TOLEDO

Flies and soup, a combination fit for a frog.

Iowa artist and author Michael D. Davis specializes in the artistically strange and comically abstract, including his widespread “Flysoup” comic, potentially seen in many Iowan newspapers. “Flysoup” typically features one panel with frog-human hybrid-esque characters doing wacky things, accompanied by a witty one-liner to tie the black-and-white, old-school aesthetic together.

Michael D. Davis.

“Flysoup’s” inception took few steps before the eventual leap.

It began roughly two years ago when Davis recalled that his local newspaper, the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle, did not run comics when he was a kid. Instead, Davis had to pick up a Sunday copy of the Des Moines Register to get the ‘funny page’ experience.

This was still reality.

To combat this, Davis came up with his own idea: “Local Lunacy,” a comic that shares similarities with “Flysoup” – not yet created at the time – but caters to local audiences.

“Six months later, people were loving it,” Davis said in regard to Local Lunacy.

This profoundly tied Davis to the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle where he eventually earned a job. He continues to draft Local Lunacy while writing a witty, comical column entitled “Magic Mike 6XL” which has been nominated for an award at the 2023 Iowa Better Newspaper Contest in February.

“I really love doing my cartoons and I really love writing. The only person I’m trying to make laugh is myself,” Davis said. “Every I make, I guarantee you it’s made me laugh, and I figure if it made me laugh, it’s going to make someone else laugh.”

“It’s just been a dream to do something like this,” Davis added.

Since the “Local Lunacy” experience at the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle went swimmingly, Davis decided, why stop there?

“I know that there’s a lot of small-town papers that can’t afford a cartoonist and I’m sure there’s a lot of kids out there in our small towns that love ‘Garfield’ or ‘Peanuts’ and don’t have a paper that carry them. I won’t be that, but I’d be some sort of alternative,” Davis said.

To do this, Davis started drafting frogs. He wanted a comic featuring animals rather than people. Eventually, the “Flysoup” name was born from thin air.

After conceiving, working with and perfecting “Flysoup,” Davis completed the cycle, sending the comic statewide. Some newspapers ignored Davis. Some were baffled, not believing the comics were free. Others said they’d use the comic if they had space. No matter the response, Davis continues to send his comic.

He does not know “Flysoup’s” reach because of the lack of communication but hopes to send it even further in the future.

Inside Davis’ mind

It’s taken many years, and tries, for Davis to develop his unique, artistic style. He started drawing at a very young age. Since, he’s pooled a plethora of inspiration from many different directions.

“When I was younger, definitely, my biggest influence was Looney Tunes. I’d just sit in front of the TV, pause the show, and draw Bugs Bunny straight from there,” Davis said. “Every cartoonist that I love, I feel like I have taken a little bit from them.”

As Davis accumulates experience, his routine continually evolves. One aspect includes avoiding technology as much as possible.

“The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to go about it, because I’m not a tech person. I take the comic and scan it in,” Davis said. “The technology is always changing with art. I don’t really care for that because I don’t care for technology. If I could do without it, I would.”

Even his drawing style continues to shift.

“I used to draw my cartoons in pencil and then put another piece of paper over it and I’d ink it on a lightboard. But that seemed to take too long my hand started hurting after a while,” Davis said. “In the last six months or so, I’ve totally taken out the second thing. Now, I just take out my brush pen and I go straight into drawing. I feel like that gives it a more of a sketchy, sloppy style. But I kind of like that a little bit more.”

Davis did mention that his initial way of doing things resulted in more ‘professional’ looking art. He just preferred the latter.

Art is subjective and will constantly change, even for Davis, meaning one day he might return to his old way of doing it or develop an entirely new routine that fits the project at his fingertips.

Publishing a career

In high school, Davis began sending his short stories and comics to various online websites. After developing connections, he found himself in contact with a publisher out of New York.

This publisher helped ink Davis’ work in print form.

“I was apparently making them too fast for,” Davis said with a chuckle. “He taught me how to publish my own books through Amazon. I’ve been doing that ever since.” 

There is a big difference between Davis’ published work and his newspaper work.

“[‘Flysoup’] is kind of watered down because I figured it would be in the public papers, I have to kind of go a little smooth with it,” Davis said. “But my books are really weird.”

This list of weird includes a short story about ‘Humptystein,’ the hybrid of Humpty Dumpty and Frankenstein, and a cartoon collection entitled “101 Ways My Family Might Die, But Probably Won’t,” among others.

Davis has recently delved into coloring books as well. They do not stray the path of weird, either. The coloring books seem to be his most popular work and he is excited to work on them since they are enjoyed by both adults and children.

“I was surprised about how many people love because they’re really strange,” Davis said. “I was surprised about how many adults actually color and stuff because I’m not a coloring person, I’m black and white. I wasn’t even a kid who colored.”

Davis’ current collection of coloring books is a happy median where he gets to draw out interesting works in black and white and consumers get to add their own flare for color. Everyone is left happy. His current list includes one with monsters, stranger faces and Victorian dressed animals. He is working on an ABCs coloring book that emphasizes a rhyming scheme throughout, as well.

Inspiration for Davis wanes. Some days he has too much, others, he has none. Yet he perseveres. He does so because of how important he finds this medium.

“You could be having a bad day, but then you look at a cartoon and feel a little bit better, especially in a newspaper,” Davis said. “It kind of breaks things up. That’s kind of all I want out of stuff. If I make a few people laugh, that’s all I want.”

Davis’ work can be found on Amazon by typing his name, Michael D. Davis, into the search bar. Additionally, his columns can be found on the Tama-Toledo News Chronicle website.