Dogs were introduced into There before many of us ever heard of the place.  One of the first dogs was of the dachshund variety… a little guy named “Turbo”.  Turbo was named and modeled after Brett Durrett’s real life dog, Turbo.  So, since dogs have been around There for about fiver years, then I’d say Herman has been in There for about five years also.  Of course, we all know about doggy years, so Herman is pushing 35 years old right now.  

As I said, I adopted Herman in September of 2003.  The original name that I gave to him was… well, I can’t repeat what it was because this is a “family-friendly” site.  But my friends who were around me back then may remember what I called him.  Most of those folks are long-gone from the There world, though; so Herman’s past is safe.  I renamed him Herman in October of 2003.  I had started writing a travel column for the There-based newspaper Caldera Sun Times.  My column was called "On The Road Again," and in it I visited some out-of-the-way places in There.  I decided that my dog would make a good traveling companion, but of course I couldn't refer to him by his name *****.  So I had to rename him.  At the time, I had my cell phone ringer set to play the theme from the old tv show The Munsters, and as I was trying to think of a new name for my dog, the phone rang… and I immediately thought “I’ll call him Herman!”  Herman's first appearance was in my first installment of "On The Road Again"; we visited the Jobaji drop, which of course no longer exists (along with the entire island of Jobaji.)  I tricked Herman into jumping off of the cliff... I think he still hasn't forgiven me for that one.  (You can see Herman's first appearance in print here.)

Herman and I did a few more "On The Road Again" columns; then my editor Renea said that she would like to have a few comic strips for the paper.  I volunteered that I would like to try one, using my dog as the subject. The Comics section of the Caldera Sun Times originally had three comic strips in it: “Herman”, and two strips that were created by Renea: “Mixed Nuts” and “Getting Along.”  I liked Renea’s comics, but I told her that I thought they were too cerebral for some people.  So I modeled Herman after some of my favorite classic comic strips, such as Garfield, Peanuts, and Heathcliff... relying more on one-liners and sarcasm.  Herman has an attitude, but he’s easy-going enough that most people seem to like him. 

Of course, Renea and her comics departed the paper in November of 2003, leaving Herman as the only comic on the site.  And he remained such right up until I sold CST in August of 2004.  I am now publishing all new Herman comics right here on his own little section of cyberspace; I’ll continue to write his comics as long as he continues to give me things to write about.

Amazingly (to me, anyway) Herman has developed his own little following.  I’ve received fan mail about my Herman strips; I’ve even received some angry letters about things Herman has said or done!  But I welcome any and all feedback on Herman.  If you’ve enjoyed Herman, or even if he has irritated you for some reason, drop me a line and let me know!  Thanks! 

-Christopher Snizik (my There sign-in name is "HowlinWolf")  

Email me!  chris@hermanthedog.net