Rhode Island's Own Tim Jones Takes Sour Grapes to a National Stage

​Smithfield cartoonist Tim Jones has spent decades crafting his comic strip, Sour Grapes, one panel at a time. After years of self-syndication, rejection, and relentless perseverance, his work has finally landed on one of the biggest platforms in the comic world—GoComics.com.
Jones, a regular feature in the Rhode Island Wave, sat down recently to talk about the milestone, his creative journey, and what's next for the beloved strip and its main character, Aesop.
A Long Time Coming
For Jones, the GoComics deal was anything but overnight. Andrews McMeel—the parent company behind GoComics and the largest syndicate in the world—had turned him down twice before.
"You get discouraged and you start second-guessing yourself," Jones admitted. But he kept going. This time, something clicked. Jones signed a contract in March, and Sour Grapes officially launched on GoComics on June 1st. The strip now posts three times a week: classic strips on Mondays and Wednesdays, and a brand-new strip every Friday.
The platform puts Sour Grapes alongside household names like Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, and Garfield—a fact that isn't lost on Jones. "Andrews McMeel is the biggest syndicate in the world," he said. "So that in and of itself is great."
For readers who want to follow along, GoComics offers a free account that allows users to follow up to three strips. A paid subscription unlocks the full catalog, ad-free.
From Dunkin' Donuts to 64 Papers
Jones traces his love of comics back to Sunday mornings as a kid—pulling out the comics page from the newspaper after church, sitting down with a box of Dunkin' Donuts, and drawing Garfield right alongside the printed strip.
That passion eventually evolved into a career, though not without a few detours. He ran an earlier strip called Every Blue Moon from 1997 to around 2001, followed by Job Shop, a strip about manufacturing that appeared in six local papers. He also spent time doing music and stand-up comedy—an experience he credits with teaching him how to write a joke.
Then, in 2013, Jones was laid off from his job. Rather than seeing it as a setback, he used the opportunity to bring his characters back to life. "I had a friend of mine really kick my butt and say, 'Hey, listen, I'm a big fan. You really got to do something with this,'" Jones recalled. He's been going strong ever since, now appearing in 64 papers nationally.
Building a Career One Connection at a Time
Jones credits much of his success to networking—particularly his membership in the National Cartoonist Society, which he joined in 2018. The organization connected him with professionals across the industry, all of whom he describes as supportive and generous.
That community paid off in a memorable way earlier this year when Jones attended the Reuben Awards—the cartooning world's equivalent of the Oscars—in Columbus, Ohio, for its 80th anniversary. The reason he made the trip? Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield, was going to be there.
"He actually knew who I was and knew Sour Grapes," Jones said. "I just completely melted. It was like I was some little girl meeting Taylor Swift, for God's sake." He paused, then added: "I shook his hand and said, 'I've been wanting to meet you since 1978.'"
His advice to aspiring cartoonists is straightforward: don't miss opportunities, no matter how small, and keep going even when the rejections pile up. "They all pile up," he said of the small wins. "Just keep with it, be smart about it."
On the Road and On the Shelves
Jones stays busy beyond the drawing table. He's a fixture at comic conventions across the Northeast, including the Rhode Island Comic Con each November, where he'll be at the National Cartoonist Society booth.
He's also recently landed his first licensing deal—a collaboration with Yacht Club Soda, a local Rhode Island company, that resulted in a brand-new sour grape flavor featuring Aesop on the label. Two years in, it's still going strong.
Readers can find Sour Grapes in the Rhode Island Wave each month, follow the strip on GoComics at gocomics.com/sour-grapes, or explore Jones' full archive of books and comics at sourgrapescomic.com.