I was part of a generation that grew up reading comics about Garfield, Heathcliff, Snoopy, and other funny anthropomorphic animals. When I started making picture-stories of my own, I drew funny animals of my own. Eventually I had a core group of “flagship characters” that grew up with me from Elementary through High School. I haven’t really done anything with them since.
I still feel a great deal of sentimentality for these characters, but I’m not sure if it’s right to bring them back into my adulthood. Besides, it would basically be Calamities of Nature without the religion jokes. Or Rusty the Wonderdog with more panels. I’m not sure I have anything new for the funny animal table.
That said, I’m thinking about using these characters in a random, Pictionary-inspired story for the next 24-hr Comic Day.
The first comic I drew (at age 7) was a shameless Garfield ripoff called “John and his snakes.” It was about some guy named John who had dozens of pet snakes who liked to eat meatballs.
I have to admit, that was better than the comics I made at 7.
You could use your Zombie Kitty as the lead character of your 24HCD!
I don’t know. I don’t think I have any more Zombie Kitty stories in me.
Hey Ryan,
This is actually kind of sweet when you think of it! First off, as you said many people grew up reading comics about animals so your dad might be really fond of them. More importantly though, I bet it’s sentimentality on his part as well. For him, it could be a reminder of when you were young so he has a soft spot for those in particular.
I’m sure you’ve already put that together yourself. I just figured I’d try and take away a little of the “sad” from this strip!
As always thanks so much!
GEEEEEZZZ!!!! That is such a good idea for 24 Hour Comic Day! I am so jealous I can’t now steal this since you’ll be sitting just feet from me.
To Carrie,
When I meant it was sad, I meant that it was kind of sad that I’m no longer making comics about this character. It was something I had a lot of sentimentality for. I wasn’t think sad like “it’s so sad that my Dad hasn’t realized I’ve grown up” or anything like that.
To Danno,
You can still do a Phil the Evil Bean or Man-Man 24-hr comic.
That’s a good Pound Puppy. I knew exactly what it was before I read the panel, because I had one just like that.
i gave my son my old pound puppy that i somehow kept around for the last 20-25 years. i may cry when he inevitably ends up ripping it or biting off its nose.
Yeah, I can pretty much draw that Pound Puppy from memory, although I did a little search for Pound Puppies on the Internet to shore it up.
As for giving the dog to anyone else, it would probably break my heart to see it ripped apart too.
[...] I also used a couple of characters from my childhood. [...]