Making of "Are We There Yet?"

The idea for this one actually came from the 3yo.  Grandpa was coming to visit, so ALL MORNING I got "Is Grampa here yet?  Is Grampa here yet?  Is Grampa here yet? ".  I kept replying with "Not yet, sweetie!" until he snaps back "SOP SAYIN DAT!"  

The setup was perfect for the classic car trip scenario and it seemed more in character for Vincent  5yo was a little miffed that he was being "framed", but I keep hammering home that the characters AREN'T us, just based on us.  I then admitted that this one is actually more inspired by me as a kid, because I was terrible on road trips! 

I initially had the text as more of a wall, to up the drama, but J said she should probably say her line a few times to make the joke work.

I had to rework the parents a fair bit to get the angle in the car to look right.  I decided to give her a paper map, partly as a nod to my own Mum, trying to navigate with me grumbling in the back and also because it was a nice excuse to have her holding something other than a phone!  I figured in modern times, it might suggest that they've had an even shittier day if they've had to resort to a paper map! :)

I initially had Coopers carseat rear-facing, but one of my "rules" is if there's an excuse to get another reaction shot in there, then GO FOR IT!  I turned it forward facing and made a joke on social media that I checked and it's safe for talking kittens. 

The comic itself might not be based on my 5yo, but the bonus panel very much is!!  We went to an AMAZING childrens museum in Phoenix once and 5yo took one look at the (relatively unimpressive) outside of the building and said it looked boring and he didn't want to go in.  Had to drag the ungrateful little sod in kicking and screaming and of course drag him back out again when he didn't want to leave!