Francis first began publishing comics on the web in 2003 with the comic strip Crunchy. The strip centered around a crazy turtle of the same name and ran for over two years. Since ending Crunchy in 2005, Francis has worked on two other series, Suburban Fairy Tales (2005 - 2006 and 2008-present) and Made To Malfunction (2006 - 2008). The complete run of all three strips been featured not only on francisbonnet.com, but also on 3rd party sites such as Comics Sherpa.com and Online Comics.net.
In addition to the web, Francis' strips have appeared in various print publications. Crunchy ran in MarketPlace Publications, a New York Community Newspaper, from 2002 until 2006, and was eventually replaced by Suburban Fairy Tales, which completed its entire first run. The series has also popped up in some college newspapers and various community newspapers. Suburban Fairy Tales has also had two books published, both of which are available for purchase from Amazon and other booksellers. Made To Malfunction was featured regularly in Raytoons Cartoon Avenue Magazine, a magazine featuring underground cartoonists and local college newspapers and has also had a book published, which contains the complete run of the strip.
Although happy with the progress he has made in the field of comics thus far, Francis continues to work on reaching a wider audience.
Comic Strip History
Crunchy was a gag-a-day strip featuring a crazy turtle, who also happened to be the pet of a little girl named Tara. Over time, the strip's focus began to shift away from Crunchy and more toward Tara and her friends. By the end of the strip's run, it was clear that Patrick, a friend of Tara, had taken over as the lead character, despite the strip still having the name Crunchy.
Crunchy concluded on June 29, 2005 to make way for a new strip titled Suburban Fairy Tales. This series focused on teenage fairy tale characters living in a modern suburbia. Pinocchio and The Frog Prince quickly took over as the strip's stars. Although Suburban Fairy Tales featured a wealth of gag-a-day strips, Francis began to further explore working with more complex story lines, which he had first touched upon during Crunchy. The final Suburban Fairy Tales story line was the most intricate, running from August 16 through September 26, 2006. This story actually introduced the characters and concept that was to become Francis' next series, Made To Malfunction.
Made To Malfunction began on October 2, 2006 as a spin-off of Suburban Fairy Tales. This new series -- a mix of science fiction and humor -- focused on the character Mortimer, an inventor striving to better mankind, and his lazy housekeeping robot, Error. Instead of featuring a mix of gag-a-day strips with minor story lines thrown in, Made To Malfunction ran in full story arcs. This format allowed for the characters and the strip to better evolve over time, as well as allowing the science fiction element to be explored in greater detail.
Made To Malfunction ran for two years and was finally concluded on September 15, 2008. A week later Suburban Fairy Tales was relaunched, picking up exactly where it left off. Suburban Fairy Tales continues to this day.
Longtime readers will notice subtle connections between all three strips as characters and ideas have occasionally been referenced.
Francis Bonnet's Biography