I am not alone.

Silly Daddy was/is created by Joe Chiappetta of North Riverside, Ill. I found some interesting facts about Silly Daddy over at the Geek To Me blog at chicagonow.com:

• Silly Daddy is the longest running comic about a family by a father. (It hit it’s 500th comic in November.)

• Mr. Chiappetta is continuously exploring new tools for the trade, consistently using a Pocket PC to create his comics, as well as being the first cartoonists to explore comics made on a mobile phone, calling them ‘telephonics’.
• Every comic at Silly Daddy is fully accessible to the blind or those with low vision. Every comic posted has described narrative that assistive technology software such as JAWS or ZoomText can read to the viewer.

I would like to take the time to thank Mr. Chiappetta for being a pioneer not only in webcomics, but in the world of dads chronicling their lives online! I hope I am worthy of crawling in your shadow, sir.

One more sidenote on Joe Chiappetta, he has also written an all-ages space opera called ‘Star Chosen’. Check it out!

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I’ve already detailed here how I’m putting more effort into developing a webcomic based on the very family I hope to make proud, so I hope it will not come as a surprise that my blogging will become less frequent as I focus on my webcomic.

I still absolutely love Daddy Blogging, and I will continue to do it, but I feel that now’s the time to pursue my very first passion: making cartoons.

It feels odd. I haven’t seriously picked up a pencil for probably 10 years! And now the ‘pencil’ is on the computer screen. I hope you all will join me on this journey of rediscovery for me, but be forewarned: I will be first and foremost drawing cartoons that I enjoy. Sometimes, it will deal with parenting or marital issues that are near and dear to all of our hearts, sometimes I may go off on some geek tangent. (In other words, it’ll be a lot like this blog!) But here is my promise to you: I am going to have FUN! Hopefully, I can pass on to you a little enthusiasm for the artform known as comics, or if you want to sound all high-falutin’: ‘Sequential Art‘.

I appreciate your understanding, and I look forward to any constructive criticism or just plain jeering and heckling you may have.

One more thing before I leave you today: Have you looked in the mirror lately? Have you become who YOU want to be?

This all came out of me looking into that mirror and realizing that I didn’t want to be a ‘wannabe’ or a professional admirer. I didn’t want my kids to see me looking wistfully at a comic in print or on the web with a tear in my eye for what might have been.

Have you achieved your dreams? Have you given up? I refuse to believe that it’s ever too late. Find that thing that gets you going. Whether it’s a career change or simply an exciting new hobby, but stop cheating yourself and find that thing. I wish you the best of luck on your quest, as I step off of my soapbox.

I’ll leave you with my newest completed cartoon (click for larger image):

A funny thing happened at the park...

Incidentally Calli already gave me feedback on this one: she’s disappointed that I didn’t draw the entire playground.

I would love to hear about your passions, and whether you’ve achieved your dreams! Please feel free to share in the comments below!

This post brought to you by Dad-Blogs' FatherHood Friday. Be sure to swing by for all the other great Dads and Moms who love to share their lives online!

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Where The Wild Things Are

Who wouldn't want to watch this movie?

Wild Things is the swing and the miss. I attempted to watch this movie four times. Each time I got a little bit farther in… and fell asleep. Now, work had been stressful and I was exhausted, but I made it through the next cinematic adventure just fine, so what happened?

Where The Wild Things Are is one of my favorite children’s books. I’ve always loved the imaginative creatures that Max encounters and Maurice Sendak‘s breath-taking art work. So it was great to see these creatures come to life on screen… eventually.

They added a lot of angst to Max. From the book, I gathered that he was a brat. From the movie, he’s lashing out because his dad is … missing? And Mom has a new boyfriend that looks like kind of a sleeze. I get it, where are the Wild Things? Max imagines himself getting on a boat and landing in the land of the Wild Things. Finally!

The Wild Things start off promising. Smashing trees, throwing each other around… But then it’s as if Spike Jonze, the director, remembered that he’s an independent film director, so all the creatures started talking… and talking… … and talking.

I think the creatures are supposed to be personifications of Max’s psyche. They are an outward manifestation of all the issues of a child living in a broken home. It’s all very cathartic for him, but the audience languishes. When does the wild rumpus start? That’s what I’m here to see!

Breath-taking imagery just couldn't get me to sit through this one.

I enjoy great independent films. A lot of my favorites feature people sitting around talking. And, I don’t feel like you could carry a full-length feature with just smashing trees and flying around. I guess I just didn’t get who the targeted demographic should be, and that bugged me. Is this a kids’ movie? Or is it for young twenty-something independent film lovers with storytime nostalgia? I just don’t know who this movie is for!

My kid was bored and my wife and I are  just beyond being twenty-something (we’re now thirty-something), so the movie didn’t hit home for any of us. Swing-and-a-miss.

It got returned to the Redbox about half-watched after four attempts…

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Mr. Fox lacks the wonderful illustrations, but has the power of Roald Dahl's imagination behind it.

Fantastic Mr. Fox, however, sent it out of the park. Now, this film is rated PG and features characters that smoke, and, get this, ‘slang humor’. Honestly, I don’t want to spoil the fun of discovering the slang humor just by watching the film, but trust me, these animated animals are not going to say slang your kids shouldn’t hear.

I remember watching Mouse and the Motorcycle as a kid. I remember loving how the fur moved oddly (due to the animators no doubt inadvertently bumping it as they moved the characters around). It was the same wonder I would feel watching Claymation, and really watching the figures for fingerprints in the clay. It told me that someone made this! By hand!

My eyes popped out of my head watching this...

Fantastic Mr. Fox’s puppet-style stop-motion animation is a lot more cleaner and refined, but there is still that awe of knowing that these puppets were really made by someone! And they’re doing amazing things!

Add to that the direction perfection of Wes Anderson(Life Aquatic, Darjeeling Limited) and a stellar cast (George Clooney, Merryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Defoe, Owen Wilson, to name a few); and this has the makings of a great film!

Also independent, also based on a children’s book (this one written by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Matilda), this one succeeds where Wild Things fell on it’s big monster face: it appeals to ALL audiences.

Lately I cringe when a movie claims to be ‘great for the whole family!’ because that generally means it’s intended for kids, made by folks who may or may not ‘get’ kids. I’ve said it before, but kids’ movies shouldn’t talk down to kids. You should be able to watch films with your kids without feeling like stabbing sharpened pencils in to your ears and gouging your eyes out with spoons. Just sayin’.

Mr. Fox is truly a film the entire family will love. I laughed at stuff my kid didn’t get, she laughed at stuff I didn’t think was all that funny. The smoking thing? It was old school Disney: only the bad guys smoke. And those bad guys are gross. No worries of the kid coming out of the movie thinking that smoking is cool.

AND something that’s been missing in a lot of movies: it’s quotable. I’ve been driving my family crazy quoting and referencing since we saw the movie. But it feels good. I don’t have to keep pulling up original Star Wars trilogy quotes, I have something new!

Any thoughts?

Since everyone saw these two before me, care to weigh in? Did I break your heart by not being able to sit through Wild Things? Was Mr. Fox the biggest turd you’ve ever seen? Let me know below…

Today’s kids are spoiled. They can have cartoons 24-7, on demand, no questions asked. Here at Howefitz Blog, I’d like to start  a tradition of making Saturday morning an event again. Cartoons belong on Saturday morning!

While surfing the worldwide web last night, I came across a review of Muppet King Arthur published by BOOM! Kids Comics. The review was on School Library Journal and was written by Katherine Dacey. I have not read this comic yet, so for those of you that don’t like to read reviews, don’t worry. This is not a review, it is commentary on what was said in a review.

Last night, when I read the review, there was one bit in particular that stood out more than the rest:

I’m a little puzzled that Muppet King Arthur is part of the BOOM! Kids line — not because the jokes are raunchy or inappropriate, but because so many of them depend on knowledge of politics and current events that it’s hard to imagine many eight-year-olds guffawing about the merits of democracy versus monarchy. There are certainly gags that grade schoolers can appreciate, but young kids who might be excited about a Kermit-and-Miss-Piggy comic will find the script hard to parse. Muppet King Arthur works better for tweens and teens with a sophisticated sense of humor — if yours are quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail, they’re good candidates — or adults who want to indulge their nostalgia for the original show.

Of course, that was the paragraph that I felt like I really needed to comment on:

March 19, 2010
In response to: Review: Muppet King Arthur, No. 1
Howefitz commented:
I just came across this post. I haven’t read the comic yet, but felt compelled to comment on your assessment of the humor. Jim Henson never intended The Muppets to be for kids. That was their magic. They were able to capture the imagination, no matter what your age was. Adults can and do enjoy Muppets as much, if not more, than the kids.
So if the writing is as you say, it’s spot on and I can’t wait to read it to my kids.

It still amazes me that most folks view animation and puppetry as kid’s stuff. While in America, these things are generally kept in a kid-friendly vein, in many other cultures, these media are one more creative outlet intended for expression. Would an American take a child to a Punch and Judy show?

…or to a showing of ‘Akira’?

For many Americans, these two examples may make you blush, or wonder why someone would ever create puppets so horrifying or a cartoon so violent (Trust me, there are far worse examples out there in the world of Anime…).

The thing is, puppetry and animation lets us explore our imaginations in ways that are nearly impossible to capture on film. What about CGI (Computer Generated Imaging)? That’s just another form of animation, which hasn’t gotten the rep of being ‘kids’ stuff’ like it’s traditional cousin. That is surprising, considering the first photo-realistic CGI characters to appear on the silver screen were Stuart Little and Jar-Jar Binks.

So, back to Muppet King Arthur: in her review, Ms. Dacey states that the comic is full of jokes about labor unions and stimulus packages, which she claims will go right over an 8-year old’s head. That may be the case, but for the adult who’s reading the book to the child, said adult isn’t getting bored to tears like with the normal kid stuff. Which is perfectly in line with the Muppet tradition. Sesame Street recently celebrated it’s 40th anniversary, and NPR marked the occasion with the story, ‘On Sesame Street, “C” Is For Controversy‘. The story covers much of the more adult humor contained within Sesame Street, which was the predecessor of The Muppet Show.

Jim Henson set the tone with Sesame Street in 1969, and some of that tone still resonates in the newly-produced Muppet clips that can be found at Disney.com today.

If you look at the body of work that Jim Henson created outside the Muppets, he was consistently pushing the envelope of what kind of story could be told with puppets, and wouldn’t necessarily be classified as ‘kids’ stuff’. Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, and what I consider a crowning achievement: The Storyteller…

While considered cult hits today, these films and television series were flops in America when they first appeared, though they were wildly popular in Europe (home to Punch and Judy) and Japan (home to many a violent ‘cartoon’).

From a children’s literature standpoint, have you read the original ‘Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland‘? (If not, you can download it at the link provided.) It’s full of political satire that probably goes over a modern adult’s head. Is it any less beloved as a children’s story? Nope. ‘Gulliver’s Travels‘? Yep, political satire…

So, as I said in my comment of Ms. Dacey’s review, if the comic is written as she said, I can’t wait to read it to my kids. It takes true talent to write something to children, and not down to them. Something that many of the children’s authors I’ve run across recently have forgotten, and Jim Henson fully understood. In this information age of the television always on and kids on computers, they probably know more than you realize. Why not embrace that and foster a curiosity in your children for the world outside themselves?

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Now, did you notice anything? Kids? Ok. A big yellow 7 year old bird? Good! Notice anything else? Were the kids outside?! AND they were PLAYING!!!! Keep this in mind as I continue to rant…

Yesterday, Christina Warren of Mashable.com wrote a piece praising Sesame Street and their Elmo iPhone app. Take a look:

Christina begins her article by saying:

Sesame Street is one of my favorite brands, not just because Grover is amazing, but because over the last 40 years, it has never been afraid of innovating and embracing new technologies.

To which I thought, absolutely! A quick search on my blog for ‘Sesame Street’ will reveal my love for all things Sesame Street as well! Calli and I have spent countless hours on the laptop watching and playing with our Sesame Street friends on sesamestreet.org! Even my very first column for Dad-Blogs was about Sesame Workshop‘s panwapa.com. (Feel free to visit the column here: Can You Tell Me How To Get To Panwapa Island?) So yes, I agree that Sesame Street is worth buying in to.

She goes on to talk about the app, and then this statement caught my eye:

On my running route, I see children in their strollers playing on iPhone or iPod touch devices. It’s amazing.

This post brought to you by Dad-Blogs' FatherHood Friday. Be sure to swing by for all the other great Dads and Moms who love to share their lives online!

The squeal of screeching tires sounded in my head and I did a spit-take. WHAT?! ‘Come on kids, let’s go to the park. You can play on my iPhone!’?

When I first saw that, I wanted to rant about the evils of technology and how Sesame Street shouldn’t influence kids to sit around playing with it. But then it hit me. Sesame Street is just taking advantage of how we as parents utilize technology in order to get their brand out in front of as many young eyeballs as possible. And it’s still a good brand. Sesame Workshop does a lot for our kids, and I would never discourage anyone from participating in that.

But iPhones in strollers?! Parents, please. What are you doing to your kids?

Don’t get me wrong, I love technology. I can’t rail against technology as I type my blog in to my laptop while I listen to Pandora and munch on my freshly microwaved breakfast. I’ve been known to hand my Blackjack II to my kid with a cartoon or game on. But I do that while we’re waiting at the doctor’s office or the DMV. And if we are at the doctor’s office, I look for toys. The dirtier the better. Builds up the immune system with antibodies. But I digress.

When at the park, dear parents, what ever happened to ‘Look, Junior, isn’t that a cute puppy?’ or ‘My, what a tall tree that is!’ If a kid is dexterous enough to navigate an iPhone app, I’m willing to bet that he/she is able to walk and explore the world around them. Why would you hamper that?

What do you think? Am I just flying off the deep end? Has my year plus of Daddy Blogging finally given me a self-righteous need to judge all other parents and find them inferior? How do you utilize technology in your parenting?

Probably since the first appearance of Dick Grayson as Robin: the Boy Wonder, the publishers of the Batman comics tried hard to give kids a ‘window’ in to the Batman mythos. After Robin, there have been two other Robins, two Batgirls, Alfred, Huntress, Damian (his son), many lovers, and even Ace the Bathound to make up the ‘Bat-Family’. With the exception of his son Damian, all of these characters have been essentially adopted by Bruce Wayne, but then one gets the feeling that he wants these people near him, but he doesn’t want them too close. As for his biological son? Well, it shames me to admit that my favorite super hero of all time is essentially a deadbeat dad. So Batman as family man is a dead end.

It seems that the creators of Batman: The Brave and the Bold understand this about Batman, so given the format of the show: Batman teaming up with other heroes, the creators have turned to other characters to give us the family feel. Plastic Man has  adventures with Baby Plas, all while trying to convince his wife that they are on a regular family outing.

Batman, Plastic Man, Woozy Winks (Plastic Man's sidekick), and Baby Plas are ready for action!

Mera asks, 'Are you even listening to me?' as Aquaman daydreams of super heroing on his family vacation.

Aquaman takes his wife and Arthur Jr. on a family vacation, complete with RV.

It all begs the question: are super hero fans just getting old? As a family man myself, of course I identify with these characters’ desires to have a family, but hang on to what they love to do. While promising his wife that he will not participate in any super heroics, Aquaman lets slip, ‘But we’re super heroes! It’s what we do!’ I think that ‘Brave and the Bold’ is acknowledging the fact that, yes, the super hero fans are growing up and having families of their own. But it also is allowing kids to watch not just good guys beating on bad guys, but super heroes that have lives and families too.

I love this show for being amazingly fun and for giving us a Batman that’s not afraid to smile and crack jokes and hang out with dopey dads like Plastic Man and Aquaman. I hope this show has a very long run, and continues to poke fun at super heroing and family life.

For as long as it lasts, you can watch Aquaman’s family vacation here: ‘Aquaman’s Outrageous Adventure‘.

I remember as a kid listening to Patrick Stewart narrate it from a cassette I found at the library. Of course, I saw the Disney version more times than I can count, and who can forget the use of the wolf’s theme in the holiday classic ‘A Christmas Story‘?

So I was surprised, as I went on a Netflix streaming video bender last night, that I discovered a new, unique retelling of the classic tale. Directed by Susie Templeton, this new vision of Peter and the Wolf is a stop-motion masterpiece. As you watch the film, you feel as if you are watching dolls created by a master craftsman come to life. It is easy to find yourself fully immersed within this beautiful universe.

While it remains true to the original incarnations by not utilizing any dialogue, it has some unique variations as well:

• The wolf is truly menacing, getting ahold of the duck, who does not survive. (I know, that was a spoiler, just thought I’d warn those with small children. If they are easily disturbed, you may wait until they’re a bit older.)
• The hunters are equally menacing, throwing Peter in to a garbage dumpster and threatening him with their rifle.
• The bird breaks his wing, and Peter gives him a balloon to help him fly.

I loved watching this. The ‘acting’ of the animated characters is captivating. You truly understand why Peter’s grandfather wants to keep Peter out of the forest. There is a scene with Peter and the duck ice skating on a pond that gives you the sense that you are skating along with them. It feels like the really good View-Master reels living and breathing in front of you.

This version of Peter and the Wolf won the 2008 Oscar for best animated short, and deserves all the honor that it has been given.

I leave you with a 30 second preview, and my highest possible recommendation. Enjoy!

And just for fun, here’s another vision of Peter and the Wolf by the beatboxing flutist, Greg Pattillo:

10. ‘The ORIGINAL Star Wars Trilogy‘ Help me out here and guide your kids through the Star Wars universe pre-Jar Jar Binks. Teach them that Luke didn’t see Hayden Christensen’s ghost in ‘Return of the Jedi’, but the crusty old white man that he unmasked. Please. I beg you.

9. ‘The Wizard Of Oz‘ You can’t argue with the classics, and with the newly released blu-ray and DVD, you can experience the magic again like you never have before.

8. ‘Wall-E‘ Every time I create a list of top family movies, I fight myself not to make it a list of Pixar films. Hence, the placement of ‘Wall-E’ at number 8. Wall-E is a wonderful cautionary tale told in the way that only a science fiction setting can pull off. While most animated sci-fi fall on their faces, (‘Titan A.E.’ and ‘Treasure Planet’) Wall-E delivers a gorgeously animated, solid tale.

7. ‘Labyrinth‘ At least in my home, Jim Henson’s tale of the trials of adolescence and the transition into adulthood has seen a revival with the manga series ‘Return To Labyrinth‘ from Tokyopop. Return to the film, and the whole family will tap their feet with the music and thrill to Sarah’s battle to save her baby brother from the Goblin King.

6. ‘Back To The Future‘ ‘Back To The Future’ is one of those 80′s movies that is infectious.  It is certainly dated, but kids of all ages can still get wrapped up in it. We own the entire trilogy on DVD, and I don’t know how many times I’ve caught the teenager watching it, and then act like someone else turned it on.

5. ‘Monsters, Inc.‘ ‘Monsters, Inc.’ held the top Pixar spot with me until ‘Up’ cut in line without so much as an ‘Excuse me.’ Being the father of two girls, Boo resonates with me more that a lot of animated characters. All the catastrophes she creates in the name of curiosity and fun are all too familiar. Mike Wazowski’s slapstick will keep the kids entertained, and Sulley will make you want to give him a big hug!

4. The ‘Shrek’ Trilogy The first ’Shrek’ is still, I believe, the best animated film Dreamworks has produced. It’s commentary on what Walt Disney has done to fairy tales is priceless. Sadly, by the third installment, Shrek lost a lot of his bite…

3. ‘The Princess Bride‘ OK, fine. I’m a fan of the 80′s movies. You got me. What can I say? The family movies of today, especially fantasy movies, lack a certain organic, heart-felt spark. ’The Princess Bride’ has heart in spades. It doesn’t date itself, except for that opening shot of ‘Hardball’ for the Commodore 64, that makes me chuckle every time. But you can fall in love with Wesley and Buttercup’s tale of woe and eventual triumph over and over again. ‘Anybody want a peanut?’

2. ‘The Iron Giant‘ For a long time, ‘The Iron Giant’ held the place in my heart reserved for best animated movie ever. I had often lamented the fact that Warner Bros. has so many resources at their disposal, but every blue moon when they did produce a theatrical animated film, it was crap. (I’m lookin’ at you, ‘Quest For Camelot’.) But along came ‘The Iron Giant’, and suddenly, I thought Warner Bros. was a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, box office ticket sales didn’t agree with me, and it seems that Warner Bros. has reduced it’s animation department to T.V. and direct-to-video efforts. Try to watch ‘The Iron Giant’ without tearing up as the lovable giant emulates Superman, I dare you! ‘The Iron Giant’ was directed by Brad Bird, the same director that brought us ‘The Incredibles’ and ‘Ratatouille’, if that helps to entice you!

1. ‘Up‘ I’ve said before that Disney/Pixar’s ‘Up’ changed my life. That is why it made it to the #1 spot in this top adult-friendly kids’ movie countdown. ‘Up’ has all the emotional resonance that adults crave, as well as the animated action/adventure, wacky talking animals and imaginative animated scenarios that kids crave. If you watch one animated movie on repeat, make it ‘Up’.

So, while I’m not a fantastic cook, and can’t give you pointers on getting your turkey just right this Thanksgiving (I now get the pre-made kind that comes already spiced and in a bag, just stick it in the oven. They turn out great!) I can attempt to entertain you. I hope these cinematic adventures help!

Since the dawn of teenage entertainment, what could possibly be described as ‘gothic’ has proved to be popular. What was popular while you were growing up?

Teen Wolf (1985)

OK, so not necessarily gothic, Twilight features werewolves as well as vampires, so I had to find an example of a werewolf other than Lon Chaney, Jr.

Monster Squad (1987)

Before this becomes a list of Halloween flicks of the 80′s, let’s focus on the vampires, shall we?

The Lost Boys (1987)

Joel Schumacher’s attempt at a teen vampire movie. I had no idea it was THAT bad when I watched it back in the day. I watched it again recently with the teenager, who called it lame. Yeah, well, you’re angsty vamps are boring! Moving on…

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Really, after this one, could you really make another vampire movie? Oh yeah, there was that other one…

Interview With the Vampire (1994)

The same year as Gary Oldman was slaying ‘em in ‘Dracula’…

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

…Kristy Swanson slayed Pee-Wee Herman. But her legacy didn’t die…

Buffy on TV!!! (1997-2003)

I think you get the point.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that vampires for teens is not such a new thing.

Myself, I have not read the Twilight books. I have seen the movie. I thought it was boring and predictable. People have tried to explain elements in the book that they felt were left out of the movie, but I got it. Maybe because I love science fiction and fantasy already, but I didn’t need the elements of the myth and the Twilight spins on it to get the concepts.

What it boils down to story wise is a forbidden love, which we all can identify with from some part of our lives, which explains the fascination in my eyes. Am I worried that it’s inappropriate for my teen? Not hardly. Only in the sense that she is far more sophisticated than to fall head over heels for this hyped up fad. She liked the book well enough, but is already growing out of it faster than she did Harry Potter. (Incidentally, she watched ‘Dracula’ last night and LOVED it! That’s my girl!)

So to sum up: Vampires and monsters have been marketed to teens for a long time, and I see no cause for alarm. If you are present in your kids’ lives, you have nothing to fear. The only thing that truly bothers me about Twilight is seeing these guys on the covers of the tabloids every single day, with their eyelids drooping like they’re high. They’re together, they broke up, they’re engaged… I don’t care!

And don’t get me started on the merchandising. ‘Forbidden Fruit’ Sweethearts? Edward panties? Stop. Just stop.

It’s my opinion that the only people making this latest wave of vampire mania inappropriate are the fans. Enough, already!

At least ‘New Moon’ looks like the wolves actually get to change…

New Moon Movie and Twilight Movie

This blog post is part of the Twilight Dad Bloggers Experiment. For more, see the links below:

• Twilight – Is It Appropriate For Young Ladies?
• Twilight – New Moon
• “Twilight” For Girls? Dad Bloggers Share Their Thoughts
• Is It Safe? Twilight And Teens
• A Dad of Daughters on the Twilight Phenomenon
• Dad and Mom Bloggers React to “New Moon” & “Twilight” Series

‘Lions, Tigers, and Bears’ is the story of a little boy named Joey Price. Joey has just moved away from his grandmother who he’s close to, and is scared of being in a new place without any friends. As a going away present, his grandma gives him a set of four stuffed animals called ‘The Night Pride’. The lions and tigers in the set she says will chase the beasties away.

As Joey is trying to go to sleep, he hears some bumps one night. That’s when The Night Pride come alive!

I enjoy this comic as much as my small child. Joey is someone anyone can relate to. Through his relationship with The Night Pride, Joey can learn to handle his fears.

As simple as the story seems at first, it soon takes many surprising twists and turns, with plenty of humor and action along the way.

What’s really great about this comic is that the artwork is spectacular. In the introduction, the editor, Ron Marz, calls it ‘animated’. Each frame looks like a still from a hand drawn animated film. This is one of those comics you can get lost in, as if you’re simply watching a movie.

In April of this year, it was announced that Paramount has secured the rights to a Lions, Tigers, and Bears movie. It is said to be similar to the Narnia movies: live action with CGI creatures. I almost wish this film would be fully animated in a way that captures Jack Lawrence‘s artwork, but we’ll always have the comics!! To read an interview with LTB author Mike Bullock about the film, visit comicon.com.