'Wallace the Brave' returns to the pages of The Providence Journal

JAMESTOWN − Fans of "Wallace the Brave" rejoice! The syndicated comic strip about the life of a young boy in the fictionalized town of Snug Harbor, Rhode Island, returned to the pages of The Providence Journal on Monday after a brief hiatus.

When Gannett, the nationwide chain of more than 250 newspapers that owns The Journal, standardized the comics page for the chain's papers, "Wallace the Brave" fell by the wayside.

But Journal editors – and, more importantly, readers – would have none of that, so the editors scrambled to find another home for the student from Moonestone Elementary School and his friends — real and imaginary.

Readers will now find "Wallace the Brave" seven days a week in its own special home on Page 2A, not competing with other strips on the comics page.

In recognition of his return – though he was gone only two weeks – The Journal caught up with the cartoonist behind "Wallace the Brave" to give some insight into Snug Harbor's favorite kid.

Who is Will Henry, creator of 'Wallace the Brave'?

Will Henry is the pen name of William Henry Wilson, who grew up in Matunuck and now lives in Jamestown. He began drawing the comic strip "Wallace the Brave" at the family liquor store in Jamestown, Grapes and Gourmet, before moving his studio to his house after about four years at the store.

He prefers to go by the nickname Will.

Will is married to Isis Brighton, owner of the bakery Isis Cakes in Wakefield. They have two sons, William, 5, and Porter, 4.

How did Will get started in cartooning?

"You get bitten by the cartoon bug at an early age," Will said.

In elementary school, he immersed himself in "Peanuts," "The Far Side," "Garfield" and "Calvin and Hobbes."

In high school, he amused himself and friends by drawing cartoons that made fun of the principal.

Then, it was off to the University of Connecticut, which drew him both because of its art program and because of its ascendant men's basketball team, which won its second NCAA national championship his first year there, 2004. "I wanted a bigger-school experience," he said.

While at UConn, he drew a comic strip, "Room Mates," for the campus newspaper, The Daily Campus. Will described it as a typical college strip about two roommates and a beer-swilling rat that lived in a pizza box. It paid $15 for three strips a week.

After college, he started "Ordinary Bill," with characters based on himself, his then-girlfriend Isis and his cat. While "Ordinary Bill," under the byline Will Wilson, was mainly an online phenomenon, it got picked up by some small Rhode Island papers, such as the Narragansett Times and The Jamestown Press.

Is 'Wallace the Brave' about a Scottish folk hero?

No, Wallace is a little boy living in Rhode Island. The name of the strip is a salute to author Will's ancestry. "My family has a lot of Scottish heritage," he said, "and I always felt that name kind of summed up the persona."

What inspired 'Wallace the Brave'?

Will had given up on "Ordinary Bill" and was working in the family liquor store, trying out new things with comics.

"I wasn't really working on anything in particular," he said. "I was going to draw cartoons, and they weren't going to go anywhere. They were going to go in a shoebox under my bed."

"Then there's kind of an 'aha' moment."

He saw a group of friends hanging out on the pier in front of the liquor store one summer. One kid was standing on a piling and another pushed him off the piling into the Bay. They all clearly enjoyed it.

So Will began drawing a strip about a community of friends. He challenged himself to do a month of the strip, to see whether there was enough there. At the end of the month, he showed it to Isis, who liked it, found it different from anything else out there, and encouraged him to do more with it.

He pitched "Wallace the Brave" to Andrews McMeel, the syndicate that had picked up "Ordinary Bill."

Why did Will Henry change his byline from Will Wilson?

Will switched names when he switched from "Ordinary Bill," written for adults, to "Wallace the Brave," which also appeals to children, in part so Internet searches wouldn't bring younger readers to the more mature strip.

When did Andrews McMeel pick up 'Wallace the Brave'?

The syndicate debuted the strip on its GoComics website in 2015.

When did The Journal start running 'Wallace the Brave'?

As 100 newspaper clients of Andrews McMeel began running the strip in March 2018, The Providence Journal debuted it on Monday, March 26, 2018.

How did Will celebrate getting into The Journal?

It was a tumultuous time for Will, with his nationally syndicated comic strip first appearing in newspapers just two weeks after his first son, William, was born. So the baby spent some time with grandma while Will and Isis went to Providence, got a copy of The Journal and stopped off at the Wild Colonial Tavern to toast the milestone.

How old is Wallace, the lead character?

"It doesn't really seem important to me," said Will. "I haven't given it much thought."

But, he added, Wallace, who doesn't age, is around second or third grade.

Are the characters Amelia and Sterling real people?

Not exactly, but close.

The personality of Amelia, the feisty new girl in town, is modeled after Will's sister, Amelia Wilson.

Similarly, the personality of Sterling, who is described as Wallace's "feral" younger brother, is fashioned after Will's brother, Iain Wilson, though Will made it clear that Iain has mellowed with age and no longer resembles the feral kid in the strip. The name Sterling is another nod to Will's Scottish heritage and Stirling Castle, once home to Scottish Kings and Queens.

Is Snug Harbor in the comic strip the real-life Snug Harbor?

While Snug Harbor is a fictional Rhode Island town that is the setting for the comic strip, Snug Harbor is also a real place in the town of South Kingstown, and it provided inspiration for Wallace's hometown.

The real-life Snug Harbor is not far from Matunuck, the section of South Kingstown where Will grew up. Snug Harbor is home to a fire station and a marina store bearing its name, both off Gooseberry Road.

Was Snug Harbor almost called Matunuck?

Well, not really almost, but Will evaluated the names of the place he grew up, as well as the place he now calls home, before settling on "Snug Harbor."

"I love Snug Harbor. It's beautiful," he said, explaining that a friend's family used to rent a place there, so he knows it well. "It was just a very happy place. The fog rolling in from the bay."

Also, the name suggests a cozy place on the coast, the perfect spot for a comic-strip boy growing up. "The name just sums up a quaint town," Will said.

If he had gone with "Matunuck," on the other hand, it would invite people outside Rhode Island – maybe even outside South County – to mispronounce it. "Matunuck is a tough name to sell," he said.

And, his current home of Jamestown, he said, is just too common to be a good name for a fictional place.

Why are so many RI scenes shown in the background of 'Wallace the Brave'?

One aspect of "Wallace the Brave" that endears Rhode Island readers is how often they see places they know, or at least think they recognize. From the statue of Roger Williams in Providence to the Towers in Narragansett, and the bridge in East Matunuck, the stone ruins at Black Point near Scarborough Beach, the piers at East Ferry in Jamestown and Trustom Pond, Will likes to create a rich backdrop for Snug Harbor, and not just to anchor the strip in Rhode Island.

It also keeps him from getting bored.

"It's fun to draw something different," he said. "To keep it fresh, I practice my landscapes, and I take inspiration from our area."

What inside joke appears in almost every 'Wallace the Brave' strip?

Will said he includes a seagull in 99% of the strips as a nod to the saying that "once you move to Rhode Island, you're assigned a seagull to follow you around to look for food."

Is 'Wallace the Brave' ending anytime soon?

Will thinks comics are at the beginning of a new golden age. Even as newspaper use of comics is declining, a wider array of strips is available to a more diverse audience online, and artists are eager to fill that space.

"Comics are alive and well and possibly even stronger than ever," said Will.

And, while he still hasn't come to grips with being the author of a popular strip, he thinks "Wallace the Brave" has years left to run – unless it all comes crashing down.

"Every day, I feel like the ride might come to an end," he said. "I still haven't gotten comfortable with the idea of being a full-time cartoonist."

In any event, he pledges to end the strip if he can't keep it fresh. "The comic will tell me when it's over, but I refuse to let it get stale."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: 'Wallace the Brave' returns to The Journal