A new P.J. Funnybunny book was released this week. P.J. Funnybunny stories are written by my good friend, Marilyn Sadler. The book's characters were originally created by Roger Bollen. The P.J. Funnybunny books are adored by fans around the globe.
I first met Marilyn and Roger, in 1989. I was getting started as a children's book illustrator and they had been very successful in publishing with several of their characters, including P.J. Funnybunny. Roger was also a popular comic strip artist with his syndicated Animal Crackers strip.
I have always tried to learn from the best, so I arranged a trip to their home. With portfolio in hand, I traveled to Cleveland and spent an afternoon with Marilyn and Roger, hoping some of their success would rub off on me. It was a great trip and they were extremely kind and generous with their time. Roger mentioned that he was thinking of stepping back from his strip, Animal Crackers, to focus on other projects. He asked if I had an interest in possibly helping with the strip. I was stunned. I had not anticipated such a huge opportunity and wasn't sure what to say. I was just starting my children's book journey and realized that a commitment to a comic strip would be very time consuming so I humbly declined.
In recent years, I've had the chance to work with Marilyn on some of her other projects. Roger Bollen died in 2015.
Fast forward to the present. Marilyn mentioned that her publisher was interested in producing more P.J. Funnybuny books because of a renewed interest in the characters. I asked if I could submit samples and be considered for the project. Even though cartooning wasn't what I had been currently doing, I have a long history of cartooning, starting from the very beginning when I was a kid. My cartoon style is very similar to what Roger was doing so it wasn't a long stretch to consider the project. I created some samples and sent them to Marilyn. I tried to be as true to Roger's style as I could. The character of his line and the colors that he chose. All the while, thinking of the Animal Crackers opportunity that had come and gone, years ago.
When Marilyn and the publisher seemed very pleased with my art samples, I felt like I had come pretty close to the spirit of Roger's work. In an unexpected way, it almost seemed like I had come full circle to help Roger, not with Animal Crackers but with P.J. Funnybunny.
