Providing a daily laugh and smile is Kevin Fagan’s goal. For 37 years, Fagan has been the sole creator, writer and artist for the comic strip “Drabble.”
“Drabble” is a family friendly comic that follows the lives of Ralph and June (also called Honeybunch) and their three children, Norman, Patrick and Penny and their dog Wally. Fagan’s life closely resembles the lives of the characters in his comic strip “Drabble.” Both he and the main character, Ralph, have a wife and three children and a small dachshund.
During an interview with Deseret News, Fagan admitted his family life is one of the largest inspirations for events in the comic strip.
“My wife gives me a lot of ideas — not always on purpose,” he said with a laugh.
He said inspiration also comes from his three children’s college experiences, and now his grandchildren provide ideas for the strip’s youngest character, Penny.
The comic has reflected Fagan’s life in another way as well.
“While I was in college, I wrote about being a nerdy college student,” said Fagan. “That’s who I was.”
Accordingly, Norman, the oldest son, took the role of the main character.
“As I got married and grew up, the strip became more centered around Ralph,” he said.
But that has changed again as Fagan’s three children have grown and attended Brigham Young University.
“Norman has emerged again,” said the cartoonist. “All three of my kids have graduated from BYU and that has provided a lot of material.”
Some of the material Fagan has used includes BYU’s campus. Many times the backdrop for Norman’s college is based on BYU’s campus and the mountains and landscape that surround Provo, he said.
Fagan has been drawing ever since he was a child, and since his comic became syndicated, he has produced more than 13,000 hand-drawn comics. He received the syndication contract when he was 21 years old and has been drawing the Drabble family daily ever since. Prior to the contract, Fagan was attending college in California when he started doing cartoon work for the school newspaper.
“I wasn’t even majoring in that,” Fagan said. “I took my first drawing class two years after I was syndicated.”
His strip started at the school newspaper and now appears daily in over 200 newspapers across the country, Fagan said.
To create a comic strip, Fagan said he starts by jotting down several ideas in one of his spiral-bound notebooks that he tries to keep close. If a notebook isn’t handy, Fagan will write his ideas down on almost anything, including his hand. After brainstorming, Fagan’s afternoon is spent forming and developing his ideas. However, he said he continues to take notes on ideas throughout the day, adding that he often works into the night and early morning. Each week, with his wife’s help, he sends in seven strips, working several months ahead of when they will be published.
Fagan said he is currently creating Halloween-themed strips and that he takes the storyline one day at a time. He said his goal to spread laughs and smiles that the entire family can appreciate remains his primary focus.
“That has always been my dream,” he said, “to have something that the whole family can enjoy.”
“Drabble” will return to the Deseret News Sept. 5.
Additional information about the comic strip can be found online at the strip's Facebook page and by following Fagan on Twitter at DrabbleComic.