Greetings, Dear Reader! My name is George Ford. I’m the guy whose bright idea it was to create a funny-haired little character named Hank Addanac. I take the credit, as well as the blame.

Lemme give you a little background on who I am. There are two versions of the story. This first part is the “official company spiel”. Read, enjoy, and marvel. Hahahaha!

“George W. Ford, Jr. has been a professional graphic artist for over twenty years. He graduated from Virginia State University (located in Petersburg, VA) in 1994 with a BFA in Visual Communication/Commercial Art.

As a youth, Ford was commissioned to be the resident cartoonist for Halifax County’s local newspaper, The Gazette-Virginian. He was the creator and artist of three features which were published three times per week. His work led various newspapers in the region to call upon other young, fledgling cartoonists to create comic strips for them. George has won numerous awards for his artistic endeavors throughout elementary and high school.

After graduating from college, Ford went to work as a computer graphic artist at Annin Flags (formerly Dettra Flags, Inc.), the largest flag-manufacturing company in the United States. Several of his projects went on to win awards for creativity at industry conventions in Las Vegas.

While still employed with Annin Flags, Ford developed the comic strip, Addanac City. It was such a huge success, with fan mail arriving daily, that he decided to launch it as a comic book series. Addanac City the comic book sold exceptionally well, at times, making it the top-selling periodical in the area, second only to the newspaper. Six self-contained stories were published with Ford serving as writer, pencil artist, inker, and colorist. An additional book, which was a collection of published comic strips, also found its way into readers’ hands. The soaring popularity of Addanac City and its flagship character, Hank, prompted Ford to develop many commercial tie-ins. The area was inundated with t-shirts, posters, coffee mugs, Christmas ornaments, and other products.

George is not one to rest on his laurels. After leaving the flag company for greener pastures, he soon joined Homeplace Creations, a privately-owned ceramics pottery company in Halifax, VA. His duties included sketching designs on various pottery and ornaments which were then passed on to other artists for coloring. He also personally hand-painted many of the pieces of pottery. Soon thereafter, Ford was placed in charge of custom work, utilizing his talent to satisfy the individual needs of the customers. His diligence and eye for detail led to the company being flooded with custom-work orders during the Christmas season. Everyone pined for a personal work of art.

Ford has also delved into the arena of playwriting. He has written several full-length plays, mainly comedies. As an artist, George designed the playbills and advertisements for his plays. He has two plays which are in consideration for production in the near future, and he is in talks for one play to be developed into a movie. He has also cultivated an ongoing relationship with the Halifax County Little Theatre, serving as playbill artist for many of their productions. He also made his foray into acting, portraying Walter Lee Younger in the Lorraine Hansberry-penned A Raisin in the Sun. The performances garnered rave reviews and received positive critical accolades.

Currently, George is the president of Ford Graphic Entertainment. He creates freelance artwork for clients all over the country (and some even abroad). He has created book illustrations, t-shirt and fashion design, as well as commercial advertisements. He is married to “the most wonderful woman in the world“, Traviett Jernigan Ford. The gorgeous couple resides in sunny Southern California with their two children and cat, Bootsy.”