Earlier this month, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Thatababy by Paul Trap: ten years of shenanigans and adventures from the strip’s littlest character. Thatababy began in earnest in 2009 when Trap submitted the strip to the Amazon Comic Strip Superstar content. It received glowing reviews from contest’s celebrity judges, and since then, the strip’s popularity has grown all across the world.

Thatababy’s journey amped up in fall 2009, when you were a finalist and runner up in the Amazon Comic Strip Superstar contest. What was the impetus to enter that contest?

Timing proved once again to be everything. I had completed a syndicate submission packet for Thatababy just before the Amazon contest was announced, so I tossed that into the ring. My head is still spinning ten years later.

Tell us what it was like to have the likes of Lynn Johnston, Garry Trudeau, Mark Tatulli, and Scott Hilburn praise your work?

Feedback from many of the heads on the Mt. Rushmore of cartooning? I was gobsmacked, for sure.

I had the good fortune of meeting both Gary Trudeau and Robert Plant last year. I was way more wobbly chatting briefly with Trudeau than the lead singer of Led Zeppelin.

Thatababy Jones has been embarking on amazing adventures for a decade now. What are he and his parents doing to celebrate?

Parenting and cartooning are similar in the respect that there’s little time for celebration—there’s always a new crisis or deadline to wrangle/conquer.

What has been your favorite story arc, gag, or strip in the past decade?

I always enjoy visiting that which goes bump in the night during Halloween week (Creature Under the Crib), and it was much fun celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the National Park Service.

 And this gag led to an invitation to sit in on a Simpsons table read with the cast and creators, so it sticks out as a favorite for that reason:

How do you keep the jokes fresh and funny every day for 10 years?

Caffeine and panic.

What’s your trick/go-to to overcome artist’s block?

I’m first in line if someone comes up with an answer to that question. ’Til then, more coffee.

At 27, is your in-real-life son still the boss of the family?

Thanks for asking. When our kid went off to college, I thought parenting was over—a shock to learn you never stop being a parent. He’s gone on to good adventures: four years Peace Corp’ing in the jungles of Panama, and now on to grad school. 

Like Thatababy, he still loves drawing and anything on six legs.

What’s next for Thatababy and his family?

Looking into a socially un-distanced future, meeting the grandparents and a cross country roadtrip. World’s Largest Ball of Twine (Cawker City, KS), ho!

Anything else you want fans of Thatababy to know?

For those with kids underfoot, hug ‘em hard. It may not seem like it within the scrum of parenthood, but those years fly by.