Cartoonist Joe Martin Starts His Own Syndicate

By: Dave Astor Longtime comic creator Joe Martin has left the world of established syndicates to launch his own company.

Neatly Chiseled Features (NCF) is distributing Martin's "Willy 'n Ethel" (which began in 1981), "Mr. Boffo" (1986), and "Cats With Hands" (1999). Those three comics were previously distributed by Tribune Media Services.

Martin, who said a syndicate with dozens of features can't pay enough attention to all of them, told E&P that his Lake Geneva, Wis.-based NCF will also introduce two other comics in 2006.

One of them -- "On the Edge," which launches Jan. 1 -- is a collaboration between Martin and Dr. Jon Carlson, an author, professor, and psychotherapist with a practice in Lake Geneva. "It's the most important feature I've done in my life," said Martin, noting that the advice cartoon takes a "laughter is the best medicine" approach. One charter client, The San Diego Union-Tribune, will run the comic on its health page, according to Martin.

Scheduled for a June 2006 launch is Martin's "Haley Hardy," which stars an African-American woman who does a TV fitness show. The comic will combine humor and story lines.

And the NCF, which will not syndicate features by creators other than Martin, is offering reruns of the cartoonist's now-defunct "Mr. Tucker" and "Porterfield" comics.

Martin also mentioned that his features have a charitable component. Every month, readers can bid to have their names appear in a Martin comic. The amount of the winning bid goes to a charity of the bidder's choice. People don't bid just to see their own names in newspapers. "It's a wonderful gift to surprise people on their birthday," said Martin.

"Willy 'n Ethel," "Mr. Boffo," and "Cats With Hands" appear in a combined 200-plus newspapers -- including The Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, the Detroit Free Press, Houston Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and papers in Italy and Singapore, said Martin, whose comics can also be seen on the Web.

Martin noted that his "Mr. Boffo" Web site recently announced a contest inviting readers to submit short comic videos featuring Martin's cartoon characters.

The "Cats With Hands" site is inviting readers to submit the "Funniest Cat Video." There's also a "Most Incredible Cat of 2005" contest seeking unpublished stories about felines. After the tales are posted, readers can vote for their favorites.