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Rick Stromoski, Creator of 'Soup to Nutz'

© Susanna McLeod

It's no wonder that Soup to Nutz is famed for hilarious family dynamics and right-on-the-button fun. As the seventh youngster in a family of 12 kids, creator Rick Stromoski's childhood must have been a cartoonist's dream of laughter and scuffles. He has honed his self-taught cartooning and humourous illustration skills into a thriving career - and into the seat of the President of the National Cartoonists Society.

On December 25, 1958 in Edison, New Jersey, Rick Stromoski was born into a large Catholic family, probably with a pencil in his hand. Drawing "from the moment he could pick up a pencil," Rick taught himself the art of cartooning. *(1)

Inspired by his childhood experiences with all those siblings (and by his later experiences as a father), Rick created cartoons and illustrations that tickled the funny bones of editors in all kinds of print media. His appealing, down-home sense of humour appears in an abundant number of publications: books and children's magazines, prominent magazines such as Good Housekeeping and The Saturday Evening Post (plus dozens more), greeting cards for companies such as Recycled Paper Greetings, Paper Moon and others, plus merchandise such as calendars, t-shirts and giftware. His work has also appeared in advertising and on television. Rick is one prolific artist.

In 2000, the accomplished cartoonist debuted Soup to Nutz, a comic strip about the modern ironies of the Nutz family life. A bargain-hunting Mom, a grumpy Dad, siblings fighting over everything and a dog who will roll in anything aromatic fill out the cast of characters. Discernable as Rick's own style, the characters' faces are wide, with beady eyes and stubs for noses. They're not beautiful but the faces definitely spark a smile. The wry comic message is delivered with a clear chuckle in the allotted four short panels. For example, the April 25th strip on comics.com starts with a cracked automobile windshield with a small, round hole. The second panel shows a broken window, the third, a broken pitcher with water gushing out as a woman seated in a chair watches. The fourth panel features the two Nutz boys, one holding a tennis racket, the other holding a bag of marbles, saying, "You know, these marbles go a mile when you hit 'em with a tennis racket... I wonder where they eventually end up?" *(2) It is great, classic fun.

Soup to Nutz celebrated its fifth anniversary of publication on March 27th, 2005. Under the United Media Syndicate, the strip tickles readers in over 600 newspapers and growing. Soup to Nutz: The first Course is the first Soup to Nutz comic strip compilation, published by Andrews McMeel, September 2003.