Thomas: Stay opinionated, my little friend. There’s nothing wrong with your views. You might wanna be a little more discreet at times but I don’t think it was that out there. And when I think back to when I was 14, I was Captain Indiscreet. I had the uniform and everything.

Just the other day we went out to see “Where the Wild Things are” and I was suprised at the language they used. It wasn’t like the protagonist went around smoking or drinking or droppin the “F” bomb everytime his mother came around, but for the intended age group, it just seemed very surprising.

You were completely right about all those things that you said in the comment.

I can only speak for myself, so please take what I say as only my personal opinion. You asked a good question, and one that I should probably address in a blog post soon.

Yes, there is smoking in my comic. There is also drinking, mild language, suggestive themes, and violence. All of these things can be considered to NOT be “Family Friendly”, and all of these things can also be found in my favorite Looney Toons Cartoons I watched every Saturday morning as a child.

Personally, I feel like the term “Family Friendly” has, in the past twenty years, come to mean something completely different from the realities of normal family life. There has been a movement toward “protecting our children” by sanitizing (and thus, dumbing down) our media content and removing any reference to adults acting and behaving as adults might. What is the potential fall-out of this? I am afraid I do not have an answer.

What I do know is that children have the potential to be far more intelligent and discerning on certain matters than most adults are willing to give them. Was I ever tempted to start smoking cigars because I saw Bugs Bunny doing so? No. Did Dumbo’s magical journey into a world of pink elephants cause my little developing brain to cry out for a shot of bourbon? Nope, not for one second. I was smart enough to know that stuff wasn’t good for me.

So all that being said, I ABSOLUTELY feel that there is a line that should not be crossed in a cartoon strip intended to be read by, well, anyone who is old enough to read. It is a blurry line for sure, and I feel that it is the responsibility of the author to determine just how far is to far in a “family friendly” strip. And that, Thomas, is why I choose not to use certain words. And why “suggestive themes” will only stay in the realm of suggestion.

Good question though! Keep ‘em coming!