Darby Conley is an American cartoonist best known for the newspaper comic strip ''

Get Fuzzy ''Get Fuzzy'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip written and drawn by Darby Conley. It features Boston advertising executive Rob Wilco and his two anthropomorphic pets, a dog, Satchel Pooch, and a cat, Bucky Katt. While there have been no new c ...

''.

Biography

Conley was born in

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the confl ...

, in 1970, and grew up in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

. While in high school in 1986, he won a student cartooning competition. During his Senior Year at Doyle High School (now South-Doyle High School) in Knoxville, Conley was voted 'Most Talented' by his graduating class. Conley was a member of Amherst College's a cappella group, the Zumbyes. Conley cited the

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

books as the strongest visual inspiration for his work.

''Get Fuzzy''

Comics syndicate

United Media United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. It ...

agreed in 1999 to publish Conley's new strip ''

'' about an anthropomorphic cat, Bucky, and dog, Satchel, living with their single young-male owner, Rob Wilco, which premiered on September 6, 1999. The idea for Bucky's character came from a friend's

Siamese cat The Siamese cat ( th, แมวไทย, Maeo Thai; แมวสยาม, Maeo Seeaam) is one of the first distinctly recognized breeds of Asian cat. Derived from the Wichianmat landrace, one of several varieties of cat native to Thailand ( ...

. Without explanation, Conley stopped drawing daily ''Get Fuzzy'' strips in 2013. For some time after he drew Sunday strips only, though the last known new Sunday installment was on March 31, 2019. Repeats of the strip are still offered to newspapers today.

Awards

* 2002, National Cartoonists Society Award for Newspaper Comic Strip.

Controversies

On October 30, 2003, the city of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

served as the

punch line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...

of a strip about

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

destinations based on smells. Offended residents of the area deluged the author with negative feedback that included death threats. A May 13, 2005, strip portrayed Boston-area sports reporter

Bob Lobel Robert "Bob" Lobel (born December 24, 1943) is a former sportscaster for WBZ-TV in Boston, Massachusetts. He anchored the sports segments on the evening newscasts between Sunday and Thursday, and hosted the weekly programs ''Sports Final'' and ' ...

as a drunk, prompting Lobel to file libel lawsuits against Conley and his syndicate. The parties announced in November 2005 that they had reached a settlement, although terms of the settlement were not disclosed. As part of the follow-up, the New Bedford Standard-Times dropped ''Get Fuzzy'' from its comics lineup."Bob Lobel Settles LIbel Lawsuit with Darby Conley" (Sports Law, 22 November 2005) accessed 9 March 2019
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Darby American comic strip cartoonists Amherst College alumni People from Knoxville, Tennessee People from Concord, Massachusetts 1970 births Living people Artists from Tennessee Artists from Massachusetts