Funny cats in 'The Window' draw fans

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Columbia Street has its own comic strip.  "The Window" features 2 cats, Sam and Maze. The artist, Ryan Bidlack, or Bids for short, modeled the characters on the cats he lives with inside his downtown Lafayette apartment.

"It's just the cats looking out into the world, and through their own way interacting with it," said Bidlack.

Bids usually does his artwork overnight, from inside his apartment, which means he has had to learn to write backwards.  He said S, Z, and N are the hardest letters to draw.  He started creating the comic in March, and puts up a new strip about once a week. He's drawn a lot of fans.

"I think it's neat. You dont, no longer have to read the comics in the newspaper you can just walk by and read that comic. It's pretty cool," said Brandy Wesner, a fan of "The Window."

"It kind of makes you want to come downtown just to see what he's doing every once in a while. See when he's going to change it," said Ryan Smurr, another fan.

Bids said he started the comic strip as an outlet for his creativity, and a way to throw wise cracks to the world around him.

"I made a political comment when it came tax day. Maze actually had to do her taxes. So no topics off-limits really. I try to attack just about everything I can," said Bidlack.

Bids, who has a degree in business, claims art isn't his strong suit; but the comics may reflect his current PhD studies in consumer behavior.  He seems to impress those outside the window, which gives him ideas for the future.

"If this gets enough attention like it has been getting, I might move on to t-shirts and create a non-profit organization to help animal shelters," he said.

For now, you can find his strip on the windows at the corner of Columbia and 5th Streets in downtown Lafayette.