AFTER THE FACT:
This is the first strip published on this site, and it’s important as the first appearance of Davis.
When I started thinking about what this strip would be, I originally thought it would just be Rooster and Ryan (and it was originally going to be called that) with Rooster acting as a surrogate father for Ryan because the parents were too busy to be seen (I was thinking about “Peanuts” and the fact that you never saw adults in that great strip).
But I quickly realized that would be unworkable. So with the need to show parents, I started thinking about what they would be like. After struggling with that for a while, this gag popped into my head. As soon as I wrote it down I thought, “I know exactly who this guy is.”
And he quickly developed to the point where he’s become the focus of the strip. He’s certainly the easiest to write for, because he’s the closest to my own point of view.
So how much of me goes into Davis? Well, a lot of his observations on life come from me, and I’m a little bit acquainted with some of the bitterness he feels, but I also share with him a love for the wife and kids.
We do have some important differences. For one thing, the bosses I’ve had over the last few years have been great. Yeah, I may go home tired, but rarely am I as beat up by life as he is. And we have one more critical difference.
I have better hair.