Tim Downs (Born 1954) is an American comic artist and author best known for his Downstown comic strip and the Bug Man series of Christian mystery novels. Background Downs grew up in a non-religious household near Town and Country, St. Louis County, Missouri, with his parents Charles and Bobbie Downs. While in 7th grade at Parkway Junior High School. Downs came in first place for an oratory contest sponsored by the Des Peres Optimist Club, later coming in third place in the regional contest sponsored by the Optimist Clubs of St. Louis. In high school, Downs began to doodle single-cell comics, often drawing on paper towels at the can factory where he worked as an evening janitor. Although his comics were influenced by Charles Schultz's Peanuts, Downs was unsuccessful selling his work. Downs graduated from Parkway West High School in 1972. He attended the Indiana University at Bloomington, becoming a Phi Beta Kappa and graduating in 1976 with B.A. in fine arts, with an emphasis in graphic design. During his junior year at Indiana, Downs created a comic strip, Downstown, for the campus newspaper, Indiana Daily Student. Downs said, "I went to college to be a sculptor and a painter. In my freshman year, I became a Christian and soon my attitude began to change toward a career in the fine arts. The problem was that sculpting and painting were intensely personal, almost like therapy, and I had things I wanted to communicate. That led me to graphic design, then comic strips…." Downstown featured a group of friends in a college setting. The main characters were the optimist Josh who lived in an off-campus apartment, his roommate John who spent his days sleeping or watching television, their friend Fred who was a sarcastic waiter, and Chuck Laylo who was a smooth lady's man and member of the imaginary Sigma Theta fraternity. The comic strip expanded to 30 college newspaper from 1974 through 1979, continuing after Downs' graduation. The editor of the Daily Illini at the University of Illinois said, "I think Downstown is the most consistently funny and insightful strip I had ever read. Ever." The Indiana Daily Student published three Downstown collections—Downstown: This is Winning? (1977), Downstown: With Love, Chuck (1978). and Downstown: Get in There and Quit (1978). Publications Downstown On March 24, 1980, Downstown began syndication through Universal Press Syndicate. To appeal to a broader audience, Downs