Kings Park's Mike Gerver Goes International With "Cree Churrs"

Mike Gerver

By Dana Klosner

(click on photos to enlarge)

Kings Park native, Mike Gerver, 20, loves puns, loves animals and loves drawing. He has combined those three passions into an internationally published cartoon called “Cree Churrs.” It’s a single panel, colorful cartoon featuring animals and wildlife with jokes that are a play on words. His work has been seen in Newsday, as an ad for an art show he was featured in, The Livingston County News and Australian Wildlife Magazine.

Gerver is currently a student at SUNY Geneseo where he is studying mathematics. His creativity stems from his parents, he said.

“My mom is very artistic and my dad loves to draw cartoons,” Gerver said.

He started at a young age. 

“I first started drawing cartoons when I was around eight,” he said. “It used to be my passion when I was little. But then I grew up and started doing other things. I play music and cartooning was put on a back burner. Then about two years ago I was up in the attic and saw my drawings. I started the comic in January 2013.” 

He originally had his comic published in the Geneseo student newspaper called Lamron. He soon had a paid gig at the local daily paper The Livingston County News. 

He was featured in an art show at The Old Town Arts and Crafts Guild in Cutchogue where his work was displayed alongside well-known artist Don Duga, who was the animator of “Frosty the Snowman.”  Duga has also done work for Sesame Street and MTV, Gerver said. 

 “Wildlife has always been a big part of my life,” said Gerver who enjoyed family trips to Yellowstone when he was a child. “I like the feeling you get when you’re in nature.”

The process of cartooning is like meditation, he said. He also enjoys the happiness it brings to his readers.

“When you read the newspaper it’s all about the turmoil in the world,” he said. “The comics bring a gleam of happiness. It brings people back to when they were young.”

As a mathematics major, Gerver said, cartooning doesn’t really fit in.

“It’s a hobby that unexpectedly took off. It was always a side project. I will always do it as long as it’s fun.”

Ultimately he says he would like to use his comic to raise awareness and money for various environmental projects. It has already been featured online on the “Save the Whales” Facebook page.

Gerver is devoted to his work.

“Each comic takes one to two hours from joke to completion,” he said. “I create two comics a week. So I spend about four hours a week on it. But I don’t count the time. It’s just fun for me.”

But in some ways it does fit in to his mathematics lifestyle.

“My dad writes math textbooks,” he said. “I illustrated the last textbook with animals and math jokes. I’m doing one now.”

And Gerver can only hope that maybe one day “Cree Churrs” will be a nationally syndicated cartoon. 

“I hope to have it turn into a career,” he said. “I sent it to some syndicates a few weeks ago. It’s a side project that I hope to develop into something bigger.”

His hometown of Kings Park conjures lots of warm feelings for Gerver. 

“It small, but there’s enough here to keep you entertained,” he said. “I love Sunken Meadow State Park and the Bluff. I love the small town feel. I love going into a restaurant and people know you and remember your order. It’s been said that it’s the North Shore’s greatest little secret and I agree with that.” 

Gerver’s work will be displayed at the Nesconset branch of the Smithtown Library from July 1-July 14. It will then go to the Smithtown Library Main Branch from August 3-August 17. 

You can view his work at www.facebook.com/creechurrs