Gay Family Funnies

There is something heartwarming about the basic cartoon panel. When we see The Family Circus, Hi and Lois, and even Marmaduke, we know we are in safe territory. Nothing revolutionary. So there is something almost subversive about using the traditonal family strip format for a two-gay-dads family. On top of that, Bryan and Simon Steel's AJ & Magnus is adorable without being too sugary. Just the right tone for young kids.

Bryan tells us, "Our comic focuses on the Parker family: AJ, his English Mastiff best friend, Magnus, and his two dads, Alex and John, referred to as Dad and Pop. Simon and I came up with the idea for the strip a few years ago while on a camping trip with our nephew. We had recently been married, and watching our nephew pal around with our dog, Magnus, who was three times his size, got us talking about what we'd be like as parents. From there the idea of the comic was born. We set out with a goal of creating a comic strip that would have fit right in with the '80's/'90's comics we grew up with, but one that could resonate with LGBT youth, portraying a family that isn't typically represented. The intention wasn't only to reach LGBT youth, but also be a comic everyone could enjoy and get familiar with the concept of same-sex parents and maybe become something a generation could grow up with and say, 'Yeah I knew a gay parent family and they were great!' Well, that's our goal.

"We launched the first strip in August 2014, and the past two years have been interesting. We teamed up with GaysWithKids.com to help them promote their website, which is a wonderful resource for gay men interested in starting a family of their own, and in July we became the first gay-parent-family comic on GoComics.com, the largest provider of comic strips in the world. Our Facebook page has just recently crossed 100k likes, and we're getting ready to release our second book collection, Best. Family. Ever!"

Be part of the family: Their website, the crowdfunding site, Twitter, and Instagram.