Ink brush and marker on 8.5" x 11" paper by Joe Chiappetta 2011
If you like this comic you should buy the eBook in which this comic appears: Silly Daddy in SPACE comic. This particular illustration came out of a question I posted in the Amazon.com science fiction forums. What I wrote was this: "I just had a strange thought and wondered how this group would respond. How different do you think the world would be if there was no such thing as science fiction? Would life be better, worse, less technically advanced, boring, etc?"
My query brought forth many thoughtful and entertaining answers until one fellow got off on a totally unrelated tangent and started thrashing the Bible as a book full of horrors. After careful consideration, I decided that I had a responsibility, since I started the topic, to stand up for truth and correct the misinformation and half-truths that this cynical fellow was spreading about the word of God. I responded, as nicely as possible, with a brief statement about how the scriptures are only full of horrors for people who refuse to follow God.
Thereafter, a number of mockers verbally attacked me for my faith with their false courage that comes from being behind a computer screen for too long, and the topic got completely off track. The whole ordeal was a test to my patience and kindness. In order to remove the sour taste from my mouth, I prayed and then came up with this funny comic that answers the original question I posed in the forum. The comic was my attempt at turning a distasteful situation into a good memory. Despite the conflict, it is my way of expressing that verbal persecution is not going to rob me of my joy.
Aboard their spaceship docked at a space station, a woman says, "I wonder what life would be like in a world without science fiction."
The man replies, "We would most certainly still be cruising around the galaxy in horse and buggy."
I should also give thanks to my son Luke for helping on this comic illustration. I told him to design a spaceship out of Legos so I can draw a unique ship in the background. He did so and I drew his creation into this comic. You can see it overlapping the center of the right-most planet.
