Downstown

Downstown originally featured the antics of a group of three friends—Josh, John, and Fred—in a college in a place named Downstown.[11][3][9] In a single-cell promotional comic by Dwonsthat ran in The Daily Illini on October 4, 1975, he describes Downstown as, "the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the joy and tears, the love and hate, the war and peace, the fear and loathing, the dribs and drabs of campus life. by Tim Downs, a student at Indiana University."[15]

The main characters were:

• Josh was the optimist and "Renaissance man manique" who lived in an off-campus apartment with his roommate John.[3][1]
• John spent his days sleeping or watching television, as his desperate search for a date was always unsuccessful.[3][5][1]
• Fred was a sarcastic student who directed campus registration.[5] His favorite food came in bulk—a 50-pound bag of Purina Bachelor Chow.[1]
• Chuck Laylo was an exceptionally smooth and cool fraternity man; a member of the imaginary Sigma Theta fraternity.[3][5][1]

Downs says, "John and Jeff were based on my roommate; Chuck Laylo was the composite fraternity guy."[16]

When Downstown became syndicated, Josh and John became Odd Couple-type roommates.[8][11] Downs shifted his strip's content from college life to contemporary singles life.[7][1] The strip was "mostly about frustration and women; women and frustration; the ennui of late adolescence."[8] Main characters included:

• Josh who meandered through life, looking for recognition and romance with little success with either.[8] He was "looking for someone who can cook a peanut butter sandwich."[8]
• John was the slob, with mounds of dirty clothes and a refrigerator containing his definition of the four food groups: "fast, frozen, junk, and spoiled."[1] His goal is to find the "perfect sleeping position."[8]
• Fred became a sarcastic waiter at La Poubelle (The Trash Can) where customers dreaded his service, while actual waiters secretly admired him.[3][1]
• Chuck Laylo morphed from a fraternity guy into a vain and shallow lounge lizard.[1][3][7] One writer said, "Laylo embodied the worst qualities of the singles stud bar."[1]
• Malcolm Magnesia was a new character who was "an elementary-school nerd—a sort of '80s version of Charlie Brown."[1]

From February 18 to 23, 1985, Downs decided to use Downstown to raise support for famine relief in Ethiopia.[17] This desire linked back to Downs job as a traveling lecturer with the Campus Crusade for Christ which he started working for in 1979.[18][19] Downs said he wanted to show the "insensitivity that sets in among some Americans to the problem of world hunger. …Humor is a good tool to communicate the message you want to get across."[17]

Downs series of "heavy-handed satire" depicting a starving Ethiopian child, "or possibly a hunger-shrunken adult," alongside overfed and insensitive Americans were considered "offensive" and "crude" by many readers who were used to a strip that "normally deals breezily with today's singles scene."[17] The first segment, released on a Monday, featured an American in a cowboy hat looking at the Ethiopian boy, and saying, "Wull now, lookie h'yar! A genuuaan Ethiopian boy."[20][21] The man has fried chicken leg which the boy desires.[20] Rather than sharing, the American throws it away, complaining "Hey!! Ah got a right to chicken dun right!!"[20]

One editor noted, "The Downstown strip had taken a strange turn this week."[20] Newspaper columnist Sue Ann Wood said, "It struck me as questionable taste indeed. The tragedy of starving children in Ethiopia hardly seemed a subject for crude humor in a comic. However, I thought the cartoonist was trying to make a point that some Americans are insensitive to the plight of Ethiopians. I didn't think he was very successful. I hoped he wouldn't try to do it again."[20]

Yet, Downs continued to cover this topic for five more days, leading The Detroit News to cancel Downstown for a time.[17] Downs said, "Well it is a tragic situation and I'm not trying to make light of it. I apologize to anyone I've offended. I was trying to point out the callous attitude people tend to have about hunger in the world."[20]

Downs concluded the sequence with a coupon to donate to two world hunger charities, World Vision International and Food for the Hungry.[17][22] Downs did not contact the charities in advance.[17] In the first week, Food for the Hungry attributed thirty donations totaling $555 to Downstown. World Vision expected several hundred donations as a result of Downstown, noting that a similar strip's appeal in December 1984 raised $97,000 for the non-denominational Christian charity.[17] Brian Bird, spokesman for World Hunger, said, "He [Downs] may have offended some people. But I don't feel sorry for them. We all need to learn a lesson about the importance of giving—and continuing to give even when the immediate crisis is over and people don't look like they're starving to death."[17]

When asked if he thought a comic was the right place for such a serious topic, Downs answered, "Sometimes. Not all comics are like they used to be—a simple gag line. I do gag lines too, but I think a comic strip can be a vehicle to put across serious thought. I believe that I can use humor as a tool to make a point."[20]

With regards to Downstown, Downs says, "I wrote a Christian comic because I am a Christian. …My basic philosophy is a biblical philosophy of life."[19] However, he opted to be subtle so he would not alienate readers.[19] There were exceptions, however. For example in one strip, a child writes Santa Claus and asks, "They say you know if we’ve been sleeping; you know if we’re awake. Doesn’t this demand omnipresence? You know if we’ve been bad or good. This implies your authority to assign moral absolutes. Are you aware of the staggering theological implications of these claims?”[19]

Downs also converted Evangelical philosopher Francis Schaeffer into the character Captain Relative.[19] Captive Relative does goods deeds such as rescuing a girl's cat from a tree, but throws it in the bushes when he learns the girl has no money for a reward.[19] Downs also expressed his beliefs when broke with the usual tone of Downstown to call attention to the famine in Ethiopia and to encourage his readers to contribute to two faith-based charities.[17]

Downstown was a horizontal four-panel strip that was primarily black and white but also ran in color for weekends.[9][23]

Downs's cartooning style has been described as "crisp and uncluttered."[8] He followed a strict schedule for writing and drawing, creating one strip a day."[8] He says he "wrote in bunches, always carrying a notebook" in case inspiration struck.[8]

The Indiana Daily Student published three Downstown collections—Downstown: This is Winning? (1977), Downstown: With Love, Chuck (1978). and Downstown: Get in There and Quit (1978). Downs self-published a collection The Laylo Papers: The Complete Guide to Relationships.[5]