Blog for Suits and Guarders--a cartoon by Ian Johnson - Suits and Guarders

Watch for the Whistle

1/12/2020

Here is the most recent comic strip for “Suits and Guarders.” As you can see, I’ve taken pictures of each panel, because I do not have access to a scanner. While I’d rather do a scan, this does show you how the panels look without touching up.

This comic was inspired by a co-worker who was attempting to catapult his whistle clear across the pool. He got as far as the lifeguard stand which was only about 15 feet away, but it wasn’t a total loss because the idea made it into a comic strip. It’s amazing how friends will perform crazy stunts once they know there’s a chance of it being recorded on paper. All I said was something along the lines of, “Local lifeguard hits swimmer with whistle,” and our wheels started spinning. Since he knew about the comic strip I drew and was a fan of it as well, he not only encouraged me to draw it, but came up with the outline and dialog for each panel. All I really had to do was illustrate it and bring it to life. I guess my work just got easier.

I finished my next to last semester and though I only had two classes it felt like I was doing a bit more. Math is a subject that I am pretty good at, however, I never really applied myself before. So, returning to it was like building a jigsaw puzzle with multiple formulas--some things I remembered and other things were completely forgotten. Fortunately, I had an instructor that explained how to utilize the formulas as well as how to understand the functions. My art class was a breeze, but like every other class, it required time out of class. And art requires a great deal of time and effort. I found that finding time to complete projects was my biggest challenge. The pictures below are part of my final project, and though this isn't a Halloween blog, the reduced value charcoal portrait sure does make it seem that way. Reduced value charcoal means that all values are minimized or reduced to three shades: black, white and gray. This art project confirmed something I have always known. I am downright scary!

For this coming year, I will be finishing my final semester and then I'll have my associates in Architectural Technology. I am hoping to find an internship this semester so I can hit the ground running. Not sure where I’ll be, but it will sure be exciting, challenging, and as a cartoonist, it will be humorous…. Well, for me anyway. I find humor everywhere!

The Tangled Hose

8/20/2018

I really love Thomas' posture in this one.

One of the lessons I’ve learned in life: Everyone is good at something. One person can’t be good at everything.

Many comics are fueled by the element of reaction.

Jonathan and Bernard are the straight men of this comic strip, but you can quickly see that they have a little flare for stirring up trouble. I don’t think they will follow through on this one because there is no way that Thomas is going to miraculously become the next Houdini.

I’m still tied up at the moment in this one.

The reference to “Caliban” comes from Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” Caliban is a monster that dwells on an island somewhere near Naples and in one of the acts, he meets a drunkard by the name of Stephano and becomes fixated on his wine. When Caliban is crawling about praising him for the contents of his bottle, Stephano says “Come, swear to that, kiss the book. I will furnish it anon with new contents, swear.” Like Caliban, Thomas is crawling on the pool deck.

Out of Class and Upstage

7/23/2018

Thomas is tangled in the water hose in a recent comic.

The busy summer is coming to a close….ok, not yet. Summer school is finished, however I am still attending rehearsals for a musical so I’m not there yet. About one month ago, I began rehearsing as part of the ensemble for Orange Community Players production of Oklahoma. I started late only because I did not intend to be in the show. I felt I had too much to do with summer school and work but theatre almost always has a shortage of guys. Guess who has to sing and dance now?

Since being out of summer school for a little over a week now, it’s been nice to sleep in each morning. Technically, I’m gonna need it because rehearsals are running a little bit later now as we get close to showtime. With gathering at the theatre every night and the production set to open this coming Thursday, it will be a busy week for all of the cast and crew.
If you are local in the triangle area, tickets may be purchased online at:

Orange Community Players

In the cartoon world, I’m getting a little work done with “Suits and Guarders” and in the process of doing copyright for “Ivan the Terrible.” I plan to get more done in August before the next school year cranks up. The architectural technology program is turning out to be a good fit for me so I am looking forward to classes starting back again.

Hose-a-constrictor

7/16/2018

Thomas is tangled!

There is no proper guidebook for housekeeping when one becomes a lifeguard, probably because every facility is different. Instead of a book, lifeguards have a checklist with daily chores which is discussed briefly by supervisors at an in-service. Whether or not the chores get done really depends on how thorough the staff is, how crowded the pool gets, or if we were really paying attention when we were briefed. Personally, I am glad that I don’t have to find something like this in a manual but I might look at it differently if my comics ever come to life.

Even the most coordinated sort of person may sometimes gets stuck in a peculiarly tangled situation. Unfortunately, Thomas is not one of those blessed with the ability of eye-hand coordination! I came up with this idea when I was watching a guard hose down the locker rooms at an outdoor pool about one year ago. While he was walking around with the hose trailing behind him, I began to ponder the “what if” the hose got tangled? The strangest things sure seem to enter my mind.

Now that summer school is over, I will have a little more spare time for cartooning again. This comic is the first of six in a series, because sometimes my imagination just runs wild!

On Making Cartoons

6/25/2018

Three weeks ago, I described the crazy things that can take place during rec swim. This week I reveal the hilarity of the lap swim hours. Lap swim begins at 6:00 in the morning and proceeds throughout the day, but the lively and humorous times generally start around 7:30. I think the reason is that by 7:30, the crowd who are trying to swim and get to work have mostly left. They are literally just trying to “get-er-dun” and get to work on time.

Many of the the lap swimmers where I work know of my cartoon and quite a few of them were my earliest subscribers. It’s all one large family where they jokingly heckle one another if one of them hasn’t been in the water in a while. Sometimes they banter to take a break from swimming laps too. There are many stories that they have shared from their lives, sometimes serious stories and other times just outright funny. Some of these stories, I have made into cartoons, which makes “Suits and Guarders” a fun collaboration, especially when it comes to my “lap swimmer” character.

I printed out the first panel of this comic and posted it on the bulletin board at the pool and encouraged the lap swimmers to fill in the blank on what they thought was the reason for tearing down the diving board. Not everyone draws cartoons, but most people are gifted humorists. I was intrigued at how each response, independent of each other, ranged from being seriously thought out to completely off the wall. Here are the responses, which may become cartoons at a later date:

Because If you didn’t know how to swim and you used it, you would drown.
Too many swimmers were clipping their feet doing flip turns.
Because it was broken!
Increased insurance cost?
People abused the privilege.
To make way for the curly-que 15 foot slide and parachute drop.
Not deep enough water? Someone got hurt?
Wasn’t high enough to hang swimsuits
City or State regulation regarding open deck space.
Too many casualties with the kayakers below.
Click here to see the ending of the comic above: Suits and Guarders on Tapastic.
And for a great example of a “collaborative cartoon,” try “Deep Dark Fears” by Fran Krause also on Tapastic. It will give you new things to shiver about!

Lessons in Laughter

6/6/2018

Sketches of a few scenes from the day.

Currently with my summer school schedule, I am not really available to work much at the pool, except for Fridays. This Friday, I was reunited with many lap swimmers whom I have not seen in months. One even gave me a hug just because we had not talked in ages. Another lap swimmer jokingly asked me in response to my previous blog if I had been to any good picnics recently. The small community of lap swimmers is the real reason why I love working morning shifts.

But the real gift of this past Friday came during recreational swim when a group of young guys walked in for free swim. They were all between the ages of 16 and 19 so I knew from the moment they walked out onto the pool deck that there was going to be some limit testing. There are easily eight comics here. Do you agree?

A few of the guys did not bring a swimsuit, so they decided to check the lost and found hamper on the deck, wearing only their underwear! (We talked about other ways they could have handled this.)
One guy jumped into the pool with his socks on and three more were going to do the same thing but I had the first guy hop out and take off his soaking wet socks.
One did a backflip off the side so I had him sit out for ten minutes.
Another guy was running and slipped on the deck. I checked to be sure that he was okay and then said in a cheeky tone, “I guess we just learned why we don’t run on the deck.” Of course, he and his friends all laughed.
Another proceeded to run after witnessing his friend slip and fall so I sat both of them out.
I told the guys to use the two step rule when jumping in the deep end. This is just a way to slow down the momentum before hitting the water. I quizzed one of them about how many steps he really took. He hesitated and held up three fingers with a grin on his face.
One guy acted like he was throwing the basketball into the hoop, but instead, threw it at another guy’s head.
The second guy I sat out for running said, “I have one more minute left, right?” I shook my head with a smile and said, “Three more.” All his friends burst out laughing.

All of the stories above are true, without fabrication or exaggeration.

One of the guys was really interested in being a better swimmer and was asking about taking swim lessons. He also had the desire to learn how to do a flip turn. He was asking questions about how it was done. When I got off the stand on my down rotation, I hopped in the water and gave him the basics, and he probably wasn’t expecting that to happen. Once I gave some instruction to him, two more of his friends had joined in, and then another two. Sure enough, I was teaching all ten of them how to do a flip turn and how to dive from the side by the end of my shift.

Since Friday, I have spent time writing down dialog and thinking about developing a few teenage characters to add to the mix of Suits and Guarders. While I am still not sure where this will go, one thing is certain--it will be funny. And the characters will be very likeable because all of these guys were. Even though I don’t often work at the pool anymore, these strange, eventful and hilarious moments always seem to find me which is why I am still writing comic strips!

Let's Have a Picnic!

5/28/2018

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial day is a wonderful time for picnics and remembering our soldiers who have given their lives for our freedom. This cartoon is really just about picnics but I thought I would share it with you during this holiday weekend.
There are quite a few outdoor pools that are set up with grills right beside them. So in many ways, this comic was screaming to get written. I think Arnold is hopeful that someone will bring him some food. Kurt, on the other hand, isn’t so sure.

There are perks to having a grilling station near a pool, unless Hansel and Gretel start leaving bread crumbs on the pool deck for the wildlife. Then look out for the furry visitors!

Let Her Rip!!

5/7/2018

Thomas loves hosing things down.

Thomas clearly enjoys hosing down locker rooms, but doesn’t seem to grasp that Kurt may not enjoy it, even though he may deserve a good soaking! This particular strip is part of a set of outdoor comics which I pretty much wrote in one sitting after working at a few outdoor pools. There is a significant contrast in atmosphere, patrons and duties when comparing indoor lifeguarding to outdoor lifeguarding: The beating sunlight and neighborhood recreation swimmers versus a noisy HVAC with light fixtures and the lap swimmer that just got off work.

The secondary duties that a lifeguard has to perform are much different however. For instance, indoor locations require locking up and setting a facility alarm system at closing. Outdoor locations involve locking up as well, but also placing things like a backboard and shepherd’s crook in a storage closet before leaving. What inspired this comic was the fact that there may be no janitor for an outdoor pool, so lifeguards may be required to hose down the locker rooms every night. Not very many lifeguards enjoy hosing stuff down. (We can sometimes be a lazy bunch.) If Kurt receives a wet shirt in return for not doing the grunt work, maybe next time, he’ll pitch in!

The Art of Observance

4/23/2018

Julie's correct! Guys observe too much!

I’m not going to lie. The comment made by Thomas has been true on numerous occasions, so I won’t go into detail on that one. The word Liz might be looking for is something more along the lines of relatable. Of course that would never happen, because if it did, there would be no mystery in the process of girl meets boy and guys might become bored with the whole process of interaction. Gee, imagine that?!

In this case, Julie is right, as always. Guys can be too observant, and yet, it still doesn’t make us more relatable. I know this because guys still go out and make fools of themselves. You may be asking yourself why? It’s plain and simple. We’re guys. Just think of all the entertainment that takes place whenever a guy says to another guy, “Hey, watch this!” I’d say Julie is pretty observant. Anyway, score one for Julie and zip for Liz!

What Did the Lifeguard Say?

4/16/2018

The truth is, Kurt didn’t tell him yes or no. Probably because he would have tried to pull the same stunt when he was this kid’s age.

If you want to inspire yourself to laugh more, being around kids is the best way to accomplish this. A kid asked me something similar to this once, however, it was much more skilled towards trickery and less obvious like it’s written here. The kid was sneaky and quite a handful, but what gave it away was the cheeky grin on his face which he was trying to hide when he asked the question. I replied back to him with something along the lines of, “Do you think that’s a good idea?” He knew it was wrong, but no one can blame a kid for genuinely asking a question---no matter how profound it may be. Overall, I think the kid was just curious to see what my response was.

It’s funny how children act towards lifeguards. Many of them know the rules because they are there frequently in the summertime, but they still enjoy pushing the boundaries just a little further each time. If the lifeguards handle this well and enforce the rules consistently, there is actually more respect between the kids and lifeguards, not at first, but overtime. Every child wants attention, but what they really want is someone who’s almost like a mentor, someone who accepts them. When they come to a pool, that authority figure is the lifeguard. If they obey the pool rules, they get to stay there all day, well, at least until closing time. You don’t have to do too much as a lifeguard to be liked by kids. Sometimes just giving a sincere look like Kurt does in the third panel is all that is needed.