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Show r 2F Lakeside Review, Wednesday, March 11, 1987 Cartoonist finds ROBERT REGAN to publishers talks about themes found in other strips, like warm family humor or political satire, and then goes on to say Goblin has none of those elements. And like any other form of art that imitates life, the strips may have a message to us but their main purpose is to rattle our funny bones. I do this to make people laugh, Bagley said, I dont want to offend anybody. But a letter to the editor in the Mesa (Arizona) Tribune was sharply critical of the new strip and the bite of that letter left its mark on the young cartoonist just beginning to fulfill his lifelong dream. Bagley shook his head and said, I dont like people getting mad at me. He has, however, had numerous positive comments. Of the overall response, he said, Mixed reviews, I suppose, are better than ho reviews. But the image that appears before the reader is a reflection of Bagley himself Hes me basically, he said. I think and do things like him. In an earlier interview the John Denver lookalike said, I like my stuff because I think like this every day. And he has been thinkfor quite ing a little some time. The Southern California-raise- d artist was enrolled at Fullerton Junior College, Saddleback College and went.to Brigham Young University for a just one summer al ad Review staff Well it sure beats growing up and being ugly for a living. Overheard in the office lunchroom. LAYTON Val Chadwick Bagley earnestly believes in ugly. Ugliness brings in his pay-chec- k. The checks come because the Layton man is drawand selling to 29 daily ing a comic newspapers so far strip called Goblin. Having joined the rarefied ranks of Charles Schultz, Gary Larson, and Garry Trudeau, Bag-le- y is the new kid on the block among cartoonists. He has only been syndicated since January and is represented internationally by Asterisk Features of Canada. Getting syndicated is a difficult task. Only one or two cartoon strips out of a thousand get the chance to hit the big time, and, of those, 80 percent fail in the first year. Bagley, who uses his full name to avoid confusion with another cartoonist named Pat Bagley, is the only Utahn to achieve national syndication. He said his strip and the Goblin character were chosen mainly because of the potential for spin-omerchandising. Id love to see him as a bean-ba- g doll, he said in his basement studio decorated with letters to him from other cartoonists. He even sees the possibility of a Saturday morning animated cartoon. The three characters in the strip are Goblin, his wife and Junior. And though they are not especially animated, their job is simple raise ugliness to an art form. The strip is the next surge in ff off-cent- er semester. I kept going to school and they said Id make a good artist if I quit the cartooning, he said. So I quit school. Americas enchantment with From there he went on to CPS things bizarre, like The Far Design Studio and paid his dues, Side and Garbage Pail Kids. in essence, designing labels for Reflecting on that, a promotion- - cheese and meat packages. And Layton cartoonist Val Chadwick Bagley sits at his studio drawing table. since Bagley moved to Layton in 1985, his talent as cartoonist has shined in the Lakeside Review where he has developed a following among local readers. And all along Goblin has been taking form. With a lot of luck, and more work than meets the eye, Bagley and Goblin are on their way to success, now reaching such prestigious papers as the Sacramento Bee, the Orange County Register, the Rocky Mountain News, and the Houston Chronicle. Locally his strip runs in the Deseret News. What will happen to Bagley if Goblin continues its meteoric rise? He said he would like to have more oxford shirts, lots of Levis, cashews and crab meat. He would also like a larger studio, one with a couch, he said, to help in the drifting and creating of his strips. Working toward that goal, Bag-le- y and nights spends his days creating comics for our amuse- by Val Chadwick Bajgey GOBLIN S y GUESSWUo? , Warm Family Humor... Social Relevance... Political Satire... Themes... Contemporary Kids... Little , Endearing Cats... Audacious Loveable Dogs... Life-styl- e This Strip Has NONE Of These Elements! This promotional ad tells what Goblin isnt. Wf 'One of the latest strips rattles readers funny bones and shows just how ugly Goblirrts. strip and not in the real world. There is a play with elements of the strip that can only happen in Goblin. In one strip Goblin spins the letter N until it becomes the letter Z. With that move he can now take a nap with the right letter making the right sound. In this strip the lettering was ment But the father of four children' simple and easy, but in most of under the age of 7 often finds no his cartoons it is the most diffitime during the day to draw. So cult step. late at night, pencil hits paper Lettering is the hardest part, and a moment of humor is creatBagley said. Ive got to get it to fit. ed. The process, though, doesnt When I draw this guy at 1 a.m. its like I know this guy, he said. start at lettering. For the two One of the things Bagley knows weeks of strips Bagley does at one is what funny is all about time, he will spend one or two He studies other comic strips, days just coming up with ideas. especially The Far Side and He will create at least 30 ideas, called roughs, and send them to Mother Goose and Grimm influenced by them, the syndicate for approval. and, though When the bundle of roughs has created a character that fits which are drawn on scraps of painto its own niche. For Bagley there is no question per salvaged from trash cans near are returned. his characters exist in a comic copy machines maybe half are given the syndicates okay. He will then spend two hours is the key in the door" JiJr his success. And he has signed a a ctypjnon contract on an average weekday strip and length of time in the cartooning with Asterisk eatures up to four hours for a Sunday business to keep the door open for strip in penciling, inkhis characters. ing and lettering. all the Then Ill heavy-u- p Its a scary thing, he, said. lines, he said of the next step. Ive got to do this the re$t,of my Finally, he will copyright, sign, life. Ive got to come up with paginate and date the dozen these clever things. ;:And though the process may be strips. The best part of the whole difficult and the well occasionally thing is signing them, he said. dry, it seems, for now and hope-full- y a long time coming,; Val Finally, the strips will be sent to the syndicate which will distrib- Chadwick Bagley will swing wide ute copies. the doors of his humor andJet us Bagley once said the syndicate in for a daily dose. tj full-col- 10-ye- ar or -- size-correct- ed n $295 Beg. $14.95 Reg. $495.00 j .M.l B B B li Saddle Special " - rotor Auxsaaneurri 1430 W. 400 M., W. Bountiful WL 295-74- 33 ,rf '4 H I I I IH I 1 I IB I I I I IR I I 1 STOP SMOKING IN 5 DAYS and 141 STAY QUIT FOR GOOD! An Inexpensive, Unique Concrete Edging That Is Installed' By Our Professionals In Any Shape YOU Desire... If you want freedom from smoking Permanent Freedom Creative curves, contours, and to your will save you time, money and specifications. Circles as small as 20 Inch radlu. trouble In maintaining your yard. 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