Downstown
Encyclopedia
Downstown was an American
comic strip
created by Tim Downs
in the spring of 1974, during his junior year of college at Indiana University
. It began as a college feature. In the strip, Josh and John were college roommates sharing an off-campus apartment, Fred was a student who directed registration and worked at a local restaurant, and Chuck Laylo was an exceptionally smooth and cool fraternity man—a member of the imaginary Sigma Theta fraternity. The first college to ever publish Downstown was the New York Institute of Technology
in Old Westbury, New York
.
In the fall of 1975, at the beginning of his final year as a fine arts student, Tim Downs brought Downstown to Indiana University's paper, the Indiana Daily Student
, which immediately began to publish the strip as a daily feature. The strip soon began syndication to other college newspapers.
For the next five years, Downstown appeared in a variety of campus papers across the United States. During this period, three collections of Downstown were published by the Indiana Daily Student: This is Winning?; With Love, Chuck; and Get in There and Quit.
In the fall of 1979, Universal Press Syndicate
agreed to begin syndication of Downstown. Universal felt that a college setting was too narrow for a commercial strip, so Downstown became a strip about singles.
The first syndicated Downstown released on March 24, 1980 in 46 newspapers. The strip appeared as a daily and Sunday feature for the next six years. The strip ended with a week-long going-away party attended by characters from other strips. In the final strip (published February 1, 1986), the main character, John, poked a hole in the bottom of the strip border with a pickaxe and the characters were sucked through the opening.
Another collection was self-published by Downs following the end of the strip, The Laylo Papers: The Complete Guide to Relationships. The book remains in print and available for direct order from Downs.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created by Tim Downs
Tim Downs
Tim Downs is an American author best known for his "Bug Man" series of novels featuring forensic entomologist Dr. Nick Polchak. The series includes the books "Like Flies To A Corpse" later re-named Shoofly Pie , Chop Shop , First the Dead , Less Than Dead , Ends of the Earth , as well as, a new...
in the spring of 1974, during his junior year of college at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. It began as a college feature. In the strip, Josh and John were college roommates sharing an off-campus apartment, Fred was a student who directed registration and worked at a local restaurant, and Chuck Laylo was an exceptionally smooth and cool fraternity man—a member of the imaginary Sigma Theta fraternity. The first college to ever publish Downstown was the New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology
New York Institute of Technology is a private, non-sectarian, co-educational research university in New York City. NYIT has five schools and two colleges, all with a strong emphasis on technology and applied scientific research...
in Old Westbury, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In the fall of 1975, at the beginning of his final year as a fine arts student, Tim Downs brought Downstown to Indiana University's paper, the Indiana Daily Student
Indiana Daily Student
The Indiana Daily Student is an independent, student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana since 1867. The IDS is free and distributed throughout the campus and city.- Circulation :...
, which immediately began to publish the strip as a daily feature. The strip soon began syndication to other college newspapers.
For the next five years, Downstown appeared in a variety of campus papers across the United States. During this period, three collections of Downstown were published by the Indiana Daily Student: This is Winning?; With Love, Chuck; and Get in There and Quit.
In the fall of 1979, Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate
Universal Press Syndicate, a subsidiary of Andrews McMeel Universal, is the world's largest independent press syndicate. It distributes lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and other content. Popular columns include Dear Abby, Ann Coulter, Roger Ebert and News of the Weird...
agreed to begin syndication of Downstown. Universal felt that a college setting was too narrow for a commercial strip, so Downstown became a strip about singles.
The first syndicated Downstown released on March 24, 1980 in 46 newspapers. The strip appeared as a daily and Sunday feature for the next six years. The strip ended with a week-long going-away party attended by characters from other strips. In the final strip (published February 1, 1986), the main character, John, poked a hole in the bottom of the strip border with a pickaxe and the characters were sucked through the opening.
Another collection was self-published by Downs following the end of the strip, The Laylo Papers: The Complete Guide to Relationships. The book remains in print and available for direct order from Downs.