Comic relief over coffee

As encouraged by:
Diane Slopek-Weber
Director, Corporate Communications
The TDL Group Corp. (Tim Hortons)

As an artist living in North Vancouver I often will look for an escape from my drawing board and head to Tim Hortons. It is of course quite common that once there I may have to wait in a lineup of some kind.

Experiencing one of these lineups last winter I could not help but overhear customers anxiously waiting for their selected menu choices AND discussing social, family, sports, or recent political issues among other pertinent topics.

That is when it felt like I was struck by a cathartic bolt of lightning! I could not think of any popular comic strip that used a coffee shop as a theme. I couldn't stop thinking about the endless savvy and humourous punch lines I could use in a daily coffee shop theme comic strip!

The following Sunday my wife Shelly of 25 years and I were enjoying our coffee and breakfast sandwiches at Tim Hortons. Again, I could not help but hear some of the conversations of people waiting in line as well as those deep in table talk around us.

Not wanting to wait any further I impetuously took out my felt pen grabbed a few napkins (sorry Ray) and began creating ideas for a comic strip based on being 'a fly on the wall - buzzing listening in' at a coffee shop. "Java Buzz" was born!

One of the initial napkin drawing ideas I sketched that Sunday - I have submitted with the finished 3 panel comic strip version.

Currently Java Buzz is enjoying success on a number of Plus 55 websites and blogs. Also hard copies of JB are gaining popularity - placed among the magazines at my wife's dental clinic. The feedback has been encouraging and overwhelming.

I must thank my Tim Hortons North Van comrades especially Ray and Karen Zaremba for their continued support.

I look forward to the curious smiles Java Buzz brings when I sit at a Tim Hortons table, get out my sketch pad or grab a few napkins that are getting harder to find...Ray is catching on!
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