Sometimes, even after proof-reading a strip three times, having your husband and possibly a friend or two check it over, and — short of running it through the airport scanner — hindsight is still 20/20. I owe the Tooth Fairy and many readers an apology for the parents’ false impersonation in today’s strip. I just received this feedback:
“Where do I submit a comment not related to your blog but to the comic itself? My 9 year old reads the comics and today (Feb 18) he read them before me. Can you imagine how it felt for me to read your unveiling of the tooth fairy in today’s strip? Why, why, why? Do you think only mom’s read your strip? How about a strip about that, about trying to continue to foster the innocence of childhood to have it wiped out in the safest of places in the newspaper, the comics? Do I have to redact the comics?”
I’ll get emails occasionally complaining about a strip. I try to take these letters to heart and remember the scenario for next time. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t always agree…but I figure if a person cares enough to write, I care enough to respond and take their letter seriously. I am apologizing because this simple scenario completely, unfathomably escaped me. Why? No idea. My 7-year-old daughter read this cartoon and never even mentioned it (and she believes in her). All I can say is it was one of those “dohh!” moments. Ironically, last year I was careful to tread lightly around the existence of certain major December holiday character (there’s a sample of it in this blog under “J Factor”).
So, sorry to the reader and everyone else — I do apologize!,
I’m a graphic designer, I don’t have children, nor have I ever believed in the toothfairy (nope, not even as a kid) but, in your defense…. this comic strip isn’t targeted to 9 year olds. Why is this parent chastizing you for something that they should probably scan before their kid reads anyway if there are sensitivity issues. I mean, come on… there can be some pretty adult innuendos out there in some of the other comic strips. Omigawd, heaven forbid that 9 year old should ever read a Mark Trail episode that discusses MURDER! Or a Doonesbury strip about war and death and dismemberment of main characters? All of these strips run together in my newspaper, so I assume this child would have access to them as well and others.
Who said the comic section is safe? It’s entertainment! Besides, how many pages of scantily clad women in advertising did that kid have to dig through to get to the comics? And who says childhood is innocent? Oh please… I’d like to suggest to that parent to invest heavily in the makers of bubblewrap because she’ll need it to wrap her kid in when that 9 year old starts to figure out what the real world really is. Maybe this parent should instead feel ashamed that she’s still lying to her own child about a made up fantasy character that leaves children money for teeth and now mom’s BUSTED!
I cringed to read you defending your art. Unless you specifically are creating something that is targeted for the I-still-believe-in-Santa set, then you’re off the hook.
Well, that’s my soapbox and I’m sticking to it. You’re funny and you have a nice comic strip. Keep on arting!
-Laura
A fan in Sacramento, CA
Hi Laura, thanks so much. It’s funny, I rarely apologize for a strip (this may be a first), but in this case, I just plain felt bad. Pajama Diaries is written from the parents’ perspective, it’s true, and I write some edgy ones, but they’re so full of innuendos they’re usually too subtle for a child to decipher. In this case, I flat out spilled the beans. No matter how old a kid is, it’s not my place to squelch the dream.
Still, I appreciate your defending the strip. Humor is a fine line and you can’t please everyone (can you imagine Gary Trudeau’s inbox?).
This raises a good question about a recently debated subject…the idea of separating kids’ comics from adult comics in the funny papers. I may just post something about that soon.
Hi,
I love your work, but how can I get the feed for your blog??
Hi Terri–I couldn’t figure out where to submit a comment about another one of your comic strips, so I’m sending it here–I noticed that in your 2/26 strip, Rob’s yearbook is from the class of ‘85, and he was a Bear!! Me too!!! I graduated in 1985 from Bear Creek High School, here in Lakewood, Colorado (we were the Bear Creek Bears). COOL!!!
Kim
Hi Kim,
That’s purely coincidence, but a cool one. Did you know the characters live in the fictional town of Lakeview? Pretty eerie. Only real difference is they’re in Ohio
Thanks for writing!
Hi Anna,
When you submit a comment, my site has a link that says “RSS feed for the comments on this post”. If you select this link you can add the feed. My site, at this time, only allows tracking at a comment/thread level. I will have to figure out what payment my geek husband will need to get other functionality implemented :-).
Hope that helps
To be sincere, I have never been here before, and as a new person I can say that this website looks amazing. I really enjoy it
Thanks so much!
I never ever post but this time I will,Thanks alot for the great blog.
Thanks, Ashley!