''The Barn'' is a
comic
a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
created by Canadian cartoonist Ralph Hagen and
syndicated
Syndication may refer to:
* Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system
* Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips
* Web syndication, ...
by
Creators Syndicate starting in October, 2008. While the strip has a number of characters, the humor of the strip is based on the daily adventures, mishaps, and/or dialogue between a curious sheep named Rory and a sarcastic bull named Stan. Storylines mimic the everyday experiences of their human captors. The setting is a farm yard next door to a veterinary clinic, where Stan and Rory usually spend time with the owner and vet, Brenda.
After 25 years working in the
Chevron oilfields of
Alberta, Hagen took an early retirement in 2004 and decided to work 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 ...
full-time.
While developing potential strips for
syndication he worked as a freelance artist selling to clients, newspapers, and magazines such as ''
Reader's Digest'', ''
Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...
'' and ''
Woman's World''. Hagen turned in multiple strips to syndicates hoping for a contract with no success. Hagen then came up with two concepts: one was rough drafts of a strip that involved farm animals, with a bull and sheep as the main characters; the other was about animals in a vet clinic.
The creators then suggested to combine the two ideas.
Hagen turned in 20 rough drafts to
Creators Syndicate and within weeks got a contract. After 6 months of preparation and revision, the strip was released in October, 2008.
Hagen first brainstorms ideas on a scratch piece of paper then transfers the ideas to a finished copy on white copy paper; inking with a Sakura 08 micron pen. Next the drawing is scanned in
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a raster graphics editor developed and published by Adobe Inc. for Microsoft Windows, Windows and macOS. It was originally created in 1988 by Thomas Knoll, Thomas and John Knoll. Since then, the software has become the indu ...
, the frames and lettering are added as well. The artwork is then sent to Vertis Communication in
Buffalo, New York for coloring (Hagen colors the Sunday weekly himself). Vertis then sends the artwork to Creators Syndicate in
Los Angeles where it is checked for spelling and punctuation errors before sending the final product to subscribed papers.
References
External links
The Barn website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barn
Canadian comic strips
2008 comics debuts
American comic strips
Satirical comics
Gag-a-day comics
Humor comics
Slice of life comics
Fictional farms
Fictional cattle
Fictional sheep
Comics about animals
Comics set on farms