Cul de Sac chronicles the absurdly wonderful adventures of the Otterloop family. Alice, Petey, Mom, and Dad live in the cookie-cutter suburbs not far from the interstate. Here, and at school, their day-to-day life unfolds with simple joys, tiny infractions, and wonderful moments of gentle bliss.


In this specially curated collection for kids, the quirky world of Cul de Sac comes to life for a new audience.












"One of the five best features in any newspaper, period." -The Comics Reporter





". . . (Thompson) produces one of the few strips around where nearly every individual panel is standalone delight." -The Onion A.V. Club





"I can't say enough in his favor, so much is my admiration for his work." -Pat Oliphant





". . . much-needed jolt of energy to the daily newspaper. We have a real talent here." -Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin and Hobbes)

Richard Thompson was cartoonist who created both Richard's Poor Almanac and Cul de Sac for the Washington Post. He drew caricatures for US News & World Report and The New Yorker. He won the 2011 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year. Bill Watterson wrote the introduction to his 2nd book and considered him a good friend. Mike Rhode is coauthor of the Comics Research Bibliography, editor of Exhibition and Media Reviews and general assistant editor of the International Journal of Comic Art, and has written for Hogan's Alley and the Comics Journal. He's been a judge for the RFK Journalism Awards editorial cartoon division from 2009-2022 and in 2015, 2016 & 2020, was a Herblock Award judge. He edited Harvey Pekar: Conversations, a book of interviews for the University Press of Mississippi and edited and published Biographical Sketches of Cartoonists & Illustrators in the Swann Collection of the Library of Congress by LOC's curator Sara Duke. In 2014, he co-edited The Art of Richard Thompson and The Incomplete Art of "Why Things Are" by Richard Thompson in 2017. In 2008 his ComicsDC blog was chosen Best (Comics) Art Blogger by the Washington City Paper and from 2010-16, he wrote on comics for the Washington City Paper. Chris Sparks is the force behind Team Cul de Sac, a fundraiser for the Michael J. Fox Foundation to end Parkinson's disease. He edited the books Team Cul de Sac and The Art of Richard Thompson, and continues his fundraising projects. He is co-owner of a web design company.