For those of you not around in 1977 or for those of you who drank/smoked your 70′s memories away, the Ground Round was an establishment that tried to be a bar and a family restaurant in one. What? Well, it was the 70s. Anyway, the thing most people remember is tossing the peanut shells on the floor. I played a Ground Round once and they had a TV blaring, a jukebox in another corner and upstairs was our little trio struggling to remember our songs. Nice. I am sure more than one struggling musician in the Chicagoland area in the 70s has a Ground Round story.
“1977 the Comic” started life June 1st, 2007. As I experimented with styles and developed the characters, I put out comic strips as the idea hit me. All the while, I was developing back-story and characterizations as well as the presentation method I wanted to use. At one point in 2007, I knew what I wanted to do with “1977″ but felt changing horses mid-stream would be a bit startling as my readership was growing. Thus, I waited until the end of the year to take a 2-week break and bring you the “1977″ story from the beginning with all the little details included this time. The storylines this year will be more linear in fashion and even have some continuous story arcs like last year’s “Road Trip” strips. Now you will get to know each character as they come on board and their appearance won’t be as sudden as last year. I hope you enjoy the new stories coming this year and beyond!
Hey man! Just found your comic today. A buddy showed it to me. I used to eat at the Ground Round. I grew up in Lisle, in fact my back yard was the field between Lisle and Downer’s Grove that is now the 355 tollway. Rock on Brother!
Chris in AL
Hey Chris! I know exactly where that’s at! My buddy lived along what was to be 355 in the Glen Ellyn/Lombard borders there, so old stompin’ grounds for sure.
Yeah, the Ground Round was something else. Played there only once, that was enough for me. Thanks for readin’ the comic!
And in the little town of Jackson, Michigan, we still have The Ground Round. No more peanut shells on the floor (I do remember them, though), it’s more of a sports bar restaurant now.
So I stumbled onto your comic from one of my other faves… I’m not sure which one actually because I’ve been bopping back and forth to a few. I actually grew up in Downers Grove….albeit in the 90′s…but I’ve always been into this era and love “classic rock.” HAHA! I’m really excited to start reading this and am even more excited that it starts off in the area I’ve lived in my whole life! Go DuPage County!
PS. The artwork is really cool. And you totally got the hair down!