However, that has nothing to do with this story.* |
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Buffalo Wings is a comic strip I started while attending college in the early 1990s. It was a funny animal, slice-of-life story about a group of friends attending the fictional Boxen University. The artwork back then was crude and the writing melodramatic, but it was the first large-scale, extended project I worked on, and it seemed to be well received by its fans. | |
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| There were actually two distinct versions of Buffalo Wings. I found out about the small-press publishing industry by attending a fiction writing class my sophomore year, and by exploring the then-still-new Internet for information. I developed the concept of a group of friends based loosely on my own social circle, and started publishing in the fanzine Yarf! around 1991. I started the story in medias res, with most of the characters upperclassman and already friends with each other. |
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A few years later, I was approached by Antarctic Press about publishing Buffalo Wings in their Wild Life comic book anthology. By that time, though, I felt the storyline had become mired down and I was unhappy with elements of it, so I decided to start over from scratch, this time placing the characters as freshmen and sophomores instead, and taking the characters in some new directions. | |
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| Unfortunately, Wild Life was cancelled after twelve issues, before many planned new storylines had a chance to come to fruition. For over a decade, the Buffalo Wings story and characters seemed to be in limbo. Occasionally I toyed with the idea of working on it again or even retooling the series from scratch for a third time; but mostly, it seemed that Stuart, Cliff, Sarah, Willard, and the rest of the gang might never return. |
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Until recently, at least. With the original stories reprinted by Sofawolf Press as the Buffalo Wings Reunion, I began to think it might be time once again to continue where things had left off so many years before.
Published under the name Buffalo Wings Annual, and beginning in 2006, these yearly trade paperbacks continue the stories of the characters and bring them into the present day. With regular art by myself and comic artist Vince Suzukawa, plus a host of guest artists. From humble beginnings as a student project, Buffalo Wings has turned into a bit of a collaborative project ... and I think that's just fine. |
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*Note: Actually, there is a connection. My four college roommates used to spend every Wednesday night at a local restaurant, Bridgeworks, for their weekly Buffalo wing special. While struggling to find a title for the comic, one of my friends suggested something odd like "The Wacky Buffalo Wing Encounters." Too silly, I thought, but perhaps if I just took the name "Buffalo Wings" ... |
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All content on this site, unless otherwise indicated, is ©2007 John Nunnemacher/Griffin Park Studio. All rights reserved. Please do not copy or redistribute any portions of this material by mechanical, electronic, or other means. View site history or contact the artist. |
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Where did Buffalo wings come from? According to one popularly accepted historical account, they were created on October 30, 1964, at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. Making a late night snack for her son and his friends, owner Teressa Bellissimo took some of the leftover chicken wings from the kitchen, fried them up, and coated them with a spicy sauce. A side of celery and bleu cheese dressing to ease the heat, and Buffalo wings were born.