(child babbles) - [David] Father and son dockside, enjoying a bit of mischief in Jamestown, just across the water from Newport.

It's exactly the sort of scene you might find in the comic strip, "Wallace the Brave," set in a mythical seaside village called Snug Harbor.

- Ah, well, I'm sure as most Rhode Islanders know, there is an actual Snug Harbor a little south of where we are in Jamestown.

And I grew up in Matunuck, and I love Southern Rhode Island, but Snug Harbor, the name always had a nice ring to it.

So I thought it would be appropriate for a quaint little seaside town.

- [David] That's William Henry Wilson.

Like some of the great comic book superheroes, he has a secret identity.

- $21.72.

- [David] By day, he owns and operates Grapes and Gourmet, a local wine shop, but he's also a nationally syndicated cartoonist under the pen name Will Henry.

What pays the bills, the comic strip or the liquor store?

- It's the comic strip now, which is, it's a dream come true.

But the liquor store was kind of an opportunistic endeavor.

I was working here in my early 20s, and the owner was very nice, it went up for sale.

He lived in Arizona, didn't really want to be here anymore, and he offered it to me at a discount price, and I took advantage of that price.

(laughs) - [David] Excellent.

- And because I was trying to do cartoons, I brought my drawing desk down here.

- [David] That little drafting table under the wine rack, his window onto the world.

Cartooning was something he used to do in his downtime, but it was always his dream job.

- I got my real first taste of professional cartooning at the University of Connecticut where I was writing for "The Daily Campus."

And it was cool, they paid like 15 bucks a week for three comics, which was enough for a like 30 pack and a Big Mac.

- [David] And it was called "Dorm Mates?"

- [William] "Roommates."

- [David] "Roommates."

- "Roommates," and it was about, you know, the typical comic strip, a couple roommates and their beer drinking mouse that lives in the house.

- Was the subject matter more adult than- - Oh, of course, (laughs) a 19-year-old kid living in the dorm room, yeah, it was a little more adult, a little more adult.

- [David] After he graduated, he tried his hand at a newlywed comic strip, "Ordinary Bill."

- [William] That was about my wife and I in our mid-20s- - [David] Starting a family.

- [William] Not quite there yet.

(laughs) Yeah, it was definitely before the family, but it was more about a relationship, kind of a autobiographical comic.

And it was a lot of fun to draw, but I kind of wrote myself into a box with it.

So it didn't- - How so?

- Well, it was about my wife and I, and when I would write a storyline that I wanted to explore the characters- - [David] You would get in trouble- - I would get in trouble, yeah.

(David laughs) So, if I did a comic about, well, the characters would break up for a little bit, because I wanted to see what the characters would do, I'd have my mother-in-law call me up and say, "What's going on over there?"

- And then how'd you come up with "Wallace the Brave?"

- I was sitting in that drawing table in there and looking out the window, and I saw a kid on a pylon, and it was summertime, and they were laughing, and another kid came and just pushed him off of it, and he fell in the water and splash, and he popped out and he was laughing, ear to, and he was just so happy, and I thought that's a moment I want to capture, fun, ocean, kids being kids, and there was a click moment where I saw a path to a successful comic strip.

(gentle music) - [David] Very briefly, for those unfamiliar, here are the dramatis personae.

- The main character is Wallace.

He's just an energetic, happy, very positive kid.

I wanted to abut the whole trend of parents not being very supportive of them, of kids, or kids being kind of whiny brats.

I wanted a very positive, happy family, which is what I experience.

But he's the main character, his best friend is Spud, who's kind of the neurotic, he's a weird kid, and he's very self-conscious of those weird things, but Wallace celebrates them, and I think that's what makes them click.

- [David] There's Wallace's kid brother, Sterling, who never met a bug he wouldn't eat.

And then there's Amelia, who's the new girl in town.

- She's very feisty.

She's the one that likes the phone.

She's the one that doesn't have much patience for them.

- How close is this family to people that you know?

(William chuckles) Are the characters based on anyone in particular?

For instance, there's- - Suspiciously close.

- [David] There's feisty Amelia, and your sister's name, suspiciously enough, is Amelia.

- [William] And I would never cross her.

(David and William laugh) The characters are very much based on, they're actually based on my family.

My little brother Ian, he is kind of based- - [David] He eats a lot of bugs?

- As a kid, he was wild.

They used to call him Naked Ian.

(David and William laugh) And I'm sorry Brother.

- [David] That's Ian with William's son, both of whom inspired bug-eating Sterling.

People have compared it to "Peanuts," to "Calvin and Hobbs."

It's old fashioned in a way.

- Yeah, I'm trying to build a world where the kids are...

There is technology in their world, but I want Wallace, the main character, to be the one that says, "That stuff is fine, "but I enjoy being out in nature.

"I enjoy being out just in the world."

- [David] That indifference to technology is something Wallace comes by honestly.

- I'm an old-school guy, I still have a flip phone.

We still have an Apple TV from like 2010, and I think a little bit of that trickles into my comic.

- [David] Right, it's the world you hope for your kids.

- I hope so, yeah really, absolutely.

- [David] The inspiration, always close to home.

- The weird thing is, when I first started drawing this comic, I was maybe 29, 28, I had no kids, I was married.

And the characters, especially the parents and the kids were very much based on my experience as me being the child and the parent characters were my parents.

After a couple kids and being in the family life, I've noticed the parents have kind of evolved into my wife and I, and the kid characters, I see a lot more of my kids in them.

- [David] Interesting.

- So there's been an evolution of that personally and in the comic strip.

- [David] In other words, the cartoonist and his character have evolved together.

- A lot of the stuff I wrote about my parents was a little more idealized, because it was memories of childhood as opposed to experience it in real life and which has its pluses.

It's rose-colored glasses I suppose.

- Can you point to an example where you got an idea from something that happened in your own life?

- (laughs) Yeah, absolutely.

There was a comic that just ran last Sunday where when I draw my comics, I'll either draw them here at the liquor store or up in my studio.

And one time, I came down from the studio, and my wife is wearing a cape anda Dr. Seuss hat, and she's holding the ladle, and the kids are half naked, and they got stuff all over them, and they're playing this imaginary game.

And I just thought, this is crazy, what are you doing honey?

And they all made fun of me, 'cause I wasn't in costume.

And so those kinds of moments I try to capture for the comic 'cause they're surprising to me, but they're real.

- It's the kind of comic strip that does have multiple audiences it would seem.

- [William] Oh yeah, - There's a level which kids would enjoy it, but also the grownups get a crack out of it too.

- I hope so, that's kind of like that Pixar sweet spot, where everybody can enjoy the feature, and- - Who are your influences?

- Oh, you know what, I'm gonna- - Or who do you really admire in the world of comics?

- You know, I can say all the comic strips you've heard of, but I'm gonna talk about comic strips that are being done right now that I admire.

"Dunce" is a Norwegian comic, which I just, I love, I love.

It's about a father and son living above the Arctic Circle.

And then I love "Macanudo," which is a Argentinian comic by Liniers.

- [David] That's so esoteric.

(William laughs) - [William] But that's a great comic.

I find a lot of inspiration in that.

- But do you hope someday to be in the pantheon of the ones that are more familiar to our audience at least?

- Secretly, yes- - [David] The Charles Schulz of Rhode Island?

- I would never tell anybody that, but it's obviously in my head.

But the day-to-day is just getting the comic out the door.

It's a daily comic, and I don't wanna say it's a grueling schedule, but it's a quick schedule.

I work four days a week (bright music) with some nighttime coloring.

So, I'll probably do seven to eight a week, which kind of banks some for later.

I was like two years ahead of my daily deadline, and then I had two kids, and now I'm like three weeks ahead.

(David and William laugh) - Soon you'll be racing to catch up.

It gets easier in some ways and harder in others.

- [William] I believe it.

- As they grow.

But you'll get lots of new ideas probably.

- That's what I'm hoping for.

That's the reason I had the kids.

(David and William laugh) (bright music) - A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.