"Basically, it's humor that stems from my own experiences, I guess," Koziol said. "That's one way I come up with humor, use my own experiences and people I know."
Wally and his family have a host of friends that mimic the outdoor community.
"There's the certain kind of redneck hunter out there, the yuppy outdoorsman, the hippy," Koziol said. "Then there's Wally, an average Joe with a family who wants to get out of town once in a while who just wants to get out in nature.
"Most of my strips revolve around family."
Koziol got his start in cartooning as a grade-school student.
"I published my first cartoon at 14," he said. "I've always liked to draw and did a lot of wildlife art before the strips. But I really love pen and ink."
The idea of making cartooning pay came in high school.
"I got published in a national magazine and it made me mistakenly reason that I had a talent for it," he said with a laugh. "I started out with a strip about small-town life. I figured there were a thousand small town newspapers that would buy it."
But in the end, Koziol said the business end of cartooning is a drag.
"It is quite a task," he said. "But I still think the premise for an outdoor strip is strong. We'll see. I hope to return."
You can bet on it — when Koziol gets back to the drawing board, we'll return Wally Pike to the Record Searchlight.
Thom Gabrukiewicz's Outside column appears every Sunday in the Record Searchlight. He can be reached at 225-8230 or at tgabrukiewicz@redding.com.
