The strip began in 1975 as Travels With Farley, a play on John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley.[1]Farley began as a nationally syndicated strip with Chronicle Features,[2] but Frank missed the "timeliness and joy of doing local politics" and, dissatisfied with the four-to-six week lead time required of syndication, in 1985 switched to working exclusively for the Chronicle, which enabled him to quickly mine local events—usually overnight—for his satire.
Phil Frank died on September 12, 2007,[3] shortly after announcing, on September 9, that he was retiring due to illness.[4] Reprints of the strip had been running for some months before this, as he had been too ill to work.[3]
The strip also kept track of the current situation of the San Francisco Giantsbaseball team through the actions of Alphonse, one of the urban bears who is obsessed with the team. Alphonse was often shown leaving a hot dog and a beer at home plate in the middle of the night as an offering to the baseball gods.
Cast
The strip's cast grew so much that Farley, the title character, appeared infrequently. The usual cast was:
Farley, a reporter for the San Francisco Daily Requirement newspaper.
Bruce, a right-wing raven who lives with Farley.
Baba Rebop,[5] later updated to Baba Rebok, mystic and the Prophet of Ocean Beach.
A quartet of urban California black bears who run a restaurant for animals called the Fog City Dumpster.[6] The bears originally came from Asphalt State Park and followed Farley to San Francisco. They go on summer vacation to Yosemite National Park. The bears include:
Orwell, a feral cat in Golden Gate Park who always is trying to get rich, sometimes by writing to Vice President Dick Cheney with new schemes.
Speedbump, a feral cat, Orwell's assistant.
Miles, mild-mannered dog host of KFUR, a radio station for dogs and cats.
Velma Melmac, a housewife who parks her monster RV in Yosemite National Park each summer, doing her best to keep nature at bay by, for example, vacuuming the nature trails.
Beppo, a homeless Vietnam vet, and North Beach sidewalk resident
Books
A number of the strips have been collected and published as books.
I'm Ink, Therefore I Am (1997) - A collection of comics from when Farley became specific to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Fur and Loafing in Yosemite (1999) (For the Yosemite Association) - A collection of cartoons which were all either set in Yosemite or featured the bears coming or going to Yosemite.
Don't Parade On My Reign (2003) - A collection of comics featuring "Da Mayor" Willie Brown. Willie Brown was proud of this collection and often autographed and sent it to people.
Eat Drink & Be Hairy (2006) (For the Yosemite Association) - A second collection of cartoons set in Yosemite.
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