To begin, I would like to thank you for visiting my website! My name is Brian Strong and I am the 53 year old artist and writer that created the cartoon, QUEER TAILS, which is a book now available on Amazon in both paperback and eBook. The following is a history of QUEER TAILS I would like to share.

 

My thoughts for creating a fun, community inclusive cartoon began in 1994. I was 28 years old and lived in Chicago, Illinois which had, and still has, a large and thriving L.G.B.T.Q. community. At that point in time the term “L.G.B.T.Q.” didn’t exist. Cell phones were extremely rare and only that one techie friend may have had a computer at home. The gays, lesbians and other such wonderful people in Chicago found their community news by grabbing the local bar magazine or newspaper. From news to bar ads to dating ads, these publications had it all, and if you had any kind of social life then you had a stack of old copies piled somewhere around your home.

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As a cartoonist, I had my first publicly printed cartoon strip in my small town newspaper when I was 16 years old. I drew sports cartoons for my high school paper and had a cartoon strip in my college newspaper. By 1994 the idea for a gay cartoon started forming. I knew what my base character line up of the cartoon would be because I enjoy drawing animals. I always have. “Tails” instead of “Tales” worked beautifully as part of a new title since each cartoon is a small “tale” and each animal character has a “tail”.  A full title of “Gay Tales” wasn’t satisfactory for me because I wanted my cartoon to be as inclusive as I could make it. I wanted my cartoon to have lesbian humor and gay humor and drag queen humor and all the other humors that make us so fun and incredible. In the end, there was really only one word that would work.

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QUEER.

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QUEER TAILS

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In 1994, if computers and cell phones were rare, so was any positive meaning to the word “queer”. By that, I mean that well known shows like “Queer as Folk” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” didn’t exist yet. Even if someone has never watched one of these shows, the names have still been in mainstream culture to allow recognition and a less hateful meaning be attached to the word today. When I was considering this word as a title it really was only used as a nasty, insulting word to hurl at gay people. During that era the word was generally not thought of well by anyone and, at the time, I had never heard of anything using the word “queer” in it’s title.

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The thought process I just described led to my final decision. I wanted to make a cartoon. I wanted to make people smile and laugh. I wanted to be inclusive as could to the community I loved. I wanted this cartoon to be about pride and being able to find the humor within ourselves. Though nervous about my decision and worried about people’s future reaction, I began drawing cartoons for QUEER TAILS. I started this long ago bearing two thoughts in mind:

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First, “What better way to change the negative perception of a word than by attaching it to something aimed to give smiles and laughter?”

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Second, “If we can laugh at ourselves, what does matter if anyone ever laughs at us again?”

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Deciding the name, drawing up sample cartoons and putting together a presentation book of QUEER TAILS took me into 1995. I walked into the gay magazine office unannounced. The gentleman who greeted me turned out to be the editor of the magazine. He sat me down and looked through my cartoons. He also laughed and smiled the entire time. I remember his comment after finishing. He said, “You know, in my day, cartoons were called “funnies”. They were called that because they’re supposed to be funny. I don’t think most cartoons today are, but your cartoons are funny!” QUEER TAILS began publication that week.

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I was happy being able to have something published that I loved doing, but I had no idea how QUEER TAILS would take off. Several months into publication it wasn’t odd to get asked to autograph the magazine. Cartoons were found cut out and taped over urinals in bar restrooms for the patrons to read as they stood there (high honors!). Probably the biggest compliment I received was meeting a coat check lady who overheard I drew QUEER TAILS. She ran to get her purse all excited about meeting me and telling me she would be right back. I was a little confused until she returned with her purse and pulled out over a dozen of my cartoons she had cut out and carried around to show her friends. The magazine printed weekly so she literally had several months worth in her purse. Again, an incredible compliment.

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In 1996 QUEER TAILS was part of the famous Chicago pride event, “The Halsted Street Fair”. Select cartoons were available on T-shirts, refrigerator magnets, and key chains. I sold hand colored, signed, numbered and framed cartoons. The booth for QUEER TAILS was quite packed that year with everyone enjoying reading and buying the released cartoons on products. The cartoons, both in the magazine and on the products, were printed in black and white during this era.

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Sadly, shortly thereafter, life sent a series of unfortunate events in my direction and I left Chicago. Though I packed up every cartoon, I have never forgotten the smiles and happiness QUEER TAILS brought to those who read it. Life proceeded to move on, but, through the years, I did attempt to make progress in getting my cartoon back out there. I also continued to draw more cartoons and add to the series over time. The book available on Amazon is a combination of previously printed cartoons and newer ones, yet unseen by anyone. A huge, positive moment of progress was receiving my official United States Library of Congress Copyright Registration for QUEER TAILS.

 

Finally I turned to the idea of a book. Some improvement ideas and assistance from a few smart individuals in my life led to the official QUEER TAILS paperback book and eBook that is now available on Amazon. I have an excellent and loved family member, Jessica Maxfield, who is super smart, detailed and did excellent work editing the book. My good friend Fernando De Cespedes, who is a computer genius I will never be, assisted and guided me through many technical problems and gave me guidance. I pulled 50 cartoons from the many I have, (yes, there will be a QUEER TAILS: Volume II down the line) socked them with great color, and put them into this hysterical book.

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Another addition to the QUEER TAILS progress is the QUEER TAILS Boutique through Cafepress. Their site allowed me to put QUEER TAILS cartoons, characters, and other new QUEER TAILS pride art on a huge list of products and place them for sale. It has been amazing to be able to put these cartoons on everything from a T-shirt to a drinking glass.

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The lesson I would share is not to give up on any idea you believe in. Years have passed for me. I met stumbling blocks or had things distract me, as life tends to do, but I didn’t give up. QUEER TAILS also turned into a much larger avenue of learning than than I would have expected and so much more than having a funny idea and drawing a cartoon. Converting hand-drawn art to viable computer art, book designing and publishing, website design and on-line shop design are just of few of the hurdles I encourntered. Most of those hurdles were not learned in a class room, but through reading, researching, pestering anyone who I thought might be knowledgeable, and a huge amount of trial and error. No matter the success QUEER TAILS has out in the world, inside me, this book is the equivalent of climbing a mountain that has taken years to accomplish. I’m thrilled about this book. I’m thrilled I again have the chance to make smiles and laughter with my sense humor and my style of art. I’m thrilled my cartoons are on fun products. I’m thrilled that one more person now knows about my journey with this cartoon. Thank you for your time and your interest in my work. Should you choose to invest in the book or products, thank you for your support. If you should pass today, your interest in my cartoon is still greatly appreciated and I would only ask that you share what you know of QUEER TAILS with those you know who might enjoy it. You never know who could use a laugh or smile.

 

Thank you for reading.

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Brian Strong/Creator/Artist