‘TUNDRA’ STRUCK An Alaskan cartoonist with Maine ties brings his funny fauna to an ever-widening audience

Ever since Gary Larson retired, “The Far Side” fans have yearned for a successor – not a clone, just something always funny, often skewed, and completely worthy of that single-panel spot in the comics. To me, we’ve finally found it in Alaskan native Chad Carpenter’s “Tundra.”

“I don’t mind being compared to ‘The Far Side,'” said Carpenter. “Gary Larson is one of the comic giants. It’s like a young boxer being compared to Muhammad Ali – pretty sweet comparison.”

“Tundra” debuted in the Bangor Daily News a few months ago, but it has a long history. Technically, it began when Carpenter was young enough to hold a pencil; he drew anything, so long as it was funny. But this was just a pastime until he moved to Florida and met cartoonist Dik Browne, creator of “Hagar the Horrible.” He was soon visiting Browne’s studio, watching him draw. “It was a pretty surreal experience for me,” he said.

He befriended another Florida cartoonist – Mike Peters, creator of “Mother Goose & Grimm.” When Carpenter asked how Peters could draw a strip daily for years without tiring of it, Peters said, “Draw what you know.”

So Carpenter returned to Alaska and did just that. His father, a Department of Fish and Game officer, used to bring injured animals home, so the Alaskan fauna became his character pool. It was no gold mine; during the early years, he almost became a state trooper. He became a security guard. “I started thinking, I’d rather hit the cartooning than be a cop,” Carpenter said. “For one thing, I’m too goofy to carry a gun. I think everyone’s safer because of that.”

Carpenter found local success in Alaskan newspapers and through self-published collections; his first book, with a print run of 3,000, sold out in six weeks. But 14 years into “Tundra’s” run, Bill Kellogg, a close friend who sold Alaskan gift-shop items to tourist shops, urged Carpenter to let him take the strip on the road to “see what he could do with it.”

“Bill’s an incredible salesman,” Carpenter said. “He’s great with first impressions. He’s charming.”

Apparently so. Less than two years later, “Tundra” appears in nearly 200 newspapers – reportedly the most successful self-syndicated strip ever. Competition is tough; when “Tundra” hits a newspaper, it’s often competing with three to 10 other strips being tested. “We’ve been pretty blessed that ‘Tundra’ does very well,” Carpenter said.

At 40, with “Tundra” spreading to Europe thanks to King Features, Carpenter has found his groove. His wife manages the business end of things, and his kids seem unfazed by his success. “I think it’s one of those things where they’re so close to it, they don’t seem terribly impressed,” Carpenter said. “They’re so used to seeing me walk around the house in my pajamas, unshaven.”

So is it the pajamas and scruffy face that fuel his creativity? Sure, every artist hates the question “Where do you get your ideas?” but I had to ask it.

“I ate a lot of lead paint chips as a child,” Carpenter joked. “But the truthful answer is I get 90 to 95 percent of my ideas when I’m half-asleep. I have to be trying to come up with an idea at the time. I have to lay down and get in that zone and be half-asleep.”

But when it comes to his success, Carpenter is wide-awake. As an example of the little guy making it big, Carpenter has some advice for aspiring cartoonists: “Live at home as long as possible.”

But seriously: Get into any publications you can. “School newspaper, local paper, even if it’s a weekly or biweekly, just so you can get an audience,” he said. “I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have an audience. I’m too lazy. It’s the audience that really motivates me.”

If we’re lucky, we might see Carpenter around town. His wife has family in southern Maine, and Carpenter has visited here. “It’s definitely someplace I wouldn’t mind living,” he said. “Maine, for some reason, has always been special to me. I’m thrilled to be in the Bangor Daily News. … my wife and I agree if we didn’t live in Alaska, we’d be in Maine. In fact, the last time we were there, we were going through all the real estate magazines.”

He’s a big fan of both Gen. Joshua Chamberlain and Stephen King. And where’s King’s summer home? Sarasota, Fla., where Carpenter met Dik Browne and Mike Peters. Maybe it’s some grand circle in Carpenter’s life; if it is, he’ll complete it using his unique brand of humor.

“As corny as it may sound, my main goal is just to make people laugh,” Carpenter said. “There are enough things in this world causing stress and grief; I’d like to do my part to counteract a little bit of it. I know I have succeeded when someone tells me they cut out one of my strips and put it on their refrigerator. The fridge is the ‘home art gallery,’ the ultimate compliment.”