![Hackles](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/HacklesCoverArt.jpg)
So we’ve come to this… The end of yet another rejected strip.
Well, looking back, it was a big improvement over Smart Alex. But, to be fair, if I were the syndicate I woulda passed on this one too.
Oh well. Here’s hoping my next strip is as big a leap forward for me.
Here’s the last of them…
(Click on each strip to see the large versions.)
![Hackles 19](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/19HacklesSmall.jpg)
![Hackles 20](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/20HacklesSmall.jpg)
![Hackles 21](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/21HacklesSmall.jpg)
![Hackles 22](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/22HacklesSmall.jpg)
![Hackles 23](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/23HacklesSmall.jpg)
![Hackles 24](http://andertoons.s3.amazonaws.com/static/cartoon-blog/blog/24HacklesSmall.jpg)
Goodnight sweet strips…
Have you consigned your strip to the sweat dreams file because you see something seriously wrong with the strip? I think the idea of a dog earning the wage and the human staying home and wanting to play is a great and novel idea. I wonder if the syndicates passed on the strip because of vague similarities to other strips: for example, The Duplex features a man and a dog, and perhaps Universal wondered if your strip would be lumped into that category by newspaper editors. I was rejected 13 times before selling Spot, so I clearly don't know what makes a strip work. But as a reader, I know what I like, and I would have been happy reading your strip every day.
Best of luck with your next submission. I don't think it needs to be better. Just different (though even that isn't necessarily true — you could send in the same strip a year from now, and the syndicate might be looking for a strip that twists the usual pet strip around…)
Oh, I think there's quite a bit of room for improvement still, but I think there's some market forces at work here too.
I am working on something kind of out there that I'm enjoying very much. I'm taking the approach that I'm just just gonna do what I think is funny, commercial viable or not, and see what happens.
Thanks for the encouragement!
(BTW, still loving Spot!)