Creators Syndicate is set to launch a new feature by Tony Rubino and Gary Markstein entitled Daddy’s Home. The feature focuses on a stay at home dad raising a son and a daughter.
Gary’s editorial cartoons are syndicated through Copley News Service and he currently is a designer and illustrator for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was the Fischetti award winner in 1997. Tony has a wide varied cartooning background in greeting cards, newspapers, and magazines.
The feature launches March 10th.
Creators seems to have a different strategy when it comes to launching comics. Isn’t this like their fourth or fifth new comic this year?
sorry seeing as the year is clearly only 15 days old, please let me amend to … “in the last 12 months.”
They gave about two weeks worth of previews which is nice. I like it! ‘Daddy’s Home’ seems like a fresh approach to the family strip as most of them focus on the kids’ or mom’s point of view. It’s good to see a dad-specific strip hitting the papers.
Isn’t this the same as Adam@Home?
Yes, it’s the same as Adam@Home but with furrowed brows.
Leffite,
Depends on how you look at it. It’s their third in the last twelve months if you’re counting only daily strips (the others are “Cafe con Leche” and “Free Range”). If you count the weekly panel “Thin Lines” then it’s their fourth. You might also be thinking of “Dogs of C Kennel,” which is not launched but “in development” at their website.
Anyway, boy was I surprised by this one. Typically family strips have a fundamentally positive outlook, with typically cute kids and usually relatively nice parents. “Daddy’s Home” features a bitter, sarcastic kind of humor that you’d expect to find in an “edgy” strip like “Pearls Before Swine” or “Get Fuzzy” or a sitcom like “Married…With Children.” Everyone has got a negative attitude and makes witty, sarcastic replies to situations. That can be funny, but let’s just say it wasn’t what I was expecting from the latest family strip on the block.
And R Pyle, it’s the same premise as “Adam @ Home,” but the type of humor is very different.
I was thinking of Chuckle Brothers as the other.
Creators has always had a different philosophy than most syndicates. Reading through Daddy’s Home, it does seem to have more of an edge to it than most family strips. It’s very well written.
Leffite,
Well, “Chuckle Bros.” was already syndicated in Canada, and Creators picked it up for “international syndication,” which in that case also including the U.S. So it’s not a new strip per se, although it is new us Americans.
Garey,
Oh, I’m not arguing that it isn’t well written. As I wrote, having more of a bite/edge to it is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a very good if unconventional family strip.
I quit reading Adam@Home years ago when every Sunday gag was about racing to the FedEx truck or how he had to have his daily Starbucks.
Of the two “family strips” created this year by established editorial cartoonists (the other being “Family Tree” by Pulitzer-winner Signe Wilkinson), I like this one better. I agree about the bitter, sarcastic edge.
I’ll be rooting for this one. Looks like it’s time to write another letter to my newspaper(s).
I like the first month’s worth. Might have something here!
I completely forgot about Adam@Home. It’s not one I see on a regular basis. Daddy’s Home appears similar but I imagine it’ll probably evolve more different.
Charles,
I agree about this one being superior to “Family Tree” as well. Signe Wilkinson’s editorial cartoons are great but so far I’m not sold on “Family Tree” at all. I really think that it’s pushing the environmentalist theme too much. I think that she should focus more on the humor than always connecting back with the environmentalism, because I get the feeling that the constant theme is being put in there almost at the expense of the humor.
I think that it was Stephan Pastis who said in a Mr. Media interview that comic strips should be created from the bottom up — first the jokes should be written, then characters, setting, and themes will develop as a result. Well, so far I get the feeling that “Family Tree” was created from the top down — everything developed beneath the theme of environmentalism, and that’s hurting the strip. That’s just my opinion.
I’m routing for Family Tree. I’m from Philadelphia, so I pretty much have to LOL. Seriously, I’ve always liked Signe Wilkinson’s work.
Garey,
I like Signe Wilkinson’s work too. I’m just saying that her new strip has a bunch of kinks that it needs to work out, so up to this point it’s not as good as her editorial cartoons. But it’s only been 9 days, so maybe I’m pre-judging a little. I’m rooting for “Family Tree” to work out for her too.
Based on the samples, I won’t be reading either. I didn’t care for the art of either, but I can deal with that if I like the art…and I didn’t like that either.
I do, however, love Adam@Home.
Wow, just checked out Chuckles Bros., too. It really takes 3 peeps to create that feature? Oye. Creators must not be getting the quality submissions that the other syndicates get.
I think that “pound for pound”(ie, they don’t launch as many features and they have a select roster), The Washington Post has had the best of the new strips, with Universal a close second. I’ve always thought that Amy Lago had a great eye for fresh talent. I imagine that Universal gets many top notch submissions. United has launched some sub par features since Ms. Lago left, IMO. King has a few fresh new features, but man…Creators…who’s picking their new features?
Adam@Home is drivel.
Wow, Miles, a statement with no backup data? As you said in another thread, “the next time you post, be credible.”
Or, (again your words) Please exit stage left gracefully.
Ha! This blog is treating “Adam@Home” as an email address!! LOL
This strip looks really good. Great writing and art. The gag on January 9 made me laugh out loud.
I have never read Adam@Home. I gotta see what all the fuss is about.
“Ha! This blog is treating â??Adam@Homeâ? as an email address!! LOL”
Ohhhhhh, that’s what it is–I thought it was Adam’s spam filter bouncing my emails back 😉