Capes-n-Babes

Today’s strip features a special cameo. If you can’t figure out who it is then you need to start reading Girls with Slingshots right away. Or, you might also want to check out In his likeness, since the bartender in GWS is based off of James Hatton. I’ve only met James once real briefly at Baltimore Comic Con back in 2007 but I based MY version of James off of Danielle Corsetto’s version of him from her GWS strip.

I needed a bartender for today’s strip but I didn’t want to just draw another random character in the Capes & Babes universe. I wanted to throw in a cameo and Jame’s character from GWS just seemed to fit so perfectly. I hope you don’t mind, James and Danielle!

On another note, this week marks my son’s ninth birthday. For those that know me – or for those that routinely read this blog – you know my son is autistic. In just nine years though, he has come a long way and I really encourage everyone to support autism research. As a father of an autistic child, I have often said (in an almost half kidding/half serious manner) that since my son was born, I’ve learned more about autism that I never wanted to learn.

Unfortunately, it’s a sad (and very frightening) thing to start to see so many Autism support magnets on the back of so many cars these days. If you have a loved one that has autism (notice I didn’t say “suffer”?), or you know someone who has an autistic child or loved one, then you know how frightening the diagnosis for autism is rising. I’m not going to use this blog here to spout various reasons why that is – honestly, I don’t know and I think – just like autism itself – there could be a multiple number of reasons and each case… each child… is completely different.

What I will say is that we should do as much as we possibly can to fund research into this epidemic. My personal belief is that we have so much more incredible things to learn from autism and research is the only way we’ll discover all of those new things. I know I certainly have discovered a great many things about my son – and, honestly, about myself – as I learn to deal with autism on a daily basis.

And, for those parents out there that do have autistic children, you know what I mean when I say there are good days and there are bad days. For my son’s birthday, I personally hope to give him more good days then bad.

Although I’m not sure to whom that wish should be directed to… him or me.

-Chris