"I wonder what kind of sheep she is?" "I wonder what kind of monkey he is?"

I'm about to share with you a deep dark secret never before revealed on this site. Zoology isn't the first comic I created...yes, earlier in life I had a torrid affair with another comic strip. Me and Zoology have an understanding about this.

Here it is.

(Note: Don't bother with the archive dropdown, it no longer works for some reason...just use the next/previous buttons).

"Of Monkeys and Mutton" was the precursor to Zoology...Zoology Beta if you will. Unlike Zoology that has a very loose format, following a number of different characters or groups of characters, Of Monkeys and Mutton followed Baker and Shandy only.

Of Monkeys and Mutton also had a really cheesy title...I still cringe to write it. There's a reason why I went with the ultra-simple "Zoology" for my follow up attempt at a comic strip.

I thought going for a very restrictive gimmick/concept for the strip would really get my creative juices flowing and masterful sequential art would be flowing from my pen like nobody's business as a result. Didn't really work out that way. It was too restrictive, and as you can see within about a dozen strips I was already introducing new characters, thus straying outside the original concept.

Still, out of this failed attempt that didn't even make it 20 strips, blossomed a much better one that's gone nearly 400. Shandy and Baker arguably remain the heart of Zoology and this is where they started (they certainly look different these days though...particularly Shandy. She must be hitting the gym, because she looked pretty stickish back in the day, didn't she?).