Kevin Fagan
Kevin Fagan is the creator of the long-running, syndicated “Drabble” cartoon, which, at its height, appeared in close to 200 newspapers. It also has an online presence. Fagan has also published a line of greeting cards.
Fagan had never taken an art class when he submitted his work to the student newspaper at both Saddleback College and California State University, Sacramento, where he was a student. Soon after, the Sacramento Union discovered his work and wanted him to draw cartoons for them on a freelance basis.
While in college, Fagan wrote to famed cartoonist Charles M. Schulz asking for advice on getting his work syndicated. Schulz responded with a list of newspaper syndicates, and Fagan sent off his work. United Feature Syndicate offered him a contract. Drabble debuted nationally on March 5, 1979. He was 21 years old at the time and became the youngest syndicated cartoonist ever. Fagan has run the cartoon daily since then, with the exception of one week in 1983 and one week in 2008. He has always created two or three weeks ahead to cover any vacation time he took. Uclick now syndicates “Drabble.”
“Drabble” features Ralph Drabble, his wife Honeybunch, and their kids Norman, Patrick, and Penny.
Through the years, Fagan has had some fun collaborations come knocking. For instance:
- Ron Howard invited me to his office to discuss turning Drabble into a live-action sitcom. It went pretty far, but never made it on the air. Peanuts animator Bill Melendez wanted to turn it into an animated feature and did several minutes of animation, but he was always very busy with Peanuts. Zero for two. Those were fun experiences, though. Maybe one day Drabble will make it into a different medium.[1]
Fagan is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and lives in California with his wife, Cristi. They are the parents of three children.
