Life on Paws

My first Kickstarter ever! A comic about love and pet grief

Just a guy and his dog.

When my dog Henry died, there was a gift at my door from my friends Chris and Kathleen. They’d left a note that said “Henry Forever.” While I was touched at the simple sentiment, I had no clue that it would hold so much heft in my heart nearly two years later. With that in mind, after nearly a decade away from autobio comics, I’m coming back to tell the most important story I’ve got in me. Life on Paws is about the grieving process of loving an animal so much and the messiness that comes from not healing on anyone’s definition of a normal timeline.

(Oh, and I’m launching it on Kickstarter)

There are two reasons why I stopped doing autobio comics. The first being that I was starting to lose clarity on my motives for decision making. Was I going down a dark rabbit hole because I wanted to, or was I thinking about what would make the myth of my life more interesting? It was starting to feel unhealthy, and as my platform expanded I suddenly felt like my vulnerability could somehow be used against me. The second reason had to do a lot with the fact that I was catching on to how long these decisions to mythologize on paper stay with you. There are anecdotes and feelings from my first autobio book that I’m still justifying or reconciling. Similarly, writing and drawing autobio material can be emotionally draining. It’s one thing to put myself through that experience and have to talk about it for five years after the fact, but imagine going through all that and no one cares?

During the pandemic, I had some particularly traumatic bs go down behind the scenes. With the few friends I shared the experience with, they said “Oh, but it’ll make a great story!” There is no way I’m going to spend 6-9 months reliving that part of my life to turn it into a comic, nor am I remotely interested in trauma bonding with readers for 6-24 months once the book is released. Not worth it.

But Henry, however…

Part of why I made this book was the strength I felt in my sadness. I was able to be there for a friend when she had to put her dog down, and be strong for nearly half a dozen friends in the months after Henry died as they went through the same process. I am not in a place where I could invite another dog in my home, but my heart is strong enough to help others say goodbye. If this book is a success, I know I am signing up for years of looking people in the eye, crying, and saying: “Welcome to the worst club, ever.”

I could honor loving Henry forever. The juice will always be worth the squeeze, because the love he gave me in the years he had go beyond measure.

Life On Paws will be 56 pages, and is sized as a perfect little gift book. The product sizing was purely motivated by noticing there are no books on the market that captured the feelings I was feeling, that didn’t feel like a collection of useless aphorisms. Pet grief is so specific and so universal. I figured making my book would be an opportunity to give someone the thing I’d have wanted after Henry died.

One of my favorite sections in the book

I’ve never done a Kickstarter before… I’m scared!! To rely on the trust of individual readers is scary, but, as I said… if there was anything worth risking my skin over… Henry. Forever.

Life On Paws officially launches April 15th, but it’s important to get signups for notifications now, so please consider doing that. You’re not obligated to pledge (but you’re gonna want to- there are some neat and limited rewards for early birds).