Cigarro & Cerveja

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Cigarro & Cerveja, by Tony Esteves

Cigarro & Cerveja is a brilliant webcomic by Tony Esteves featuring a smoking (and sometimes borderline psycho) rabbit and her on-again, off-again best friend, a mellow and usually soft-spoken goose. Personally, I really like Cerveja (the goose), who is often naive (or seems that way, anyway), quiet, and easy-going, despite the frequent bashings he receives from his friend Cigarro. The webcomic is very well-drawn and well-written; go and check it out!

Here's the origin of Cigarro & Cerveja, in Tony's own words:

"As many stories begin with 'Once upon a time', so too could this one - but it could also start with 'It was my second year of university', which it does.

"Every year, The Gateway, which is the student newspaper, has a joke issue before the Christmas break in which the cartoonists draw each others' comics with a twist. I was going to spoof a comic titled Mozart, a cute comic about a bunny and his squirrel friend. The twist would be to make the comic less cutesy and more edgy by making Mozart curse a lot and smoke cigarettes (because the secret of being cool is a cancerous addiction). Then when his squirrel friend is being bullied, Mozart would take the bullies' side and destroy their friendship.

"So I started doodling sketches of the bunny (instead of paying attention in Psych class). My drawing style was so much different than the Mozart comic. The sketches had the bunny frantically waving its arms around and heroically using a fire extinguisher, whereas Mozart was more bunny-like, sitting close to the ground and... sitting close to the ground.

"The rabbit that I drew had too much life to throw away on a one-shot comic - I couldn't let it go - and when I doodled out 'cigarro' in block letters, I knew I had a name for him (yes... Cigarro was originally a dude). But Cigarro needed a buddy - and that's where Cerveja came in.

"I played around with a tortoise design for Cerveja (falling in with the Aesop fable) but the tortoise shell was making Cerveja too rigid, whereas the sketches for Cigarro were so loose and flexible. I wanted to avoid drawing another mammal as Cerveja and there was no way Cerveja was gonna be a fish. So I sketched out a Canada goose driving a wiener-mobile and Cerveja was born.

"When I began writing Cigarro & Cerveja, I had a few rules in mind. Eventhough the comic had a theme of smoking and drinking (of which I do neither), it would not become an anti-drug campaign. I wouldn't do any jokes about drunkenness (that's an easy out). I would be as original as I could be with each comic. And I would never be allowed to write a comic about writer's block! But now that the characters have grown, there is no more need for 'rules' as the characters now regulate and write themselves.

"And so they all lived happily ever after... but the story isn't really over, is it?"

Check out some of Tony's awesome original art below!

Example of Cigarro & Cerveja daily by Tony Esteves, September 17, 1998. This is the first half of the first Cigarro & Cerveja strip that Tony created.

Example of Cigarro & Cerveja daily by Tony Esteves, September 17, 1998. This is the bottom half of the first Cigarro & Cerveja strip that Tony created.

Example of Cigarro & Cerveja daily by Tony Esteves, date unknown, 2000. This is the only single-row Cigarro & Cerveja strip that Tony created. I love it; it really captures the relationship between Cigarro and Cerveja really well.

An AMAZING original sketch of Cigarro and Cerveja in Hawaii, by Tony Esteves. Cigarro is dancing the hula while Cerveja is swinging some torches. What an awesome piece. Thanks, Tony!

Cover of Cigarro & Cerveja Round 1, by Tony Esteves. The picture looks a little washed out because I had to take the photo at an angle; my reflection kept appearing on the cover of the book.

Inside of Cigarro & Cerveja Round 1. Check out the incredible original drawing of Cigarro surfing. Absolutely awesome.

Signed letter from Tony explaining the origin of Cigarro & Cerveja.

A Cigarro & Cerveja Christmas card from Christmas 2004.

A Cigarro & Cerveja thank-you card from Tony that he sent along with the original art. Check out the great sketch of Dr. Inteligência!

Experience the fun of Cigarro & Cerveja by clicking the link below!