Phone booth, glasses, last of his kind... OMG! The Doctor is Superman!

It truly is amazing how a silly T.V. show can get you to thinking about life.

I am currently in mourning. I’m mourning the loss of a fictional character. What makes this behavior on my part even worse, is that said fictional character has the ability to ‘regenerate’, causing him to live, albeit in varying forms, possibly forever.

Yesterday, I lost the Doctor.

It wasn’t a surprise. I knew it was the end. The rest of the world has already mourned and moved on. They’re enjoying Matt Smith, I’ve seen the tweets.

But the mourning process is very real and very ‘now’ for me. And just as with any other loss, I find myself thinking about things differently.

The great thing about David Tennant‘s entire run was his incredible enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is something the Doctor should have in spades. His enthusiasm for human life and the whole of creation is inspiring. No matter what obstacles, aliens, or seemingly unsolvable problem the Doctor faces, he does so with a smile and a lot of determination (and a wisecrack or two).

Recently I feel that I am in one of those cliffhanger moments in my life where I’m not totally sure where to go next. I wish I could just snap on my glasses and whip out a sonic screwdriver. But since I can’t, it’s great that I do have fantastic companions to help me along…

As you can see from the pictures I’ve chosen so far, the Doctor has had more companions than regenerations of himself.

I have several companions as well. My wife has got to be the closest person to a companion the Doctor would choose that I’ve ever met. Not only is she brilliantly smart and great in a tight spot, she serves as an excellent moral compass as well. She’s not just my moral compass, but a practicality one. Sometimes I get it in my head to go off and do something half cocked, and she brings me back to Earth, with an even better and more effective idea.

The Doctor's daughter, Jenny.

My other companions, of course, are my kids.

My kids are my rocks. There is nothing better than coming home to see Tristin’s smiling face, or Calli asking ‘Daddy, can you play with me?’ They remind me why I do what I do each day. More importantly, they remind me why I want to do it.

I’m not sure what it was about the end of the tenth Doctor that got me to very nearly cry at a science fiction show. (Real men don’t cry at things like that, but I did get a rather large lump in my throat.)

It could have been the writing, which expressed, I’m sure, the sentiment of the audience and the cast and crew as the Doctor said sadly, ‘I don’t want to go.’ It could have simply been David’s amazing acting.

But it was more than likely the thoughts of my own life that struck the deepest chord. It never ceases to amaze me how sci-fi and fantasy can have that effect on me. On the outside, these stories are about amazing aliens, strange new worlds, and epic galactic battles, but the good stories draw from your thoughts, memories, and sometimes nightmares.

The REAL dedication of this post goes to...

As I watched the Doctor regenerate, taking the TARDIS itself out with him, I thought about how life is a lot like that. As we evolve ourselves, it effects those around us. As we evolve and change ourselves, the people that are most dear to us seem to change as well. Sometimes people grow apart, some relationships become tighter than ever. The people in our lives shape who we are as well. Choose your friends wisely.

I have no idea how this next chapter in my life will wind up. It could be not all that different, or I could feel like I’ve been flung to the far reaches of space and time.

But unlike the Doctor, I have family all around me to guide me.

Who needs a TARDIS with a gift like that?

…(OK, I would still love my own TARDIS. )

What Would The Doctor Do?

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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At the time of this writing, I have yet to sit down and watch the season finale of Glee. I could say it’s because I’ve been soooo incredibly busy… But in reflection, I may be putting it off just because right now, I have the finale to look forward to.

Once I watch it, then what?

And why do I like that stupid show so much?

I can’t really answer that question. When I watch with my wife, it never fails. One of us turns to the other and says ‘You know, this show really is stupid.’

What do I hate about Glee? I hate that it’s completely full of simple archetypes that they try to pass off as living breathing characters. The dumb jock, the pregnant teenager, the gay kid, the ditzy cheerleader, the slutty cheerleader, the wannabe diva, etc., etc., blech!

Plots that just fall off the radar bug me too. Two characters will hate each other in one episode, fall in love the next, hate each other again, and everybody acts like everything’s normal! Come to think of it, it is a show about teenagers, maybe this bit is closer to the truth than I give them credit for…

Then there’s the horrible dialogue. The cursed ‘How can we best lead this conversation to the next song’ way of writing turns my stomach. You can see it coming from a mile away. Come on, folks!

I think to myself, ‘I’m leaving this show and never looking back!’ But wait, Sue Sylvester is going to kiss Will Scheuster?! Aw, this I gotta see! Speaking of cranky, bitter, insulting Sue: She has a ‘handi-capable’ sister, and every scene with the two of them will bring a tear to your eye, Sue’s that tender.

NO! Stop it! I hate this show! Where’d Will’s Ex go, she was deliciously malicious. What? She’s back? I better watch!

DAMN YOU GLEE!!!!!!!

There are probably a hundred other reasons why I love to hate Glee, but right now I’ve got a finale to watch.

What is it about Glee that keeps us coming back? I don’t know, but maybe Joel Watson’s doctor figured it out…

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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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Blogging.

Why? What’s so important that I feel I should set my alarm and get ready for work early so that I can sit at the computer and write about my family and my life?

I find it soothing. It relaxes me. If I don’t get to do this, I feel like I might explode.

Crazy, huh?

But the other day I found a bit of insight in an essay by Ray Bradbury:

‘I have learned, on my journeys, that if I let a day go by without writing, I grow uneasy. Two days and I am in tremor. Three and I suspect lunacy. Four and I might as well be a hog, suffering the flux in a wallow. An hour’s writing is tonic. I’m on my feet, running in circles, and yelling for a clean pair of spats.’

The quote is from a book I just started reading by Bradbury entitled ‘Zen in the Art of Writing‘.

Darn it, Bradbury’s right.

A lot of my readers are fellow writers and bloggers, so the above probably comes as no surprise to you. Late at night something awakes you, and you feel that hot, burning sensation rise from the base of your neck to the back of your head. That Thing under the bed that compels you to get up and jot something down or fling open your laptop.

Maybe it happens in the middle of the day, when you’re in the middle of some menial chore. That little voice that creeps in to your consciousness and whispers, ‘Have I got a story for you…’

The zen in blogging is that there is a certain freedom to having your own space to create and be discovered. You not only get to exorcise whatever demons may be plaguing you, or share your triumphs, or simply rant about things that you love and despise, but you also join a community. You find kindred spirits who actually enjoy looking at pictures of your goofy kids! We as bloggers, see in other bloggers a bit of ourselves. But we also quickly learn that in our similarities we are each unique individuals, with our own gifts to share.

Blogging is about creating something, but it’s also about sharing, writing to be read, and in many cases, reading to be read. I don’t know that anything else with this much power has existed before in the history of mankind. No one is telling you not to, more often than not, you’ll find encouragement. There’s no publisher telling you you’re not good enough. If a post isn’t good enough, it’s up to you to click ‘publish’.

You’ll learn from the feedback whether you were received well. If not, do you care? What are your goals for your blog? Are you trying to make money? Then maybe you should care about your audience. Are you just having fun? Then you’re getting the most out of this crazy fun hobby, and the audience doesn’t matter. If you keep honing your skills, they’ll catch up…

I’d like to leave you today with one final thought from Mr. Bradbury:

‘Every morning I jump out of bed and step on a landmine. The landmine is me.

After the explosion, I spend the rest of the day putting the pieces together.

Now, it’s your turn. Jump!’

See you in the blogosphere…

During my last perusal of a book department in a major retailer, I was quickly scanning the romance novels, trying to get to the meager science fiction section (sci-fi seems to always be meager in the mountains, despite many a great sci-fi tale being set here…), when a pattern quickly emerged. I can easily say that over half of the steamy romance covers featured some form of pregnancy, whether on the cover illustration or in the title.

What’s up with that?

I’ve always thought of romance novels as housewife porn that’s legal to be sold at the supermarket. Maybe because it’s prose?

But what’s the fascination with pregnancy being prominent to the story? Is this some kind of weird fetish thing? Or does it call on something deeper? Do women prefer to keep their escapism closer to their own lives? While men (and by men, I mean me) prefer their escapism to be about characters that have powers beyond those of mortal men and have adventures in alien and fantasy landscapes, do women prefer characters that they may have something in common with?

Just consider this one man’s futile attempt to pry open the unfathomable depths of the broad female psyche.

As for trying to figure out Harlequin‘s marketing strategies? I gave that up when I discovered Harlequin Nascar…

Incidentally, my wife can’t help with this. She’d rather read Lord of the Rings or something by Jane Austin. Which is one more reason why I love her…

********************************************************************

**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!**

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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!

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**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!**

I’ve never been shy about sharing the fact that I favor the funnybooks. I guess of any vice one could have, reading comics isn’t all that bad. When I was small, my parents would bring home whatever they saw at the grocery store newsstand (Yeah, newsstands still had comics then!) that they thought I would like. These mainly consisted of comic book versions of my favorite cartoons: Looney Tunes, Popeye, Tom and Jerry, Donald Duck, essentially, kids’ stuff…

God bless Google, here is the first 'real' comic I ever owned. Scary, huh?

At 13, I bought my first ‘real’ comic book. It was an issue of Batman featuring Killer Croc, and it began an obsession with comics, Batman in particular, that would take me through the rest of my life…

Fast forward to me at 19 years old. I had graduated high school and started going to a community college. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I had no real sense of direction. I was interested in too many things. I took classes in psychology, theater, biology, philosophy, and art.

My second semester, I was bored with the relationship I was in, but too weak to end it. I just knew that I wouldn’t be able to find anyone else that would accept a tubby fanboy like me, so I was settling. We didn’t really understand each other, but hey, she stuck around, so maybe she felt something I didn’t, right?

So I walk into my art class for the semester, and I saw the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen. She had a long flowing halo of dark red hair and a smile that would melt the hardest of hearts. Of course, I couldn’t go up and talk to her, it took her boisterous friend (there’s always one of those in these stories, isn’t there?) to introduce us. It was her friend that got this wonderful goddess to sit at a table near mine, to give us a chance to talk. And talk we did. Almost immediately, we began finishing each other’s sentences. I entertained the idea of dumping my girlfriend and running off with this wonderful woman, but again, I was weak.

Fortunately, my girlfriend made the decision for me. She’d been seeing another guy, and liked him more than me. I felt numb, but not necessarily hurt. Was I mad that she made the first move? Probably. I wanted to be the one to do the dumping! (Who doesn’t?)

So, sans girlfriend, I continued to talk to my Angel of the Art Class. There were several times that we would complete a sentence or say the same thing at the same time. Her friend would throw her hands up and say, ‘Oh, just get married already!’

What a dream boat!

Here was the knockout blow: She referred to Robin Williams as sexy. I admire Mr. Williams greatly. He is a very funny comedian and an amazing actor. But sexy? I thought of my own tubby hairy frame and thought, maybe this could work!

After all our discussions in art class, all the times we would laugh and joke in the cafeteria, I still couldn’t muster the courage to ask her on an actual date. Again, enter the boisterous friend. When the gorgeous redhead wasn’t looking, her friend slipped me a phone number and said, ‘Just call her!’

Chicken that I am, I sat on the number all summer. Luckily, fate brought us together the following semester, and in November of that year, we finally went on a date.

I still remember first setting foot in her home. She had her own house, while I still lived with my parents, in typical fanboy fashion.

…And she had a four year old daughter. She was older than me, and all of these things combined is pretty intimidating to a 20 year old who only really had one other real relationship in his life. But as I looked around her home and saw the comic book and pez dispenser collections, I knew I couldn’t leave.

It was more than those interests, obviously. It was the type of mother she was, it was the way that she thought. It was her sense of style. While I tended to plaster the walls with nothing but super heroes, she could somehow seamlessly incorporate prints of classic paintings by Matisse and Van Goghwith the four color heroes we both cherished.

One of our favorite arguments is whether Batman or Superman is the better hero. She’ll argue that Superman could do anything, but he chooses to use his abilities for good. I argue that Batman is self-made. He has no powers, but has honed his body and his mind to be the World’s Greatest Detective. She argues that Clark Kent is someone you’d want to hang around with, while Bruce Wayne is a douche. I argue that Bruce Wayne is the mask, and that Batman is the true identity… etc., etc.

DS9 became my very favorite Trek.

Before Bobbette and I started dating, I was a huge Star Wars fan. I thought that Star Wars was about characters, and Star Trek was more about the technology. She set out to prove me wrong. We started with, of all things, Voyager. A local TV station was running reruns late at night. Luckily, when we started, they were into the later seasons, if we’d started at season one, I don’t know how long I would have lasted. As it was, I immediately fell for Seven of Nine‘s battle to regain her humanity. I loved Tom Paris and his romance with a Klingon and fascination with twentieth century culture…

This became my new fanboy obsession. The library had all seasons of Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, and I ravenously consumed it all. I began writing Star Trek stories and entering the now defunct Strange New Worldsshort story competition. (For a sample of my Trek writing, check out my favorite of my stories; ‘The Stars Aren’t As Far As You Think‘) I never won anything, but I feel that the experience taught me a lot about having a passion for something and putting everything I had into that thing. I read so many Trek books and spent so much time on Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki, that I very nearly burnt myself out.

I spent a lot of time here babbling about the geeky stuff, because that’s easy. But the fact is that without my wonderful wife, I would probably still be out wandering the world with no direction. My compass would not point north, and I would not have the amazing children that you all have heard so much about.

Happy Anniversary, Bobbette. Here’s to forever!