AUDIO: New comic strip, 'Dustin', coming to The Gazette Jan. 4. PLUS: Reader comments

The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is among the newspapers that will debut the new comic strip, "Dustin", in January.

We'll start the comic on Jan. 4. It will run seven days a week. King Features Syndicate distributes it.

The strip, by noted humorists and editorial cartoonists Steve Kelley and Jeff Parker, is about a 23-year-old man working temp jobs because he hasn't focused yet on what he wants to do with his life. The main character, Dustin Kudlick, lives at home with his folks. He'd like to get married but can't quite figure out what it takes to get to that point.

I'm going to tell readers in my Sunday, Dec. 27, Gazette column about the move.

Kelley, who does editorial cartoons for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, created the fictional cartoon character and Parker, of Florida Today, draws it.

I expect to hear from readers because "Dustin" will replace "Retail" on our pages. Messing with the comics page, even for a new strip that appears to have some promise, bothers folks. Plus, "Retail" is a good comic and has its followers. But we are going give a new comic a chance at this time.

I think "Dustin" will appeal to folks. It is designed to reach more than one generation, with its goofball lead character, his 50-something bewildered father and driven mother, his acerbic boss, precocious sister and all the people who drop their world.

"Dustin is an ensemble strip," Kelly, 50, said in a phone interview. "It centers around a character but the character isn't the whole thing."

In fact, any kind of character or situation can drop into the strip. Because Dustin is a temp worker, Kelley can go anywhere for a good joke. Dustin's father is a frustrated lawyer and his mother a locally famous radio call-in show host, both situations that lend themselves to a wide array of silliness.

I talked individually via phone with Kelley and Parker this past week and enjoyed the conversations. Both can regale you with their sharp witty observations. For example, "It's taken a pair of cartoonists two years of diligent work to create a cartoon about a guy who has no job," Kelley said.

"Of either of us, I'm definitely Dustin," Parker said when I talked with him about drawing the strip. "I would have loved to be Dustin."

• [Audio] Parker talks about being like Dustin: [audio:http://thegazette.com/assets/comicaudio/comicaudio4d.mp3]

Life is "rough" for Parker now. He's 50 years old, too, and, like Kelley, doing what he likes. Shoots, he's working at his home studio in Florida while I'm calling him from the office in Iowa, preparing for a second winter storm in one week.

"Most cartoonists I know work up 'till they pass away," Parker said. "I have no problem thinking I'll be doing this 20, 25 years from now."

Kelley and Parker started talking six or seven years ago about doing something together. Kelley developed the idea for the strip and asked Parker if he'd draw it. Parker, who helps draw Mike Peters' "Mother Goose & Grimm" and had helped with "Blondie" from 1995 to 2005, said yes.

Kelley said developing the Dustin characters was a simple process in one way: he just divided his own personality into different characters. He has been storing jokes over the years from his work as a stand-up comic. "I understand how to write a joke," he said.

• [Audio] Kelley, on developing characters in "Dustin":[audio:http://thegazette.com/assets/comicaudio/comicaudio2d.mp3]

Kelley is president-elect of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists and will continue to write his editorial cartoons for the Times-Picayune. But he thinks a market still exists for comic strips in a newspaper, despite reader shifts to other news outlets like the Internet and mobile news.

"I keep being told that this is an exercise in futility. I just don't believe that," he said. "I believe strongly that there is an infinite and unlimited demand for fresh humor among human beings. People love to laugh."

That's why Super Bowl commercials and television sitcoms are so enjoyable, he said.

• [Audio] Kelley says comic strips are vital for newspapers: [audio:http://thegazette.com/assets/comicaudio/comicaudio1d.mp3]

Naturally, Kelley embraces the notion of introducing new comics to newspapers. "Most newspapers run comic strips that no longer have any connection whatsoever to their original creator. I liken it to going home at night and turning on network television and they're broadcasting "McHale's Navy."

A few words about "Retail", and then more quotes from Kelley and Parker. (I also encourage you to listen to some sound bites from the phone conversations.) Our research of The Gazette's reading habits is due for an update as it is from 2008, but it shows many of you have liked the comic strip. It hovered in the 2008 survey in the middle of a list of comics our readers ages 35 to 54 read and just below the midpoint among our readers age 55 and older. We run 24 comic strips.

But give "Dustin" a look in January and let me know what you think of it.

MORE FROM PARKER AND KELLEY (audio):

• Kelley says he'd like readers to interact with the comic: [audio:http://thegazette.com/assets/comicaudio/comicaudio3d.mp3]
• Parker says a market exists for new comic strips but it will be a blend of print and the Web: [audio:http://thegazette.com/assets/comicaudio/comicaudio5d.mp3]

SELECTED COMMENTS FROM STEVE KELLEY AND JEFF PARKER

Steve Kelley on:

Introducing a new comic strip: "I liken it to opening a window and letting fresh air come into the room."

His collaboration with Parker: "I was turning somersaults to get Jeff Parker."

Post-Katrina New Orleans, where he works regularly: "It is doing much better, especially for people who have taken the bull by the horns. ... Other people, it's been more of a struggle."

Jeff Parker on:

His hopes for a good response to "Dustin": "We're not 'Peanuts.' I hope we'll be as successful as 'Peanuts'."

Using his drawing style but also getting Kelley's into the panels: "What I tried to do is sort of blend us a little bit."

Juggling the multiple duties of editorial cartooning and drawing daily funnies: "I cut back on my sleep and my potty time."