Crabgrass continues streak of successful launches for Andrews McMeel Syndication

On June 27, 2022, Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) launched Crabgrass by Tauhid Bondia in 63 newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and papers of the McClatchy group (which includes the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, Miami (Florida) Herald, The Kansas City Star and Bondia’s “hometown” newspaper growing up, the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader), as well as several smaller newspapers.

This is the fifth successful launch for AMS, following most recently Wallace the Brave, which initially launched in 75 newspapers in 2018. Like other comics AMS has launched over the last decade, Crabgrass started as a web comic on GoComics.com. The first strip debuted April 5, 2019.

“Crabgrass is very much in the mold of ‘classic’ comics about kids and friendship, but it also takes surprising leaps and pushes things forward,” Reed Jackson, Associate Editor/Acquisitions, said. “It made an immediate connection with readers on GoComics, and I’m happy to see it doing the same in newspapers.”

Based on Bondia’s own experiences with his childhood best friend, Crabgrass is a strip about friendship and the peaks and valleys that come with it. Set in the 1980s, the two main characters are elementary school-aged boys named Kevin and Miles. They couldn’t be more different but become best friends after Miles moves in next door. Kevin is the adventurous one, often instigating something that gets them in trouble, and Miles is the level-headed rule follower who tries to keep Kevin’s antics in check.

Other characters that make regular appearances in the strip include members of Kevin’s and Miles’ families. Miles is an only child, but Kevin has an older brother, Kyle, a twin sister, Krystal, and a baby brother.

Learn more about Tauhid Bondia and Crabgrass in this interview with the Miami Herald about the launch, Q&A on GoComics or this creator spotlight from NCSFest 2021.