Break of Day

This week on Inside the Kingdom I got to hang out with Nate Fakes, the mind behind Break of Day. If you’ve ever seen a cartoon about a crime scene where the victim is a TV remote or two cell phones getting a little too close for comfort, then you’ve already experienced the wonderfully weird world Nate has built. Nate’s journey is just as fun as his comics. He sold his very first cartoon back in fifth grade for five bucks and said that was the moment he realized you could actually make money drawing pictures. From there, he kept at it through college, where Break of Day first appeared in the student paper at Wright State University. After a stint interning at MAD Magazine, he revived the strip in 2011 online. And in 2023, he made the jump to Comics Kingdom, where Break of Day now runs in about 80 newspapers. Not bad for a guy who once built barbed wire fences in Kansas while figuring things out. What I love about Nate’s work is how relatable it is. He takes everyday moments and twists them into something surreal and funny. He has […]

As the cold wind howled in Southern California (okay — lukewarm wind), I was in my studio, all bundled up in my Old Navy t-shirt and jeans years ago in December. I was about to embark on a yearly tradition as common as eggnog — just not quite as delicious. I grabbed a pen and my cheap notebook and started jotting ideas. Yes, it was that time again for me to come up with seasonal cartoons for my syndicated comic, Break of Day. The process was (and still is), well, pretty boring. I sat there. Sat there with a blank stare and empty paper. Me. Staring. “What’s funny about Christmas?” I asked myself, nibbling on a candy cane. “Wait! I think I know!” Then I forgot what it was that was funny, because my concentration was lost while checking Instagram. Damn… After sitting there for a while longer, ideas did come around. “Reindeers! Yes, that’s it. Reindeer are hilarious,” I said aloud as my wife looked at me, wondering what it would’ve been like to marry someone who wasn’t a cartoonist. Ideas then poured out of me! Kind of. There […]

Break of Day arrived on the Comics Kingdom roster when it relocated to its new home last Spring. However, the online strip goes back to August 29, 2011, when it was picked up for syndication. Its origin dates back to 2003 in the college newspaper, The Wright State Guardian, at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, where cartoonist Nate Fakes attended. While attending, batches of the cartoons were sent to MAD Magazine in New York City, which eventually landed Nate an internship with the publication. The cartoon strip had a brief hiatus before becoming self-syndicated in newspapers and then featured on online webcomic platforms. Now, Break of Day appears worldwide in greeting cards, magazines, advertisements, viral comics on social media, and just about anywhere. Even pop-culture icon and author George Takei has liked Nate’s enthusiastic and light-hearted funnies. The short and clever one-panel strips consist of adorable illustrations that match the tone of the random humorous and ludicrous looks at everyday situations such as dating, parenting, work, technology, and health. The funnies with feelings strip comes from the creative mind of Nate Fakes, a Southern California cartoonist, author, and illustrator. […]