Last modified: Sunday, August 5, 2007 10:51 PM EDT Tim Jones is the creator of the cartoon strip Every Blue Moon. (Staff photo by MARK STOCKWELL) Comic strip good therapy for Attleboro native BY REBECCA KEISTER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Like all labors of love, the characters in the comic strip Every Blue Moon have evolved a bit since they were first dreamed up on paper. Aesop, a dog who serves as the strip's super-sarcastic main character, used his decorative cape to fly, and his first sidekick, Maddy, wore a space suit. "It was a space-based kind of thing," said Tim Jones, who has penned the strip for the last 10 years. "And Aesop used to fly. But after a year or so, I grounded him." Jones' characters have been repaying the favor ever since. Long before the Attleboro native, now a resident of Smithfield, R.I., started the comic, or even thought of a career in a creative field, he started to face the problem that had clouded most of his life. "I'm pretty open about it," Jones, 41, said. "I've always had problems with depression and anxiety. It's actually true that my therapist gave me a choice - draw a comic or do shock treatment." After growing up in Attleboro, graduating from Bishop Feehan in 1984, Jones aspired to be a musician and lived a rock 'n' roll lifestyle that didn't always make things easy. But he said that when he met his wife, Kathy - they have been married 12 years and have two daughters, Eily, 8, and Jillian, 6 - he got away from that and started to mature and find better ways to deal with his depression. Comedy had always been a part of his life, even if it was just being a funny guy, so he turned to stand-up. "I decided I was going to put the music aside and work on what I thought made me tick," Jones said. "It never occurred to me until I got older that one way to deal with the depression was comedy. When I started doing that, it helped. It was an outlet and an escape." After performing stand-up for a good while, including a couple of years with the Ocean State Follies, a comedy cabaret group, the idea for Every Blue Moon just popped into his head and he juggled both the comedy and the comic strip. But when the time came to concentrate on one thing, he made a choice - with a little nudge from his therapist. "I'd always been an artist," Jones said. "So the strip was easier for me to write and draw than it was to do stand-up. I loved stand-up. But I knew that if I drew the comic strip, I'd be more successful." Putting all his time and effort into the strip, his ideas started to come to life on paper. Every Blue Moon, Jones said, is a look at life through his eyes and then through his characters - Aesop, Maddy, Constance and Slice - as they deal with, well, whatever life brings. Jones describes Aesop as the core of the comic, who dispenses smart-mouthed wisdom to his friends; Maddy as a not-so-smart scientist whose dating woes and pursuit of aliens drive everyone crazy; Constance, Maddy's little sister, as a pre-teen drama queen; and Slice as an overly optimistic bear who thinks all anyone needs is a hug. Each character, Jones said, represents a small part of his own personality. The strip was named because finding all these characters together might only happen every blue moon. "Life's about everything and everyone goes through it," Jones said. "I created these characters so people can really relate to and recognize them." Ideas for the strip come from everywhere - work, family, little everyday run-ins. Jones usually waits until an idea strikes, then sits down to "throw it at the characters." "I know these characters so well that they're an extension of me," Jones said. "It's always in my head." He's also always thinking about how to get syndicated, his ultimate goal. Right now, he appears in several publications, including on The Sun Chronicle Web site and other area newspapers, and has put out a book. Getting syndicated is no easy feat. According to various syndication Web sites, only around 1 percent of all submitted comics are picked up for syndication each year. "I wouldn't call it rare. I think it's difficult, but not impossible," Jones said. "So, you know, difficult but not impossible equals....rare. As time has gone on, my strip has just developed as I learned. It's been all these years of changes and developments." REBECCA KEISTER can be reached at 508-236-0336 or at rkeister@thesunchronicle.com.