Farley (comic strip)

Farley was an American comic strip written and drawn by Phil Frank, which appeared daily (except Saturday) in the "San Francisco Chronicle". The strip originally began in 1975 as "Travels With Farley", a nationally syndicated strip, but Phil missed the "timeliness and joy of doing local politics" and, dissatisfied with the four-to-six week lead time required of syndication, switched to working exclusively for the "Chronicle", which enabled him to quickly mine local events -- usually overnight -- for his satire. Phil Frank died on September 12, 2007, in Bolinas, California, shortly after announcing that he would be quitting drawing the strip due to illness on September 09, 2007 [ [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/09/09/MNKCRVL56.DTL 'Grateful cartoonist' Phil Frank thanks readers for best ideas ] ] .

Outline

Farley is considered a gentle satire of life in the San Francisco Bay Area and California by its creator. The cast consists of Farley, a reporter for the "San Francisco Daily Requirement" (A thinly veiled San Francisco Chronicle); Baba Rebob, a mystic who doubles as the face in the mayor's magic mirror; urban bears who run the Fog City Dumpster (a play on the famous Fog City Diner); a feral cat colony in Golden Gate Park led by Orwell T. Catt; various other animals; and notable personages in San Francisco including whoever was the incumbent Mayor of San Francisco, the Governor of California, and others. The strip relocates to Yosemite National Park every summer with the urban bears and Velma Melmac, who regularly vacuums the forest floor and deploys huge bug bombs in an attempt to keep nature clean.

The strip poked fun at current events in San Francisco, often lampooning such events as the response to Mayor Gavin Newsom's temporary legalization of gay marriage as well as national events such as the National Do Not Call Registry or Vice President Dick Cheney. Former mayor Willie Brown spoke at Camp Farley, a memorial that celebrated Phil's life, and revealed that many times, events Mayor Brown participated in or actions that he took would end up lampooned in the comic strip within a day or two.

The strip also kept track of the current situation of the San Francisco Giants baseball team through the actions of Alphonse, one of the urban bears who is obsessed with the team. Alphonse was often shown leaving a hot dog and a beer at home plate in the middle of the night as an offering to the baseball gods.

Cast

The cast of the strip grew to such an extent that Farley, the title character, appeared infrequently. The usual cast was:

* Farley, a reporter for the "San Francisco Daily Requirement" newspaper.
* Bruce, a right-wing raven that lives with Farley.
* Baba Rebop, mystic and the Prophet of Ocean Beach.
*A quartet of urban California black bears who run a restaurant for animals called the Fog City Dumpster (the name is taken from a local culinary landmark, the Fog City Diner, and from the source of the cartoon restaurant's food supply). The bears originally came from Asphalt State Park and followed Farley to San Francisco. They take summer vacation in Yosemite National Park. The bears include:
** Floyd, the Fog City Dumpster cook.
** Alphonse, a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan.
** Franklin, who often wears a sombrero and bandeliers.
** Hilda, a female with a crush on Farley.
* (Former) Mayor Willie Brown, dubbed "His Williness" in the strip, and famously depicted dressed as a king, wearing a crown and holding a sceptre.
*The Feral Cat Colony
** Orwell, a feral cat in Golden Gate Park who always is trying to get rich, sometimes by writing to Vice President Dick Cheney with new schemes.
** Speedbump, a feral cat, Orwell's assistant.
* Miles, mild-mannered dog host of KFUR, a radio station for dogs and cats.
* Velma Melmac, a housewife who parks her monster RV in Yosemite National Park each summer, doing her best to keep nature at bay by, for example, vacuuming the nature trails.

Books

A number of the strips have been collected and published as books.

*"Travels with Farley" (1978)
*"Asphalt State Park" (1987)
*"Going Local with Farley" (1991)
*"I'm Ink, Therefore I Am" (1997) - A collection of comics from the time Farley became specific to the San Francisco Chronicle.
*"Fur and Loafing in Yosemite" (1999) (For the Yosemite Association) - A collection of cartoons which were all either set in Yosemite or featured the bears coming or going to Yosemite.
*"Don't Parade On My Reign" (2003) - A collection of comics featuring "Da Mayor" Willie Brown. Willie Brown was proud of this collection and often autographed it and sent it to people.
*"Eat Drink & Be Hairy" (2006) (For the Yosemite Association) - A second collection of cartoons set in Yosemite.

External links

* [http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/farley/ Farley] , at the "San Francisco Chronicle" website
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/comics/farley/bio.dtl&type=comics Phil Frank bio]
* [http://www.farleycomicstrip.com/ Official website] Some of Phil's history, his other projects and links to purchase his originals, books, and stuffed animals based on the bears in Farley. The site is maintained and updated by his family.

References