Dad Nails the Comedy of First-Time Parenting in New Comic Strip
Co-parenting a baby as a divorced first-time dad can be tough—but it can also come with its fair share of comedy, as cartoonist John Kovaleski hilariously proves with his new comic strip, Daddy Daze.
Kovaleski originally started the strip to chronicle his son’s first year—and his own first year as a parent—and then recently resurrected it. Nap time, daily messes, creative stunts and endless toddler questions are all fodder for the amusing moments celebrated (and poked fun at) in Daddy Daze.
Kovaleski’s son is now 8 and enjoying his first taste of fame. Early on, he asked his dad if he was a “newspaper star” yet, and has no qualms about his family being fictionalized. “Once when I told him about a strip I was working on and referred to the main characters as the dad and the son, he said, “Daddy, just say ‘you and me,’” Kovaleski tells The Bump.
While the comic is a fictionalized version of their lives, it’s usually based on a least a little reality. The little boy in the strip, Angus, shares his real-life counterpart’s fear of the doctor’s office, love of drums, and his tendency to asking rentless questions.
Kovaleski should have enough inspiration to keep going for a while, as his son keeps providing great material—some of it funny, some of it downright heartwarming. “Just recently he asked me if I could try to be the oldest person in the world. (He’s a bit obsessed with the Guinness Book of World Records, as I was at his age.) I was befuddled by the question and asked him why. He said that the longer I’m around, the more time he’ll get to spend with me,” Kovaleski says. ”It made me all misty. I’ll certainly be turning that into a future strip.”
You can find the strip at Daddydazecomic.com and in newspapers nationwide.
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