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DRAWING IN THE DEEP FREEZE: THE TUNDRA COMICS STORY

walked out of there thinking my career was over
before it even began.”
But a week later, the editor called and said
he had shown them around the newsroom, and
people seemed to like them, so he would run the
strip. In 2005, Tundra Comics began branching
out into papers outside of Alaska, and today it
runs in 400-500 papers weekly.
Drawing Alaska
Before Alaska became his signature, Chris
had to discover his audience. After high school,
the built-in crowd he’d always drawn for
disappeared. Searching for direction, he went
to Florida to work in his uncle’s gallery. The
Sunshine State was a hotbed of established
cartoonists who helped shape his path and
offered career advice.
“I was told to draw what I know,” said Chris.
And what Chris knew was Alaska-it’s wildlife, its
culture, and its quirks, so after a few years, he
headed back home.
That decision gave Tundra Comics its distinct
voice, and while it is rooted in Alaska wildlife, he
doesn’t box himself in. “If it’s funny, it’s funny,
and if it’s better with a kangaroo, I’ll draw that
even though Alaska doesn’t have them.”
It would be easy to assume that someone
with Chris’s success has always been confident
in his craft, but he’s the first to say that isn’t
true. “I don’t even think I started getting to
where I liked what I draw until maybe 12 to 15
years ago,” he said. “And I’ve been doing this
for 35 years.”
But for Chris, the strength isn’t just in the
Chris Carpenter knew what we wanted to do drawing; it’s in the ideas. And they don’t come
at 10 years old. He didn’t take a career path quiz on command. “I get most of my ideas when
or map a 15-year plan. He saw a Garfield comic I’m either driving or when I’m half asleep,” he
book, borrowed it from a classmate, and said to explained. “It’s in that zone where your mind
himself, “This is what I want to do.” just kind of wanders. Some days I get nothing,
Today, Chris is the creator behind Tundra and other days I get three or four ideas. It’s very
Comics, a comic strip that has grown from five organic. There’s no schedule to it. It just has to
local papers into a nationally recognized series happen when it happens.
appearing in hundreds of newspapers across the After more than three decades, Chris isn’t
country. But what makes his story compelling slowing down. He continues to produce
isn’t just the reach, it’s how he got there. new comics every day, release calendars,
A Different Way In merchandise, t-shirts, and a book every 15
In the late 80s and early 90s, the path to months. And through it all, Alaska remains at
becoming a newspaper cartoonist was rigid the center.
and near impossible. You needed a syndicate, “I really feel blessed that I’m able to do what
essentially an agent, and those syndicates may I love ever since I was a little kid. And it’s been
pick up only a handful of cartoonists each year. a really fun ride. And I’m not ready to quit yet.
Chris chose not to wait. “I went a totally So I’m hoping the next 35 years or so will be
different way than what was normal. The just as fun.”
chances of becoming a successful newspaper Chris continues to do things his own way and
cartoonist were very slim….so I decided to walk makes people laugh, one moose, one bear, one
into my local paper in Anchorage, Alaska, with panel at a time.
36 strips.” Tundra Comics books and merchandise can
The hard-nosed editor’s reaction didn’t be found in stores, on Amazon, and on Chris’s
inspire confidence. website: tundracomics.com. When you order
“He showed no emotion whatsoever,” Chris from his website, he personally signs each book
laughed. “He didn’t crack a smile or anything. I and draws a graphic.

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