Although Jerry Bittle has been a successful working cartoonist for almost 20 years, he had no intention of being one at all until he was 31 years old.
Bittle grew up in Wichita, Kan., and studied art in college for one simple reason. "I chose art because it didn't require math," Bittle said during an interview with the Deseret News. "After a couple of years, I realized you could make a living at this. I was a staff artist for a newspaper in Wichita, then drew political cartoons for a newspaper in Albuquerque, and finally ended up as an illustrator at an advertising agency in Dallas.
"I had a friend who kept pestering me to try my hand at cartooning, to send samples to a syndicate. I finally tried it, and I've been doing it ever since."
Bittle's first comic strip was "Geech," which began in 1982 and continues to run in papers around the country (including the Deseret News).
And a few months ago, he conceived the idea for a second strip, "Shirley and Son."
" 'Geech' is completely different — it's very cartoony," said Bittle. " 'Shirley' is more story than cartoon. I do them on separate days.
"I spend 12 hours a day, seven days a week. I enjoy the strips, and it's hard to get them off my mind. I usually upload the strips to the syndicate Sunday night, so they will have it Monday morning — but then I'm immediately into the next deadline."
Bittle didn't begin "Shirley and Son" with the intention of doing a strip about a divorced couple. "I was doing one about home computers, and it featured a little boy. I finally scrapped that strip and built a new one around the same little boy, except he had divorced parents.
"I've been getting a lot of reactions from single parents who like the strip, and some who are disturbed by its reality. One mother told me it hit pretty close to home for her. I want it to be reality-based and funny. I've been getting some really nice e-mails from single parents. The strip has the right demographics."
Bittle does not approach the strip as if he is trying to teach a lesson about divorce, however. Rather, he concentrates on relationships — 8-year-old Louis, his mom and his dad. The parents happen to be divorced, as do 50 percent of all couples in America today.
Bittle himself has been happily married for 25 years, and is the father of three daughters, from junior high school to college age. "But I have close friends who have had divorces. Anyway, everybody has had break-ups. So the strip is really about relationships, parental types, dating after divorce, kids at school on parents day, things like that."
Bittle develops a storyline before he does any drawing. In fact, he tries to have the stories developed four weeks before he draws the characters. "I like to hammer out the stories first, and I like to have an ending in mind, too." He has found that "It is 75 percent more important to be a good writer than a good artist.
"You're really dealing with a very small piece of art. If there is very much dialogue, there is not much room for an illustration. I am trying to be more visually fun with Shirley and Son."
Even though he is dealing with a delicate topic, Bittle said he doesn't try to produce morals to his stories or to persuade people in any particular direction. "If you look back and say, 'That's kinda nice,' that's OK, but I'm really not looking to make profound statements. I do try to make the dialogue real. If it is profound, I got lucky. I didn't intend it that way. I'm not looking for controversy, and I don't want to be preachy, either."
Shirley is a self-confident, hard-working mom. Her marriage is the first thing in Shirley's life that hasn't worked, and she has self-doubts now. Roger, the dad, is basically a good guy whose marriage just didn't work out. He's very involved in his son's life, though, and he frequently does things that cause Shirley frustration.
Finally, 8-year-old Louis is an introspective kid who is dealing with his parents' split in the best way he can. He wishes they would get back together, but he is facing the reality that they may not.
In fact, they'd better not because if they do, it would ruin the concept of the first comic strip to present a realistic treatment of divorce.
E-MAIL: dennis@desnews.com