With that, I am pleased to announce that through the generosity of my blog readers, friends, family, and a few impromptu garage sales (not to mention most of my tax return), Kat’s trip to Australia with People to People is now reality! She flies out on the 16th for 17 days in the Land Down Under. I can’t believe that it’s that soon! Incidentally, on the graphic above, I found a font on Artweaver called ‘Australian Sunrise’. What else would I use? Here’s a glance at Kat’s itinerary while she’s down there:

****

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!

In the spirit of Fatherhood Friday and Week In Review, here’s what’s happening in the Howefitz world:

At the park yesterday, Calli claimed that I was a strong guy because I ‘pick up small childrens’…

Wednesday was Calli’s first day of Tee-Ball! She learned the ‘alligator’ and how to hold the ball, throw it overhand and catch. And even though practice went in to nap time and somebody got a little cranky, we all had a blast! Here are a couple highlights:

Practicing sccoping up the ball with 'the alligator'.

I could totally do 'the alligator'...

Then Calli got ahold of the camera:

'She's only 3, she's probably not even getting a picture of me. I'll just look crazy to play along...'

'Sissy has the camera. Ready penetrating gaze.'

Yesterday, we went to a park in Dillon, CO that we don’t get to very often. Pics!:

Tristin's working on his 'Superman'...

Attempts at a nearly complete family portrait with small children on a bouncy dock in high winds:

After the park, we went to a bookstore where Tristin saw a Batman book. He started shaking his fists in excitement, and, I swear, whispered an excited ‘Baban!’ It was better than if he had said ‘Daddy!’ At nine months, the fanboy training is paying off…

In other news, (Last, but not least) I bought the domain name for my upcoming webcomic. It will be called ‘Howefitz Sequential’, in honor of my web moniker and the more intellectual way of identifying comics: ‘sequential art’ (the art of telling a story in a sequence of pictures and words). Plus it kind of sounds like one of my favorite movies, ‘LA Confidential’, so I’m pretty proud of myself for coming up with it! Don’t visit the site yet, I’m busy building it and completing at least three weeks worth of material before I launch. I’m shooting for an official launch date of July 5. I’ll keep you posted!

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Fatherhood Friday!

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One creator that includes helpful content is Travis Hanson over at his webcomic The Bean. Recently, he posted a blog entry titled Your Adventure: Creating Your Story. The entire post is well worth the read, but this passage caught my eye:

William Stout, his art is so cool and a reason why I do what I do, told me that everything around you is diverse and your art should mirror that. Trees do not all look the same, homes are different, bottles are different, people are different. Learn to diversify your artwork and learn to draw backgrounds.

Backgrounds and props have always been difficult for me because I had the misperception that they were boring and not part of the storytelling. This is completely false. The actors that are created need a place to live, and the reader needs to believe in that place.

It’s funny, Netflix just added a bunch of old school Nickelodeon cartoons to stream online, and I have been introducing my three year old to Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. I used to like those shows for the writing, but something bugged me about the art work. Watching them now I’ve realized that what bothers me is that the backgrounds look exactly like the characters. Generally, cartoon characters are put in front of backgrounds that look more realistic, or at least different than the characters. Not so in those old Nickelodeon toons, creating what appear to be very flat worlds…

Not much pushes the characters out from the background in 'Rugrats'.

Looney Tunes, however...

So learning from these and many other sources of inspiration, I’ve decided to face my apprehension of backgrounds and props and attempt to grow my style through exploring inanimate objects and background subjects for each letter of the alphabet. C can not be for cat, for example…

I’ll only take about a half-hour on each topic, so they may not be full color or very complete. The point is to work quickly and not worry about completion, but to work on some variation in technique.

Without further ado, here is the first installment of the 26 Day Object Experiment, the highly predictable ‘A is for Apple’.:

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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Yes, you read that right. Today is the day that you can walk in to nearly any comic book store and receive one, or many, (depending on the store owner) free comic(s)!

This day always excites me, but I’m excited even more this year because I have to drive to Denver early morning anyway for Kat’s ‘Appointment Ceremony’ into People to People. This is the ceremony that will make her an official Student Ambassador for the United States to represent the country this year to Australia! We’ll get to hear a real U.S. Ambassador speak and celebrate this great honor.

And then, leaping in to the car, we will be making the tour of Denver via all of the Mile High Comics locations to scoop up free shwag. If that’s not the best day ever, I don’t know what is!

For those of you unfamiliar with Free Comic Book Day, here’s a few facts and tips as I’ve come to experience it:

1. Free Comic Book Day is an annual event held on the first Saturday of May. Any comic book store worth two grains of salt participates. I did run in to one that didn’t, however, several years ago in Paducah, KY. The reason they didn’t want to participate? “What they don’t tell you is that it’s not free for us! They charge us, like, five cents a copy!’ Five cents to win a fan that will become a returning customer sounds like a small price to pay to me. Needless to say their store was empty and we turned on our heels and left without spending a dime, or even a nickel.
2. Visit as many stores as you can. This one’s probably a no-brainer, but like I’ve briefly mentioned, each store is completely different in how they handle this. Almost all participate, but some limit the number of issues you can get, some base this limit on the amount you purchase. Some stores don’t carry every title. If you don’t spend the day touring different locations, you could possibly miss out on the perfect book for you.
3. Look out for creator guests! A lot of stores will score appearances by the creators of the comics you’re picking up! There’s absolutely nothing like a good meet and greet to stir up your enthusiasm!

I could go on and on, but if you would like the full lowdown, including a list of many of the titles available (There’s always a few surprises) and participating locations near you, be sure to visit the official Free Comic Book Day website!

Here are a few of the family-friendly titles that you may find and that are endorsed by Howefitz Blog: click the pics for the official descriptions!

Highest Possible Recommendation!

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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!

Please excuse the crudeness of the above comic. When inspiration strikes, I have to get it down on paper. Since discovering the blogging lifestyle, I now feel like I should share everything online…

If you follow me on twitter, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’ve been geeking out on my favorite webcomic, Hijinks Ensue. In fact, I went back to the beginning earlier in the week, and got to the end late last night.

If you’re not familiar with HE, it’s a ‘Geek Webcomic’. Creator Joel Watson has effectively cartooned himself and his friends, and four times a week, he draws strips of himself and his friends poking fun at popular culture and each other.

So it got me to thinking: My family cracks me up every day. My wife consistently provides just the right words that convey what we were both thinking. In short, my family would make a great webcomic.

Not willing to wait for the Wacom tablet I just ordered cheap on the internet, this first strip was penciled on actual paper with one of those wood sticks with graphite inside, then scanned in and ‘inked’ in Artweaver using just the pad on my laptop. When I actually launch the strip, I plan on using color, and between now and then I’ll figure out how to draw a straight line.

The strip shouldn’t interfere with the sporadic schedule of the normal Howefitz Blog, so don’t fret, fair readers. If anything, I’m hoping the comic will enhance the entire Howefitz Blog experience!

If you can’t wait for me to get my act together, I plan on posting early design sketches on my Facebook Fan Page for Howefitz Blog. If you’re not a fan yet, what are you waiting for?

So what do you think? Is the Daddy Webcomic Blog the wave of the future? (If I have my way…) or am I just being silly?

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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Of course, 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!

This week, after that stirring childhood reminiscence, let me warn you that the following comic book I am going to tell you about is NOT for the kiddos. My readers are generally parents and grandparents, and every time I blog about a comic, I get a ‘That will be great for my kid/grandkid!’ comment. DO NOT find this comic for your kid!

Thanks to Ron Mattocks for pointing me to ‘Life With Tony‘, and his Kick-Ass comic giveaway!

Tony is giving away a copy of Kick-Ass #1, signed by creators Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. Even though I’ve been out of comic book circles for a while, I know that these two are legends and would love to have their autograph!

The comic is super-violent, with an uber-violent movie releasing in April. (Again, not for kids…)

As you can see, the story is of a comic book fan that decides to become his own kind of superhero. The only thing is, he doesn’t have super powers.

So, Tony’s giveaway works like this: answer the question of what super power would you have and why? Post your answer to your blog, MySpace, Facebook, whatever…

It didn’t take a whole lot of thought for me. Now that I’m a family man, I can’t be selfish and just give myself super powers. So, in the spirit of the Incredibles, here’s my super-family line-up:

Ultra-Papa: This would be me. Who doesn’t want the power of flight? So that would come first, but not without some effort. The extraordinary muscles that would be required to sustain flight and navigate the skies would lead to super-strength. Being the adult male of the team would make me think that I am the leader, but actually that would be…

Ultra-Mama: Also having the ability to fly and super-strength, Ultra-Mama is the real brains behind the operation, but let’s Ultra-Papa think he is in control… at least some of the time.

Steam-Hatter: Being able to multi-task in a HUGE way is Steam-Hatter’s forte. She is the informational hub for the team, able to navigate informational super-networks with a thought, and relay the pertinent info to the rest of the team. Still able to kick ass on missions, Steam-Hatter would prefer to stay behind the scenes and keep the team rolling.

Flash-Calli: This is actually what she wants us to call her, no DC Comics copyright-infringement is intended! Flash-Calli has so much kinetic energy in her molecular structure, that she is constantly on the move, even while asleep. She’s agile and quick, and is often utilized as the distraction while Ultra-Papa and Ultra-Mama do their thing.

Baby T: Although unable to speak, Baby T is able to control others with a single look. Objects from around the room suddenly appear in his hands, leading many to believe he possesses telekinetic as well as telepathic powers.

And that’s the Howefitz Ultra Team!

Do you or your family wish they had super powers? Be sure to let Tony know all about it!

———————————————————————————————

**Just a reminder, my donate button on the right side of the blog is going to Kat and her People to People delegation to Australia. Give what you can when you can to help her on this life-changing journey!**

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‘.

Pages from ‘I Die At Midnight’ depicting a man desperately in need of a good vomit…

Kyle Baker’s pacing and ‘acting’ on the cartoon page is flawless. That’s why, when I saw a book with a title that started with ‘How To Draw’ with Kyle Baker’s name on it, I knew I had to pick it up.

‘How To Draw Stupid’ reads more like an inspirational book than a straight-forward instructional art book. You won’t find any ‘draw a circle here, than a line there’ type of instruction here. What you will find are a few tips on character design, the layout on the page, and comedic timing. More importantly, you get a dose of Kyle Baker telling it like it is. He injects enough of his own personality and anecdotes from his own life as a cartoonist to make this an interesting read even to someone who has no interest in a career as an artist or cartoonist.

The most important lesson, repeated throughout the book, is that if you want to do something, just do it. In the introduction, I felt like Baker was talking directly at my younger self when he said:

‘When I was young, well-meaning adults would explain to me that it was impossible to make a living as a cartoonist. When I got older, well-meaning publishers, editors, and animation producers would tell me that it just wasn’t possible to publish or produce the kinds of cartoons that I like to make.’

When I was growing up, I wanted to be an animator. When I discovered comic books like Eric Larsen‘s Savage Dragon and Dave Sim‘s Cerebus , I loved seeing how creators could get away with anything and express themselves in a unique way through the comic book medium, without bowing down to some corporate hegemony. I wanted to do that!

However, I let outside influences effect me. I listened to the voices that said it couldn’t be done. I didn’t give 100% to achieving my goal. I didn’t dedicate the time I would need to to be able to hone my craft and earn a living making cartoons.

In the first chapter, Kyle Baker offers simple advice for becoming a cartoonist: ‘Do A Cartoon!’ He says not to worry about rejection or the cartoon being perfect because, ‘Dude, it’s a freaking cartoon!’

I will hope that my kids read this book , whether they want to make cartoons or not, for the simple message of letting everyone else think what they will, if you desire something it’s up to you to go for it!

At the end of the laugh-a-page book that follows, comes the advice that sums up the entire message:

And, finally, be the best!

…And you know why I’m the best? Because I say I’m the best. If you say you’re the best, that’s it. Try it.

…

Being the best isn’t an option these days; it’s a necessity. You don’t have to be competitive, but you must be the best.’

Sound advice from ‘The Greatest Cartoonist of All Time!’. I wish I’d gotten it sooner. But it’s never too late to start.

This is Justin M. Howe, author of the Howefitz Blog, greatest daddy blogger of all time, logging off!