Longtime readers of Suburban Fairy Tales may have noticed how the strip has changed to be more pig-centric in recent months. While there was never an official announcement or storyline that acknowledged this change, the fact is that Suburban Fairy Tales has become a different strip.
The change in Suburban Fairy Tales happened around January of this year. I wanted to intentionally change things up after shopping the series around to different editors and listening to their comments. While most editors loved the humor and writing, the one consistent comment between them was that the cast was too big — and after reading through my samples, I realized that they were right. The cast of Suburban Fairy Tales had grown exponentially since its debut in 2005, and this ever-increasing number could make it difficult for some readers to connect. I decided I needed to do something about that.
I thought long and hard about which characters were important to the series; which ones were not only fun to draw, but were likable, funny, and would bring about the most interesting and humorous stories. The brotherly relationship between the Three Little Pigs felt the strongest, so I made them the new stars of Suburban Fairy Tales. Red Riding Hood, Wolf, and sometimes Rumpelstiltskin help to round out the supporting cast. Looking back at the last 7-8 months of Suburban Fairy Tales, I feel that the strip has never been stronger, and I’ve never had more fun doing it.
So what happened to the other characters like Pinocchio, Frog Prince, Rapunzel, and Goldilocks? While they are no longer in the spotlight, I like to think they are in the background somewhere, living their lives in the Suburban Fairy Tales world. And who knows… I wouldn’t be surprised if occasionally one of them made a guest appearance in a future strip or story some day. But for now, it’s all about the Pigs.
Editors! Pshaw! There are no large casts—only short attention spans.
Look at the cast of “Pogo” sometime—hundreds of characters, and always glad to see them switch up.
I do love the Pigs…..but you know who my favorite is!
Hi Bruce,
I know who your favorite is — and G-man definitely has a greater chance than any of the other characters of showing up again. He’s simple to draw and would fit in well with some of the pig jokes.
I would normally agree with the editors, but the characters in Suburban Fairy tales are very different in the sense that everyone already knows them. Noone needs to be introduced to a character like Pinocchio.
Incidentally I’ve just bought ‘I’ve got a frog prince in my throat’ and am surprised how different it is compared to today’s strips. My favorite character right now is the frog prince, so I hope he’ll reappear. I also love the attitude of humpty dumpty.
Maybe, one day, you could create a spin-off comic featuring Pinocchio, Frog Prince, Rapunzel, Goldilocks et al?
Hi Kristiaan,
Pinocchio and Frog Prince pretty much carried the strip for most of the beginning. I agree that readers never needed to be introduced to the character of Pinocchio as they already knew something about him, but I liked that I was able to introduce them to my version of Pinocchio as well as the other characters.
I’m very glad you like Frog Prince so much. He was also one of my favorites, which is why I considered him the main character of the series for so long. All the characters were and are important to me, but I needed to make this change to the series not only because of the advice of editors, but also because I want the strip to grow and to change. I’m not saying that Frog Prince, Pinocchio or any of the other characters will never come back. But I want to experiment with this new idea of focusing on the pigs and see how it goes. If it stops working for whatever reason, I can always go back or reinvent the strip again. That’s what’s so fun about Suburban Fairy Tales — there is an endless amount of possibilities to explore. As for a spin-off, who knows? That’s an interesting idea. I’ll never say never.
Thanks for your reply!
I look forward to more of the pigs’ adventures, but nonetheless think the editors are wrong that there were too many characters, that’s simply underestimating and patronizing the audience. Editors are often wrong, otherwise you’d have been syndicated a long time ago ;).
BTW: thanks for publishing your comics in book format – still my preferred format. I wish other (non-syndicated) artists would follow your example.
Hi Kristiaan,
It’s really just a matter of opinion with editors. Sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong… but they must have some idea as to what sells and what doesn’t, otherwise they wouldn’t hold the position of comics editor. I guess that’s why their opinions hold more weight.
And I’m so glad to hear you like the printed books! I love printed books as well, which is why I will always offer printed materials of my work. Now the only question is whether or not to offer the next book in full color or not. I guess I have a few more months to decide!
My vote goes to color! 🙂
This new direction has been working, but I want to know when I get to make guest appearances as a dentist from Minnesota, that shoots Red, skins her, and makes her half carpet + wall mount the head! (The rest is a BBQ for me and Wolf).
Have you started working on that arc yet?
LOL, that’s most definitely the next arc I’m planning.