Brian Gordon is an American cartoonist, and creator of the webcomics ''Fowl Language'', ''Frankie Fearless'', and ''Chuck & Beans''.

''Chuck & Beans''

Gordon worked as a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

at Hallmark Cards for 18 years.Olson, Elizabeth; Carr, David. "To Compete with E-mail Greetings, Funny Cards Try to Be Topical". ''The New York Times''. August 20, 2007. p. C1.Willard, Laura.
15 hilarious parenting comics that are almost too real
. ''Upworthy''. October 19, 2015. While at Hallmark Cards, Gordon maintained a blog its web site called ''Brian's Brain''.Chuck & Beans – An Interview with Cartoonist Brian Gordon
. ''Comic Pond''. January 11, 2013. Gordon used many different cartoon characters on the blog. People particularly loved the unnamed rabbit and dog characters. Gordon originally considered naming the characters Frank and Beans, but he discovered that name was already being used for a pornography web site. When Gordon mentioned the name to his wife, she thought he had said Chucking Beans, which gave him the idea to name the characters Chuck and Beans, and the name was set. Gordon started drawing ''Chuck & Beans'', a

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

about a rabbit and a dog in their 20s who were obsessed with pop culture and dating. The characters appeared on many Hallmark greeting cards.

''Fowl Language''

Amidst Hallmark Cards' financial troubles, Gordon's friends urged him to create a new comic that he owned. Gordon was also finding it increasingly difficult to write comic strips for characters who were single and in their 20s while he was in a different stage of life. In July 2013, Gordon started a new comic, ''Fowl Language'', as an outlet to vent about parenthood in a way that was edgier than Hallmark Cards would allow.Kraske, Steve; Alexander, Danie.
'Fowl Language' In Front Of The Kids
. ''

KCUR KCUR-FM (89.3 MHz) is a public, listener-supported radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, broadcasting over the Kansas City metropolitan area and parts of Missouri and Kansas. It is a service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which als ...

''. April 25, 2016. The first comic strip began with four expletives, partly in order to draw a bright line between the new comic and Gordon's more family-friendly work at Hallmark Cards.Naked Diner Ep.3-Brian Gordon
". ''Naked Diner''. ZXH Creative. November 16, 2015. With ducks as all of the characters, the comic focuses on the frustrations and failures of parenthood.Miller, Hollis.

. ''The Huffington Post''. April 14, 2016. Rather than pretend that parenthood is easy or a competition, Gordon's cartoons openly depict how raising kids is a struggle filled with both wins and losses.Borison, Susan.
Fowl Language Comic: Interview with Creator Brian Gordon
. ''Your Teen for Parents''. Retrieved March 10, 2017. Gordon said he chose to draw the characters as ducks because ducks were one of the few animals he did not draw very often for Hallmark Cards. Hallmark sent Gordon an email notifying him of his lay off on June 1, 2015. Two hours later, '' The Huffington Post'' contacted Gordon asking to publish some of his comics on their website. The comics and accompanying article increased the reach of his work. ''Fowl Language'' quickly became one of the most shared comics on Facebook.Bruner, Alyson.
Kansas City cartoonist takes a forceful trip back to the drawing board and it's been a colorful one
. '' KSHB''. May 2, 2016. Gordon's online popularity led to several offers to publish his comics as a paperback; Andrews McMeel Publishing released ''Fowl Language: Welcome to Parenting'', a compilation of Gordon's comics, on March 22, 2016.Gordon, Brian.
Fowl Language: Welcome to Parenting
". '' Andrews McMeel Publishing''. March 22, 2016. Accessed March 10, 2017. In the introduction, Gordon says that every parent is scared and makes it all up as they go along. '' Calvin and Hobbes'', '' Peanuts'', '' The Far Side'', and ''

Bloom County ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, wh ...

'' were some of the newspaper

s that influenced Gordon from an early age.Cate, Chris.
Ep. 29 Interview with Fowl Language Webcomic Creator Brian Gordon
. ''The ParentNormal''. April 6, 2016. Gordon cites ''

The Oatmeal ''The Oatmeal'' is a webcomic and humor website created in 2009 by cartoonist Matthew Inman. It offers original comics, quizzes, and occasional articles. Inman has produced a series of ''Oatmeal'' books with content from the webcomic and previou ...

'', ''Lunarbaboon'', ''We the Robots'', '' Heart and Brain'', ''

Sarah's Scribbles ''Sarah's Scribbles'' is a webcomic by Sarah Andersen started in 2011. Andersen initially published the webcomic on Tumblr, but has since released it on various services, such as Facebook, Instagram, Tapas and her own website. ''Sarah's Scribbles ...

'', '' Up and Out'', and ''Owl Turd'' as some of the webcomics that inspire him more recently.

Personal life

Gordon was raised in Brockton, Massachusetts. Gordon wanted to be a syndicated comic artist from a young age.Mierau, John.
Brian Gordon Fowl Language Extended Interview
. ''Patreon''. November 23, 2013. Gordon graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design.McFee, David.
S02 E18 The Funnies, Man! An Interview w/ Brian Gordon of Fowl Language Comics
. ''Sahdpod''. October 17, 2017. After freelancing for some time, Gordon earned a master's degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1997. Gordon moved to Kansas for a three-week internship for Hallmark Cards in 1997, which was followed with an offer of employment.Take Eight with Brian Gordon
". ''Bay State Parent''. April 12, 2016. Gordon worked for Hallmark for 18 years. Gordon lives with his wife and their four children in

Westwood, Kansas Westwood is a city in northeast Johnson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,750. It is the second most densely populated city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. History The land where We ...

.Novascone, Dawn Bormann.
Meet the KC comic creator soaring with his 'Fowl' ducks
. ''The Kansas City Star''. May 6, 2016.Coffey, Laura T.
'Fowl Language': Dad's cartoons show what it's REALLY like to be a parent
. ''USA Today''. April 5, 2016. Gordon's children inspire the material for ''Fowl Language''.

References

External links

* ' official web site * ' at TinyView * ' at GoComics * ' at TinyView * ' comic strip archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Brian American webcomic creators Artists from Kansas Artists from Massachusetts Hallmark Cards people Hallmark Cards artists Living people Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni People from Brockton, Massachusetts People from Johnson County, Kansas Syracuse University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)