Amidst the flurry of promotions and school visits, my distributor called me: "are you reprinting Sir Fong 2: Fur-ocious?"
"Fur-o-cious" is one of two original Sir Fong comics. Following the success of Sir Fong (first book), another publisher approached me to print a second book. Fur-o-cious was published in 2006.
I have a lot of fond memories of "Fur" being published: a week after my students read it, the teachers were instructed to remind students that the classroom game called "Tau-pok" was banned. Apparently, my comic had something to do with the fresh outbreak of the game.
"Tau-pok" is a game where students push a victim onto the ground and proceed to pile up on top of him. Adults are concerned that the victim may sustain injuries by having too much body weight on top. I drew it because the game was real, and happened often.
"Fur" was also the book which birthed the idea of using the bunnies to teach Science. I first thought of the idea in 2005, and spent a whole December drawing a short story on the topic of Electricity. After I printed the comic for my classes, students from other classes started to request for them. And a few told me they studied it before the exams because they had trouble understanding the concepts from the textbooks.
At first, I wasn't sure I should include the Electricity portion into "Fur", but I took a risk and it paid off!
Finally, after my nephew first read "Fur-o-cious", his comment was just two words: "it sucks!"
I was very hurt by his comment, and stopped drawing for a year. Also, neither my publisher nor myself had done much to publicise the comic book. For a couple of years, the title did not move many copies. A lot of stock was returned in 2007. Only after I quit my job to focus on my comics fulltime did the title start to gain popularity.
Years later, after I took a Landmark Education course, I decided to ask his mother about his comment.
Years later, after I took a Landmark Education course, I decided to ask his mother about his comment.
It turned out that he was upset. In "Fur", I created a character for his sister, but did not create one for him! This little episode taught me to be more confident of what I draw, and reminded me to remain fresh by taking the occasional new approach with each book.
"Fur-o-cious" taught me a lot about creating and publishing comic books. After that, I started the "Adventures In Science" series. "Fur" started gaining popularity by word-of-mouth. By 2009, it became a top ten Most Borrowed book in our national libraries. That showed me that my hard work of promoting the Sir Fong name is starting bear fruits.
So, as some bookstores called my distributor asking for more of "Fur", I made a decision: "retire it for the time being. I need to focus on the Adventures In Science series."
The good news is that it will always be available in the libraries. The good news is that I have another Sir Fong title sold out its print! The good news is that after 2010, I can reprint the two original titles in my own format properly.
For now, you can borrow "Sir Fong 2: Fur-o-cious" at most National Library branches - if they're not borrowed already! Thank you again for reading the book! I look forward to reprinting it after I work on "Adventures In Science Book 3".
