How you coming along with... (Patreon)

I drew this comic in 2015. It remains one of the most popular Christmas cartoons I've ever done. It's also one of my favorites because Danny reminds me of myself. I would totally screw up like this.

This was one of those ideas that popped in my head out of nowhere and made me laugh. But I wondered if enough people would get the reference. So I as I was beginning to add color to the comic, I emailed it to my wife to see if the joke worked for someone else than just me (see second image). 

My wife has always been a good sounding board. She's an excellent judge of when a joke doesn't work or if it crosses the line into bad taste. Sometimes she says, "I don't really like this one" -- but I draw it anyway. And that annoys the hell out of her. But generally speaking, I follow her advice. If I'm on the fence about an idea and she doesn't laugh, I scrap it. 

Her response to my email was, "It's funny. You should draw it." 

I've gotten my share of hate emails about this comic it over the years, but I don't care. It's one of my favorites. And I thought I'd share the story behind it.