Spirit of the Staircase by Matthew Foltz-Gray for December 31, 2018

All in a days work…

Always gotta be the joy kill, Brian…

Bad vampire.

Awesome

I love this toon

I miss you Matthew

I love it too but it’s been an awfully long time. How about a new one?

Very disappointed.

Is this the end?

Does anyone know why there hasn’t been a new one yet?

Matthew, please come back.

@pauline_gangof4 His wife posted a lovely Valentine’s Day message to him on Facebook so I don’t think anything is wrong. I hope it’s just that he’s been too busy with the new house that @Bobomax posted about earlier.

If anyone is still coming here to see an update I found a few older Spirit of the Staircase strips on a search for info on Matthew.

https://www.popcultmag.com/posts/matthew-foltz-gray-the-last-newspaper-comic-strip-artist/

Scroll down to the comic, click on it, and have fun.

COOOME BAAAACK MAAATHEEEEWW

With regret, I have unfollowed this ’toon. Maybe someone could let me know if it is ever updated again.

I guess the spirit has gone on to much better things.

Gone forever, I suppose. At least he left us with an excellent cartoon.

Why did this cartoon fall off the face of the earth?

Still dead……………………………:(

Please post a new comic soon, Matthew. I really like this comic.

That looks a lot like Kevin.

Hi Matt,

Several cartoonists on GoComics have decided not to continue with their cartoons. But they have usually told us, their loyal readers, the reason why they are stopping. And some of them are doing “reruns” which is a way to keep their name and their cartoon in the reader’s eye.

This is why your readers, well, I really can’t speak for all of them so I will speak for me. This is why I find it hard to understand why you just stopped with apparently not a backward glance. Not a word as to why you stopped. Is it just coincidence that you stopped shortly after you got married?

So what are we to think? Your life became too complicated with wife and step-daughter to continue.You have contracted a life-changing illness that precludes you continuing.You ran out of ideas for the cartoon. (Highly unlikely)You need more money and are working on more lucrative projects. (More likely)

Here are a few cartoonists that I have followed who stopped, or paused their cartoon.

Steve Ogden MagnificatzHe wanted to stop creating the cartoon. He wanted to do other projects. The readers pleaded with him not to stop. He had a dialog with us and now he is doing reruns. Even new ones from time to time.

Steve Skelton 2 Cows and a ChickenHe wanted to stop creating the cartoon for personal reasons. He may have even told us the reason but it’s been quite a while ago and I’ve forgotten. The readers pleaded with him to continue even if it meant that the cartoon would only be updated periodically. He decided to continue and is now updating the cartoon more frequently.

Steve Borman Little Dog LostHe wanted to move on but the readers pleaded with him to do reruns. Which he is doing. Thank you, Steve.

Richard Thompson Cul de SacHe told us about his Parkinson’s disease and we were able to share the sad journey with him.

We just want to know why.

https://m.comixology.com/Rikki-Collected-Edition/digital-comic/355254?ref=c2VyaWVzL3ZpZXcvbW9iaWxlL3NsaWRlckxpc3QvR3JhcGhpY05vdmVscw

I found a guy who emailed Matthew Foltz-Gray. Here is what he said when asked about Spirit:

“This past year and a half has seen me through a new full time job (whereI get to draw), marriage, and our first home. I used to work inrestaurants all day and draw all night, now it seems I draw all day andonly want to cook at night. Plus, I’ve been fascinated with our back yardand the endless possibilities and burdens of home ownership. Life is richbut something had to give. I miss doing Spirit, though, and don’t want tosay it’s done, rather, we’ve taken a break.”