In January, 1993, cartoonist Jeff ("Shoe") MacNelly began a second daily anthropomorphic comic strip that had developed a cult status as one of the best "audience participation strips" in the funny pages. "Pluggers" had invited its readers to submit ideas for its characters to deal with life's little situations, and is still doing so to this very day. (When Mr. MacNelly passed away in June, 2000, fellow cartoonist and good friend Gary Brookins took over the role as 'Chief Plugger'.)

My own first published 'pluggerism' (back in September, 1994) featured a Post Office customer plunking down a ten-dollar bill and requesting 1,000 one-cent stamps - with the caption below reading "Pluggers are always prepared for the next postal rate hike."

Of course, when I'd sent in my first 'pluggerisms' in the last decade, I drew my own art, and sent the image to Mr. MacNelly in letter form. More recently, loyal readers were able to submit their drawings and 'pluggerisms' by both letters and postcards... Until I got the news last Wednesday.

In the October 14, 2009 edition of the "Pluggers" strip, a corpulent canine made the following announcement: "...The USPS branch where the official Pluggers P.O. Box is located is located is on the government's list for possible closure. Until we find out if, indeed, the branch is closing, please send Plugger mail to pluggermail[at]aol.com . Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience."

Needless to say, I was fit to be tied, because I'd just sent Mr. Brookins two new 'pluggerisms' via postcard to the aforementioned P.O. Box address, and now I'm unsure if he'd even received them. So, to play it safe, I took the two images of my artwork (which I photocopied back in September, in the unlikely event my postcards ever got lost in the mail), and scanned and colored each one of them. Subsequently, each image was sent to the E-mail address above. Of course, this is no guarantee that Mr. Brookins will consider posting either one of them (with his own art, of course) in "Pluggers", but it will give me "peace of mind", knowing that he finally received them from me...

And, just in case they DON'T get published in the dozens of national newspapers "Pluggers" appears in, I thought I'd post my own artwork and 'pluggerisms' here in "Fur Affinity" for your own amusement.

This first of two offerings is the obligatory 'fat pluggerism' gag (which, in the actual comic strip, usually has characters 'Andy Bear' or 'Carl Rhinoski' sporting a huge belly), as a rather hefty hippo confronts a lean weasel, and inquires about his current 'diet'... I hope you all will enjoy it!

"Pluggers" © Tribune Media Services, Inc.