Making comics about “dad-hacking” is something that happened totally unintentionally. When I first became a dad, two instincts immediately activated: I desired to figure my life out, and I was compelled to mess with my kids whenever presented with the opportunity. That tension fuels the dad-hack: it's competence and incompetence mixed into one ill-conceived idea, executed with impunity; results vary. In the best-case scenario, whatever I’m trying to do works. Worst-case scenario, my kids laugh. It’s a win-win! After a few years of making comics, I noticed a theme common throughout them all. Dad-hacking.
The ideas for my ‘dad-hack’ comics are mostly inspired by true stuff that happens in and around my household. I’d say my ‘dad-hack’ comics are truth-adjacent; they aren’t an accurate retelling, but a joke version that is crammed into four panels. For example, my daughter didn’t destroy the world by playing a song on her plastic recorder- but for a few ear-ringing minutes, it sure felt like that’s what was happening.
My kids are a HUGE influence on the comics I make in two ways: first, I want to make comics that make them laugh. Second, I find much of what they say and do to be so funny that I must immortalize it in comic form. As a dad, I get a ton of joy out of seeing little glimpses of who my kids are growing up to be. I especially enjoy it when they bring out their incredible sense of humor and make others laugh.
Most parents inherently get the humor in my comics. I’m currently a university student (and about a decade or two older than most of my classmates) and I shared a book of my comic strips with one of my classmates who read them and said, “Wow- you’re such a dad.” I couldn’t tell if he meant it dismissively, or as a compliment. Either way: Mission accomplished.
There is a humorous side of parenting and there is a challenging side of parenting. In my experience, you don’t really get one without the other. When it comes to the comics I make, I always try to find and express the humor that is inherent in the challenges.
I think my comics are relatable to parents and non-parents alike; parent or not, we all fail from time to time. Hopefully, people laugh at my comics, but more than that, hopefully, my comics inspire people to take pride in their own attempts to get stuff right, to learn to laugh at themselves when they get it wrong, to bring a good sense of humor to any situation and to remember to keep what’s really important to them as their top priority.
