Santa Rosa cartoonist Tom Beland's office is a coffeehouse

Legendary cartoonist Charles Schulz already put Santa Rosa on the map, but this also is home to another cartoonist with a fan base: Tom Beland. Born and raised in the Napa Valley, Beland is a writer and artist whose real life romance in Puerto Rico inspired him to create a highly acclaimed comic book series.

Unless you’re a comic enthusiast or native Puerto Rican, you may not know about “Chicacabra,” but you might know Beland. If you order lattes at Peet’s in downtown Santa Rosa, you could find yourself being drawn as a character in one of his strips.

Beland loves to eat and draw, and he reminisces about an incredible meal he shared with friends at Stark’s Steakhouse in Santa Rosa. He remembers details about the space, from the drawn curtains and dark wood bar to the bearded waiter, all of which can be seen in a comic strip he has drawn depicting the experience.

During that meal, Beland kept dropping his utensils, and each time the waiter silently replaced them. When it was time to pay the bill, je asked for a pen and piece of blank paper, then quickly drew a portrait of the waiter with a thank you for handling the utensil issue graciously.

Like many comic enthusiasts, Beland, 53, traces his love of cartoons to childhood, when he woke up early on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons on TV. His father brought home MAD magazine, despite his wife’s protests, and shared them with his son. In the mornings, they also read Prince Valiant in the daily comics.

As a sick child, Beland recalls going with his mother to Levinson’s drug store in Napa to pick up medication.

The spinner rack of comics captivated him. Prone to depression, Beland discovered Spider-Man, a teen like him who didn’t quite fit in, and his love of comics and drawing took hold.

Soon after, his parents passed away and he found an outlet for his grief in art and drama classes. Beland describes the classes as an incredible experience and his art teacher as a surrogate dad.

Although he has no formal art education, Beland developed a personal drawing style while taking a life drawing class at the Santa Rosa Junior College. Years later, he went on to write stories for Marvel Comics that included “Web of Romance,” a special Valentine’s Day edition that featured his beloved childhood hero Spiderman and Mary Jane.

Beland spent some time as a cartoonist/reporter for the Napa Valley Register and the Vallejo Times Herald newspapers. In 1998, he met his former wife, a journalist from San Juan, Puerto Rico named Lily Garcia, while covering an event at the Animal Kingdom. He relocated, married her and began drawing scenes to document his real life romance in a foreign environment.

These comic strips became the basis for a 200 page black-and-white graphic novel called “True Story, Swear to God” and subsequent comic books.

Filled with the ups and downs of their 14-year relationship, the series was so well received it was nominated for several Eisner Awards, the “Oscars” of the comic book industry.

Acclaim for “True Story, Swear to God” led to Beland’s first art exhibition at the University of Puerto Rico, curated and framed by the art department. He had never seen the body of his work displayed. He said the highlight of the artist’s reception was hearing the university president tell the crowd how ironic it was that it took a complete stranger to show them what life on the island was really like.

Beland was encouraged by this incredible show of support and recognition to work through his depression and continue making books.

Further inspired by Puerto Rico, he began a new series called “Chicacabra,” the story of a young girl who lives with a dark mythical creature inside. It proved to be “the hardest project of my life,” requiring relentless focus on drawing accurate details in a way he had never done.

Ultimately Beland’s marriage faltered and he returned to Northern California in 2015. Still prone to depression, he uses his sketch pad and ballpoint pen as medication, a cafe as his therapist’s office. Most mornings you’ll find him at Peet’s Coffee, where he draws for two hours.

And on the last Sunday of each month, he teaches drawing classes to children at Outer Planes, a comic and collectible card trading store also located in downtown Santa Rosa.

Beland is hard at work on the next edition of “Chicacabra.”

Find Tom Beland on Tumblr at tombelandart.tumblr.com.