EUGENE, Ore. — Eugene cartoonist Jan Eliot is ending daily production of her widely syndicated “Stone Soup” comic.
Sisters Val and Joan and all their kith and kin — second husbands, feisty mom with the much-younger husband, kids with all their perversities and even a dog named Biscuit — will still be in full-color print on Sundays, but the last week of the daily black-and-white frames will be the week of Oct. 12.
Eliot could not immediately be reached for comment. But according to a news release from her syndicate, Universal Uclick, Eliot simply wants more time for herself.
“Every Monday morning, there it is, the blank paper that represents the seven comic strips that need to be created,” Eliot said in the news release. “I have reached a point in life where I’d like to be free of these daily deadlines — free to travel more, spend more time with family and friends, pursue other creative projects.”
Those could include writing, photography, marine science and scientific illustration, “but most of all, I’m looking forward to having just one great cartoon to create every week, to linger over the drawing and ideas, and savor the fun of it.”
After all, she’s been at it for at least 25 years.
Before syndication fame, Eliot was a single mom — a staple theme of the comic strip — working full-time, raising two daughters and trying to get a comic strip off the ground.
Her first effort was called “Patience and Sarah,” about a single mom and her daughter, that ran in 10 weekly and monthly newspapers. Then, while working as a copywriter and graphic designer, she created “Sister City,” which appeared in The Register-Guard for five years. Then “Stone Soup” was picked up in 1995 by University Uclick’s previous incarnation, Universal Press Syndicate.
By now, life has changed for both Eliot and the strip; like Val and Joan, the real-life artist has remarried, and her own daughters are grown with families of their own.
According to Universal Uclick, “Stone Soup” has a following in more than 250 publications worldwide.
“I am not at all ready to give up my Stone Soup family, which is why I am looking forward to continuing the Sunday strips,” Eliot told Universal Uclick. “I am very grateful I have the opportunity to do that, and I hope my fans will continue to follow the fun and chaos of the Stone clan.”
