This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Terri Libenson sounds like a lot of other working, stay-at-home moms.
"I have become pretty isolated socially," she said with a laugh. "And sometimes I miss talking to other adults."
Unlike most moms, Libenson is a cartoonist. She's the creator, writer and illustrator of "The Pajama Diaries," a comic strip that centers on Jill — a stay-at-home wife and in-home graphic designer, and the mother of two young daughters. The strip, which has run in the Sunday edition of The Salt Lake Tribune for some time, debuts in the Monday-to-Saturday Tribune on Monday, July 4.
The similarities between Terri and Jill are not coincidental.
"I just love working very closely to life — maybe because I'm by myself a lot," she said with a laugh. "It's easy for me to draw from what I do, and from my friends and family."
"I don't write anything really verbatim of what happens to us. But there's that initial inspiration, and then it kind of takes off on its own."
So, while Jill once told a client she could get a job done "better than I can wipe snot off a kindergartner while consoling a tantruming toddler," Terri "just thought about saying that."
Terri and her husband, Mike, are the parents of 11-year-old Molly and 8-year-old Nikki. Jill and her husband, Rob, are also the parents of two young daughters, Amy and Jess. The strip chronicles Jill's life by mixing dialogue and the thoughts she expresses in her journal. She deals with her kids, her husband, her job, and her feelings of inadequacy trying to keep up with the oh-so-perfect neighbors.
It's a combination of family humor and light-hearted social commentary.
"I am conscious about making sure it is contemporary and reflects what a lot of families go through," Libenson said. "I'm trying to make it very relatable to other parents. Especially moms.
"It's definitely something that I take very seriously.
Libenson started out "vandalizing" her brother's Archie comics, "adding my own dialogue bubbles and embellishing them a bit." Before she settled on doing her own comic strip, she thought about being a fashion designer or an illustrator. She went to work for American Greetings and still does work for the card company on contract — and from home.
In 2000, when she was a newlywed, her comic strip about two newlyweds — "Got a Life" — was syndicated as a weekly by King Features. She tried unsuccessfully to turn that into a daily strip and gave it up in 2002.
Four years later, Libenson and King Features launched "The Pajama Diaries."
That makes the process sound easier than it was.
"It's nearly impossible," Libenson said. "Especially these days, with the recession. It's been hard. I remember submitting on and off for 10 years."
Those 10 years gave her more material to work with.
"The essence of the characters is pretty on target," she said. But the comic-strip husband and wife aren't exactly like their real-life counterparts.
"I think Rob is a lot quieter in the strip and a lot more low-key. Whereas my husband is actually very gregarious, outgoing and outspoken. And I think I'm actually shyer than the character is in the strip."
The comic-strip daughters are a bit closer to their real-life counterparts.
"Amy has gone from a 5-year-old to an 11-year-old since the strip launched," Libenson said. "The character has just progressed so much. And the mom has progressed so much. Now they're going through different tween experiences. And it's kind of fun to explore.
"The hormones just make for such great material. I mean, that's our life right now," she said with a laugh.
And she's documenting it all at home. Most of the work is done on her home computer; she draws the strip first and then scans it in.
"When I'm drawing, I take over the entire kitchen table," Libenson said. "I'm sure there are lot of stained rough drafts."
Between her comic strip and her greeting-card work, Libenson said she works an average of 50 to 60 hours a week in addition to her job as the "taxi driver" for her daughters.
"I always tell people who are trying to get syndicated that you have to really, really love cartooning to do this," she said. "It just requires so much time and effort and you never know how it's going to go.
"But I love it. It's just so much fun. I definitely wouldn't do this unless I loved it."
Twitter: @ScottDPierce
Facebook.com/tribremix —
"The Pajama Diaires" goes daily
Terri Libenson's comic strip, which appears in The Salt Lake Tribune's Sunday comics section, joins the Monday-Saturday comics lineup on Monday, July 4.
"Pajama Diaries" is replacing "For Better or for Worse," which has been repeating strips for the past year. Creator Lynn Johnston retired the strip after a successful run that spanned more than three decades.
The daily "Pajama Diaries" strips feature all the same characters but are "a little different from the Sundays," Libenson said. "The Sundays are a little more off the beaten path. The dailies have more character development and storylines." —
"The Pajama Diaries" cast of characters
Jill Kaplan • Mom/freelance graphic designer who balances work life, family life and everything in between. Maintaining her own identity is important to Jill, so she records her thoughts in a day-by-day account.
Rob Kaplan • Jill's husband and best friend is reliable and logical, an easy-going guy who doesn't always pick up on his wife's predicaments. Rob both balances and challenges Jill's outlook.
Amy and Jess Kaplan • Jill and Rob's daughters. Amy tries to prove she is in total command of the household; Jess is her wing-girl.
Bobby • Amy's beat-up stuffed elephant, who tags along everywhere. He's sort of the adopted third child.
Grandma Sophie • Rob's old-fashioned grandmother, who constantly reminds Jill about the virtues of being the ideal homemaker.
Lisa, Nanci and Deb • Jill's circle of friends, all of whom have kids and careers.
Perfectville • The neighbors across the street. An updated version of the 1950s nuclear family, which Jill often tries to emulate.