Arts & Entertainment
Local Comic’s Life: A Suburban Fairy Tale
Seaford resident Francis Bonnet creates new comic book.
Who would be a more fitting Homecoming Queen, Rapunzel or Little Red Riding Hood? Would you vote for Pinocchio or the Frog Prince for your Class President?
Thanks to one Seaford resident, these questions can actually be answered.
"This Little Piggy Gets Even," the latest comic book in Francis Bonnet's Suburban Fairy Tales collection, recently went on sale. For Bonnet, this latest publication is just another part of a career he has wanted since he was a child.
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"Ever since I was a kid I drew for my friends," said Bonnet, who in addition to creating comic books also works as a graphic artist at Molloy College in Rockville Centre.. "I used to go to the bookstore by my house to get new comic books. I always knew it was what I wanted to do."
Bonnet's first comic strip was launched online in 2003. Crunchy followed the adventures of a turtle of the same name. After ending Crunchy in 2005, Bonnet launched Suburban Fairy Tales, which focused on teenage fairy tale characters living in a modern suburbia.
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"I thought it would be kind of cool to have fairy tales living in modern suburbia. I wanted to pick characters that were easily recognizable," said Bonnet.
Suburban Fairy Tales ran until 2006, when Bonnet launched the science fiction and humor mixed Made to Malfunction. Made to Malfunction ran for two years, before Bonnet re-launched Suburban Fairy Tales.
Bonnet teaches cartooning for kids at Hofstra University, and says it is important for the cartoonists of the future to learn as much as they can from the past, and to keep practicing.
"You can't stop. You have to broaden your horizons," he said. "Read as much as you can from the past. As much as you read, you keep on getting better."
"This Little Piggy Gets Even" features comic strips from Suburban Fairy Tales from September 2008 through June 2010, along with a bonus story never published online, and is available on Bonnet's website, www.FrancisBonnet.com, and on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/This-Little-Piggy-Gets-Even/dp/1453899901/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1287678070&sr=1-1). Readers can also purchase his previous two comic collections on his website. Bonnet says he hopes to have a copy of "This Little Piggy Gets Even" in every library in Nassau County.
