June 15th, 2013

My 3 Dads

by Steve Kelley and Jeff Parker

It’s almost Fathers Day.  Not to bring anyone down, but this will be my first Fathers Day without a father of any kind around to celebrate with.

My last remaining dad, my father-in-law, passed away earlier this year.  In 2011, both my dad and stepdad left us.

I’ll sorely be missing them on Sunday.  All three of my dads were forever my biggest fans — and I theirs.  But one thought brings me a sniffly smile, despite losing my dads seemingly all at once, they all proudly saw “Dustin” make it to “the show,” living long enough to see my name alongside Steve’s on a syndicated daily comic strip after decades of watching me pitch comic strip idea after comic strip idea.

And as their local newspapers didn’t carry “Dustin,” we got them all gift subscriptions to King Features’ DailyINK.

I know, shameless plug, but each of my dads really enjoyed receiving “Dustin” by email every day along with their other King Features favorites.  My father particularly loved having access to many of his favorite vintage strips from his childhood, “Krazy Kat,” “Flash Gordon,” etc. — he was always a diehard comics fanatic.

Take it from me, a DailyINK gift subscription for dad is WAY better than the old standby ugly tie or can of Turtle Wax.  So if you’re stuck for a great (last minute) gift idea for your dad (or dads) it’s hard to beat DailyINK.  Here’s the link for gift subs: http://dailyink.com/gift?ref=sat_cwr . You can also order framed matted prints of their favorite comic strips too.

I’ll always be missing you, Dad, Big Bill, and Da… but know I’ll keep you close through Dustin’s dad, Ed.

(This is a photo of my cartoonist-at-heart dad, Jim, taken about ten years ago when I was an assistant on “Blondie.”  He had been a draftsman in his younger days and not an artist, but got a kick out of inking-in Dagwood’s black suit for fun one day in my old studio.  Dad made my first drawing table too, it was a gift for my 14th birthday.)