Straight from Goldopolis hails the Man with the 24-Karat Kick!

There's so much art out there in the world, what's a blogger to do? What do you single out for recognition, and what do you just let pass by, without so much as nary a comment, at all?

It all boils down to a judgment call, I suppose, and trying to comment on all of it would swiftly prove to be an exercise in never-ending futility.

So, when the hunt for good art is on, and when I'm looking for something that really catches my eye, something that has the glint of artistic gold about it, what better stroke of fortune can a blogger like myself have than to encounter a character by the name of Goldbug.

Goldbug is the handiwork of an artist by the name of Tim Rocks, and Goldbug is one of those characters that I instantly fell in love with. He has personality. He's a character with character. He's truly golden! How can you go wrong, when you've got a character the likes of Goldbug to work with?

The style of art that artist Tim Rocks utilizes to portray Goldbug to the world strikes me as a style more suited to a comic strip, rather than a comic book. But, that minor quibble aside, Goldbug is a character that makes me yearn to follow his adventures. It's a simple concept that's well executed. The world needs a character like Goldbug in it. Count me as a fan of the man with the 24-karat kick.

On the surface, Goldbug reminds me of the character known as Scrooge McDuck, aka Unca Scrooge. He has a subterranean lair, one where he hoards acre upon acre of the world's precious gold supply.

Say what?!

What's there to not like about that concept?

Because this comic book character is still in his comic book infancy, there's not exactly one heck of a whole lot known about him, as of this stage of his literary development. But, you know there's more - so much more - that lies waiting in the wings, just itching to be learned.

Goldbug's charter issue, The Bug Keeps Cool, treats the reader to humor and good, clean, wholesome fun in comic book form. But, even if it didn't, this character would still be a winner. He's corny. He's campy. he's Goldbug!

This superhero is flawed and imperfect. Yet, his greatest superpower is one that the artist, rather than the character, himself, possesses. Specifically, it is the power to tell a story, and to tell it in such a way that it makes the character shine.

It is for the very reason that Goldbug is imperfect and fallible that he's the perfect man for the job.

I mean, come on! He has difficulty escaping even the most simple of traps that his adversary lays for him. He gets snared. He trips up. He's clumsy. He's inept. He's wonderful!

This is one of those instances where the character is a greater concept than the art by which he is rendered and made possible for the viewer and reader to enjoy. Personally, I think that Goldbug is a true gold mine of an opportunity for cartoonist and illustrator Tim Rocks.

If you want to check out Goldbug for yourself, then head on over to Tim's blog, where you can find the entire twelve page issue of "The Bug Keeps Cool" just lying in wait for you. Or, you can drop by Tim's Facebook page for Tim Rocks' caricatures. You can also mosey on over to Tim's website, if you prefer to familiarize yourself with him more, by going that route, instead.

While you're there, you can also check out some of Tim's other imaginative works, which include "Planet of the Slob-oids" and "How I Infiltrated the Elite Leafblower Corps - and Lived to Tell about It!"

Catch the gold fever  - Catch the first issue of Goldbug!