'In the Sticks' Debuts on GoComics.com With Behind-the-Scenes Look at Creative Process

By: E&P Staff New comic strip "In the Sticks" has debuted this week on GoComics.com, but its release is a little more unusual than most.

The strip, syndicated by Universal Uclick, is offering readers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creation of a comic strip. Beginning with a special edition of the comic this past Sunday (Oct. 11), cartoonist Nathan Cooper showed readers the editorial process of developing a new strip. Over the next three weeks, "In the Sticks" will publish Cooper?s character designs, rough sketches and notes, and finally the finished artwork.

?Having created 'In the Sticks' and experienced this evolution firsthand, I'm really excited to let fans see how the strip grew from an idea to a finished concept," Cooper said in a statement.

"In the Sticks" follows an ex-pro golfer, Del, who purchases an old golf course that was previously owned by his great-grandfather and tries to restore it to its former glory. Along the way he?s helped by some eccentric characters, including poetry-writing blue jay Cosmo, caddying bear Dewey, and misanthropic beaver Flip.

"We're offering the audience an inside look at the work that goes into the creation of a new feature -- how the cartoonist comes up with ideas, how the characters evolve, how the stories take shape, and so on,? John Glynn, Universal Uclick's VP/rights & acquisitions, said in a statement. ?It's a fascinating process, and it's one that visitors to the site are really going to enjoy."