How did you come up with the name, “Umbert?” I needed a name that went with “Unborn,” but couldn’t think of any “U” names. Then I remembered the author of the book, “The Name of the Rose,” Umberto Eco. Umberto didn’t sound American, so I dropped the “o” and made it Umbert. Why did you create Umbert? I wanted to do something positive to help promote a culture of life in America. I thought that by giving the unborn child a face, a voice and a personality, I could somehow give personhood to all unborn children in the public consciousness. People relate to cartoon characters in a personal way to the point where they begin to take on a certain reality of their own. If a whole generation of kids could grow up with Umbert as one of their favorite characters, they might one day believe it to be unthinkable that anyone would sanction killing Umbert and his unborn friends. Is Umbert a boy or a girl? I originally wanted to keep that a mystery and really, I haven’t yet revealed Umbert’s true sex. Every time Umbert’s parents try to find out on the ultrasound, he does something to thwart their discovery. But my readers, by and large, have said that Umbert looks and talks like a boy and thus, they see him as a boy. That being the case, I needed to have a girl character to present the feminine perspective. So I came up with Vita the Viable. Where you do come up with the ideas for Umbert cartoons? Ideas come to me from personal experience (my wife and I have three children), the daily headlines and from my own imagination. Others come from reader suggestions and emails I get from Umbert’s fans. The best time for me to write is in the morning when the creative side of my brain seems to function better. I keep a sketch book of ideas and a pocket notebook for me to write ideas down when I’m not at my studio. How do you create an Umbert cartoon? Once I rough out a cartoon, I pencil sketch the various poses in the strip. Then, using a light box, I hand ink the drawings using a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen with the brush (B) tip. The drawings are done separately, not in strip format. I then scan them into my computer and open them up in Adobe Photoshop, where I drag and drop them into my master comic strip frame. There I size and position my drawings and make any corrections or changes with my Wacom graphic tablet pen. Using a cartoon font, I type in the dialogue then create the talking balloons using a pre-designed adjustable path. For every cartoon, I keep a master file, a black and white version for newsprint, a color version and a web version. I also store them in both strip and windowpane formats; a lot of work indeed, but made easy with computer technology. Where was Umbert the Unborn first published? The first newspaper to run an Umbert cartoon was the National Catholic Register in June of 2001? Others followed a month later when Umbert was officially launched to charter subscribers. Where does Umbert live? Besides his mother’s womb, Umbert lives in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he is featured biweekly in The Catholic Light. Is Umbert just for Catholics? No. Umbert is for everyone. I initially marketed Umbert to Catholic newspapers, but Umbert also has broad appeal to other religious groups and pro-life organizations. The appeal to these groups will continue. However, in the new daily syndicated version of the strip, A Womb With A View, Umbert will appeal to a broader mainstream market as I hope to successfully place the feature in daily newspapers. Do you really expect to land a pro-life comic strip in regular daily newspapers? Why not? Newspapers contain material representing a wide range of viewpoints and opinions, including comic strips, some of which are controversial. I think Umbert’s message of love for life is a positive one that is done in a non-confrontational way. My ultimate goal is to win over hearts and minds to the culture of life, not anger people who think differently. You may not see Umbert in the L.A. Times or the New York Times, but there are thousands of newspapers in between in which Umbert might find a home. How can we get Umbert into our hometown paper? Contact your newspaper’s editor and say “we want Umbert!” When he says, “Umbert who?” direct him to this website for syndication information. Or have him contact me directly at umbertmail@aol.com. When will Umbert be born? A young boy from Kentucky wrote to me and asked that very question. I told him that Umbert will be born when every child’s God-given right to life is recognized and protected by law. When that happens, Umbert’s dream will have been achieved. Do you have any questions about Umbert or his creator? Please email them to umbertmail@aol.com . All inquiries will be answered either personally or in this column.