'Adam & Andy'.
James Asal is the creator of the popular gay comic 'Adam & Andy', which has appeared in print since 1995 and online since 1999, and has been translated into several languages.
Early life and career
James Asal Jr. was born in 1964 in Connecticut, and he has resided there since then. Coming from a family of blue-collar workers, his siblings showed musical talent, while he developed an interest in comics and drawing. As a child, he copied the characters from comic books and cereal boxes, and in grade school he began making semi-autobiographical comics with a friend. With no formal art training, Asal has found inspiration in the work of artists like Alex Kotzky, Don Heck, George Tuska, Nick Cardy and Gene Colan. Stylistically, he has been influenced by comics and advertising art of the 1950s and 1960s.
Having a full time day job in retail, Asal began working on the side as a cartoonist in the 1990s. Living in a small town, he noticed there were not that many gay-oriented comics around, and he felt the urge to create something he could relate to.
'Adam & Andy' strip of 17 March 2025.
Adam & Andy
In 1995, James Asal began working on his 'Adam & Andy' comic. Set in the fictional town of Woodfield, Connecticut, the strips chronicle the everyday lives of a thirty-something gay couple - Adam the mildly neurotic one, Andy the cheerful slob - along with their friends, neighbors and spoiled beagle Baxter. On his website, the artist explained that the comic "celebrates the mundane, the mildly inconvenient, and moments that make you snort-laugh when no one's around." In an April 2004 interview with Ginger Mayerson on sequentialtart.com, Asal expressed his dislike for negative or nihilistic comics, and said that in his own comics, he "strived to maintain a positive, healthy balance of humor, love, warmth, and sex appeal," while "shying away from current events and politics".
Originally, in April 1995, the 'Adam & Andy' series was a comic book lasting a total of eight 22-page issues. Then came about 150 one-page gag comics, which the artist photocopied and distributed among friends. Over the years, the 'Adam & Andy' feature has appeared in several newspapers and magazines in the USA and Europe, and was translated into German, Turkish, Swedish, Norwegian, Russian and Polish. Appearing in mostly free LBTQ media, or so-called "bar rags", many of these print titles are now defunct. Since 15 May 1999, Asal's strip has gained most of its following as an ongoing webcomic, appearing on the artist's website and through free e-mail subscription. In October 2003, the first 'Adam & Andy' trade paperback was published by Studio 64, and several more book collections followed, in later years through Lulu.com.
Cover illustration for 'Adam & Andy: Volume 1 Expanded Edition' (2019).