Fifth Anniversary of Team Cul de Sac is upon us: DONATE ART

Lots of candles on that cake you say? 5 years already you say? Still going strong in raising awareness and money for the Michael J Fox Foundation?  The answer is yes. Five years of and over $200,000 of donations and we are still going strong. Want to know a secret? I wish I had never had to start this.
I wish Richard Thompson was still drawing Cul de Sac and instead of planning this years Drink and Draw at Heroescon, we were planning on Richard and Mike Rhode visiting Heroescon and us seeing old friends,having Fuel pizza, going to Merts and having craft beer from Asheville. Life is life and we roll with it. Instead of doing nothing we have done something. Something good and something to be proud of.

If you have never had a chance to help here is your chance. On the evening of Friday June 19th (also my 45th birthday) we are having our Team Cul de Sac Drink and draw in Charlotte, NC after the first day of Heroescon! More details soon on all the details but first we want to ask for help. Below you see Alice jumping on her manhole with her Team Cul de Sac shirt on. She has been our mascot for 5 years! With our Drink and Draw coming up, I thought it would be nice to have a 5 year anniversary print only available at Heroescon. here is where you can help.  Donate art featuring the Cul de Sac gang. The theme is the 5th Anniversary of TCDS and the Drink and Draw. Go wild.
The winning entry will be picked by Richard Thompson, Mike Rhode and myself.All art must be mailed to us and even if your art is not picked you still win. You are helping us by donating the art to our Drink and Draw. The winner gets a really cool gift. How cool? Trust me its cool. All submissions must be in to me by June the 9th.  You can send a digital file to us at teamculdesac@gmail.com so we can catalog and promote the art but you are not entered into the contest until we receive the original art. Remember June 9th is the deadline.  If you are at this years Reuben awards you can give the art to Mike Rhode or myself.

Send submissions to
Team Cul de Sac
c/o Chris Sparks
54 Herron ave
Asheville NC, 28806

Plus, if you want to donate original art not related to the contest for the Drink and draw auction, please send it to the address above!


A superhero thank you to Heather, Seth and Shelton and everyone at Heroescon that supports us year after year.

Washington DC and the Reuben Awards

Next week I will be in Washington DC to see some old friends and meet new friends. We all have one thing in common, we love cartooning.  I have never met a nicer group of folks in the world.  My first Reuben Awards I crashed in my hometown of Asheville in 1997.  Sergio Aragones was nice to introduce me to just about the entire Gang of Idiots from Mad Magazine. A weekend I will cherish forever.

My next Reuben weekend (2011) was when our favorite, Richard Thompson won Cartoonist of the Year in Boston. I was raising awareness for our up and coming Team Cul de Sac project. Everyone treated me as family, Another weekend I will never forget.

Then 2012 rolled around and I ended up in Las Vegas for the Reubens. That weekend our Team Cul de Sac book was launched to the crowd of many of our contributors. Nervous, yes. Proud of what we were accomplishing HELL yes. Everyone was so supportive and again it was like the best family reunion ever.

The Reubens in 2013 turned out to be pretty awesome too. I was now a member of the best family ever. Oh and if that wasn't enough I had the privilege to play tennis with Bill Hinds and Rick Kirkman!

Here it is May 2015 and I am planning my family cartooning reunion in Washington DC. Next week I will be seeing Richard, Mo, Hilary,Rick, Shaenon, Andrew,Bill, John, Lucy, Lee,Tom,John, Nick and so many more. Family.

Remember being a blood related is just blood and it washes off. Good ink won't.

BTW, if you see Mike Rhode, please give him a inky hug. Mike is now a family member. Long overdue.

Compleating Cul de Sac draft in hand - a new Richard Thompson book coming soon

A Team Cul de Sac fundraiser book is coming soon!

Including all the art that was left out of Eisner-award-nominated The Complete Cul de Sac, it's 150 pages of strips, interviews and sketches.

We're pleased to provide more Richard Thompson for your viewing pleasure while supporting Parkinson's disease research.

Ordering information will be available soon after our crack team of editors (Richard, Mike Rhode, Chris Sparks and Bono Mitchell) carefully scrutinize the book to decide which errors and mistakes we can let slip through.

The Complete Cul de Sac nominated for Eisner Award

The Complete Cul de Sac is nominated for Eisner Award in Best Humor Publication.

News from Teamfox

Sam Fox and I are planning a Teamfox gathering in June a few days after ‪#‎heroescon‬ . So excited!

Richard Thompson = The Band, or an Art of Richard Thompson review

Graphic Novels from Apatoff, Font, Jurgens & others, Lewis & Co., and Sutter | Xpress Reviews

By LJ Reviews on January 22, 2015
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2015/01/books/graphic-novels/graphic-novels-from-apatoff-font-jurgens-others-lewis-co-and-sutter-xpress-reviews/

CdS and TCdS artist Stacy Curtis is ill

Here's the story:

Stacy Curtis loses sight from stroke; Pig and Banjo drawings fill Facebook wall

by Alan Gardner

March 30, 2015

http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2015/03/30/stacy-curtis-loses-sight-from-stroke-pig-and-banjo-drawings-fill-facebook-wall/

We send Stacy our best wishes for a rapid recovery, in print, because we can't draw a banjo let alone a pig.

SC Comiccon! Discuss please and remember it is this weekend

Hey folks, Chris here and I will be in Greenville SC this Saturday at the SC ComicCon!
I will have Team Cul de Sac and the Art of Richard Thompson books on hand for you to purchase for Arbor Day or any other holiday.
Robert Young puts on a mean show and after the show we are having a Drink and Draw to Honor Jeremy Dale.  Half the funds will go to the Heroes Initiative and and the other half to TCDS for the Michael J Fox Foundation.
I will have already donated art at my table for you to get a jump on spending your art alloence this weekend.
Please come by and see some of the items we have for the Drink and draw in Charlotte at Heroescon in June
Keep me company. Some topics we can discuss are:
The Art of Richard Thompson and how that book came about.
Ask about the new NEW book project.
The Great Richard Thompson. ( I might bring some of his originals to show folks. )
The Michael J Fox Gala coming up in April in NYC.
Why Bill Watterson puts up with all of Richards friends.
Favorite Artists of mine and yours.
Web cartooning.
Blogging.
Why am I surrounded by guys named Chris at this show.
Why my Kid wants a drawing of Hobbes eating Andy Runtons Owly.
Discuss Chocolate Stouts.
Beer donations welcomed.
How Awesome Heather and Seth are helping at Heroescon.
My web design studio.
Or maybe we can discuss who is stronger the Hulk or Superman.

Just come by, I will keep you entertained and you can keep me entertained!

See ya there!

TCDS is not just about Richard Thompson

by Chris Sparks

Richard Morgan has a comics store in Greenville, SC. He goes to most of the conventions in the area including Heroes Con. He met us the first year we sold t-shirts and Alice prints for fundraising. He's supported us every year because of his dad. His father passed away this morning from PD complications.

I spent the afternoon with his dad on last year's Free Comic Book Day.  He thanked us for what we do and told me how much it means to him to see us raise money through cartoons.

When I saw Richard last month, he also thanked us and told me how much TCDS efforts mean to his family.

Team Cul de Sac sends its condolences to Richard Morgan and his family.

Team Cul de Sac will be at SC Comicon March 21, 2015!

Team Cul de Sac is going regional! This month we'll be going to Greenville, South Carolina for the first annual Jeremy Dale Drink and Draw at SC Comicon. Jeremy was a wonderful artist who passed away suddenly in November and a friend of Team Cul de Sac who participated in our HeroesCon Drink and Draws.  We're sad that he's no longer with us and hope to do him proud at this new event.  We're also very supportive of his wife, Kelly Dale, and her selected charity, the Heroes Initiative.  Heroes Initiative is great charity that assists comic book creators in need from emergency medical assistance to everyday essentials.

If you've never been to a Drink and Draw, you are in for a fun event.  You don't have to drink or draw to have a good time and help raise money for two fabulous charities.  Anyone is welcome to participate in the drawing.  SC Comicon has generously provided coasters and boards for the event (although we won't say no to a donation for use of these) and artists of both professional and amateur status will be donating their works created that evening for you to purchase.  Chris and Heather will be on hand to facilitate both the drinking and drawing as well as answer any questions you may have about Team Cul de Sac.  Chris will also have copies of The Art of Richard Thompson and Team Cul de Sac: Cartoonists Draw the Line at Parkinson's.  

The Drink and Draw will take place Saturday, March 21, 2015 from 7pm to 11pm at Quest Brewing located at 55 Airview Drive, Greenville, SC 29607.  This is following the first day of SC Comicon which is from10am-6pm on Saturday and 12pm-6pm on Sunday.  

Still wondering what a Drink and Draw is all about? Check out these photos from past events: https://www.flickr.com/photos/54091968@N04/sets/72157645389234623/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54091968@N04/sets/72157634070783206/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54091968@N04/sets/72157630298595632/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54091968@N04/sets/72157626784127815/

Other links as needed:

http://sccomicon.com/blog/

http://questbrewing.com/

http://www.heroinitiative.org/

To donate to TCDS use the link below!

http://www2.michaeljfox.org/site/TR/TeamFox/TeamFox?team_id=11110&pg=team&fr_id=1720