Dog Tag Art, an Asheville, North Carolina based company that focuses on keeping pets safe with colorful custom pet ID tags, has joined forces with local artist and writer Kathleen McCafferty to bring her web comic to the masses. The comic series is entitled "This American Dog", with a nod to NPR’s popular radio program "This American Life", and features the ongoing adventures of McCafferty’s spunky terrier, Ira G.
"I’m thrilled to bring 'This American Dog' to Dog Tag Art’s amazing audience. Their custom pet tags are just the coolest, and their fans are simply the best. Their online community is really active and enormous, with over 55,000 Facebook fans! It’s an incredible opportunity, and I can’t wait to introduce the chronicles of Ira G., my mischievous dog with a mohawk, to this fun-loving community.”
The web comic will be hosted on the Dog Tag Art website and will be updated periodically with new issues and stories. McCafferty is working with Dog Tag Art’s own Pia Wuerfel who is the colorist for each issue.
“Pia is a graphic designer and head of artist relations at Dog Tag Art. She is a really talented artist. She’s working with my hand-drawn strips and digitally coloring them with painstaking care, making them look amazing! 'This American Dog' wouldn’t have happened without Pia’s support and enthusiasm, and I’m so grateful for our collaboration.”
Ira G. is named after Ira Glass, the host of NPR’s "This American Life". McCafferty, a big fan of the program for years, decided to loosely base the new comic strip format on the radio show. “'This American Life' is traditionally done in four acts,” explained McCafferty, “although there is some deviation. "This American Dog" will follow the same school of thought and is a simple, four-paneled comic with a lot of heart.”
The new web comic series will feature insights about everyday life from Ira G.’s unique point of view, with his signature wry sense of humor. "This American Dog" will launch on Dog Tag Art’s website on Memorial Day 2013 to much fanfare and a special “Ira G-approved” pet ID tag sale. Dog Tag Art believes that the new comic will not only give customers a cute and colorful story to follow, but will also establish Ira G. into the hearts of their large fan base.
Dog Tag Art’s Operations Manager, Russ Barker, is also very excited about the partnership stating “When I first saw Kathleen’s work I instantly knew it would not only be the perfect addition to our web site but something that our fans would truly fall in love with and want to follow on a regular basis. My next action was to contact Kathleen and get the ball rolling on this project as soon as I possibly could and I am definitely thrilled with the result.”
About Dog Tag Art
Dog Tag Art makes high-quality personalized pet ID tags for dogs and cats and other tag-wearing pets, out of Asheville, North Carolina. Customers can design their own tags using personal images, or choose from over 1,000 original artist-designed custom tags. Dog Tag Art custom pet tags are guaranteed for life and made with a sturdy recycled steel core and coated, permanent graphics. The company was founded by owner Jack Carrier, to ensure the safety and safe return of his beloved wandering Chocolate Lab, Maggie. Dog Tag Art has been featured on Regis and Kelly, as well as in The New York Post, Dog Fancy, and in several other publications.
