Rick Detorie, Creator of One Big Happy

Six-year-old Ruthie has snagged the hearts of comics fans. Sweet, curious and artistic, the endearing comic strip character has developed a growing following as part of the extended family in One Big Happy. Parents Frank and Ellen, grandparents Rose and Nick, eight-year-old brother Joe and assorted friends and neighbours fill out the cast of well-defined characters in this down-to-earth cartoon.

Rick Detorie has carved out an enviable career for himself in the tough business of cartooning. His humour is every-day, gentle and so familiar to his readers. In an article in the King County Journal, Detorie said, "I'm not trying to promote any agendas. I just come up with situations, put the characters in and see how it works." His steady effort has captured a loyal audience in small bites every day - "I get four seconds of attention a day, and I just want people to remember it and enjoy it." *(1)

Studying at Maryland Institute College of Art, Detorie graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. He majored in illustration and graphic design but did not do much cartooning, thinking it was no way to make a living. On graduation, he found a position at a Los Angeles advertising agency. He worked there as the Art Director and Creative Director for six years. (Many cartoonists have followed that same path into advertising before they reach cartooning.) Detorie's work has been seen on jigsaw puzzles, kites, games Burger King meal packs, posters and lunchboxes, just to name a few items. He also drew the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" cartoon for a short time.

Before the bug of creating a syndicated comic strip took hold of Detorie, he wrote several books, including "Totally Tacky Cartoons," "No Good Lawyers" and "How to Survive an Italian Family." The latter book is a humourous look at his own family life with his two sisters and parents in his birthplace of Baltimore, MD. (His grandparents lived right next door.) "How to Survive an Italian Family" became the base for the comic strip One Big Happy, though it was not his only attempt at syndicating a strip.

Trying to get syndication was an unpleasant cycle of rejection for the aspiring cartoonist. Detorie would create a comic strip and submit his work to the all syndicates. As rejections rolled in, he sent out a second original strip. Then a third strip. And then a fourth. Finally, One Big Happy was requested for another shot. It clicked with the critical submission editors and snapped up by Creators Syndicate. In September of 1988, the comic strip was unveiled in 22 newspapers, but sadly not to immediate acclaim. It met with some rough waters and in a short time was withdrawn by several papers.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic