When my wife was pregnant I had an idea to do graphic novel about the pregnancy. And then the boy was born and my brain turned to mush.
But I still liked the idea of documenting first-time fatherhood in cartoon form. So, because of the profound lack of time (among other reasons), I decided to turn to a shorter form of graphic narrative – one that I knew well – the comic strip.
I call it Dadding Badly not because I think I am a bad dad, but because of that constant concern that one is not being a good enough parent. And when you’ve never done this before, that worry is multiplied by some very, very large number.
Everything that happens in the comic is true. Some of them will be funny, some will be thoughtful, some might even be sad.
I also decided to use a looser, sketcher technique for this project. This was to re-energize myself in relation to my work. And, in hindsight, its frantic style is a pretty good representation of parenting.
I’m not sure how long this project will go on. At least a year, maybe longer. There’ll be a new comic strip every week, so please feel free to come back, read and leave comments.
I love the comics! As a newbie dad myself, many of the situations you describe have happened to me, and since the dad character you draw bears a remarkable resemblance to me, I like to think of it as my life in comic format. Keep up the good wprk!