Well, it’s (almost) official. Tomorrow marks the four-year anniversary of George. Although I will admit that George missed out on the bulk of 2006, I’m strictly goin’ by calendar years here, folks. I’d say that George has come a long way, but let’s be honest…he still lives in the same town, he still has the same girlfriend, he still does pretty much the same stuff. But then again, his girlfriend moved in with him, his cousin moved out, and one of his friends miraculously sprouted a flowing mane of jet black hair instantaneously from what was a previously chrome dome. That last one is really somethin’ for the picture books. Aside from all that, along the way he made new friends (Sirloin, Colleen, even Denise) and made an enemy (The Paul), his friends gained and lost employment, met celebrities, and introduced him to the time-honored tradition of trying to hack a golf ball out of a sand trap in less than 30 strokes.

Over the past four years, we’ve seen close to 400 George comic strips, and I’d like to think that every one has shown us a little bit more about the characters and the lives they lead; lives that would not exist if you weren’t here to read them. And so it is with much anticipation that I look forward to George’s fifth anniversary, then on to the tenth, twentieth, fiftieth, and then my grandson taking over the strip when all the young cartoonists out there complain that all my gags are about golf, big dogs, and lasagna.

I can hardly wait.