Hi there! My name is Kristina, also known as The Punisher, and I am the creator of The Squirrelinator comics. Fun fact, if you are wondering about my nickname, it comes from my time in karate classes when my family nicknamed me The Punisher for all the times I brought the punishment to the other kids.

I first came up with the idea for The Squirrelinator back in 2009 when I noticed my dad outside in the backyard messing with the bird feeder. That’s right, The Squirrelinator is The Punisher’s DAD. I watched as he put the garbage can lid around the bird feeder pole to keep the squirrels from climbing up. The picnic table with the missing top acted as a fortress of sorts to surround the contraption. He even thought of greasing the pole so that the squirrels would slide down and never be able to reach the tasty food.

But, as you can very well guess, those squirrels tried hard every day to get that food. They would launch themselves off the picnic table to the garbage can lid, then grip the edge of the lid with their tiny teeth and fingers until they could fling themselves at the bird feeder. How crafty. My dad tried so hard to shoo them away that I imagined him creating a moat with deadly sea creatures and whole bunch of other dangers (like couscous which is nasty-pants) just to keep the squirrels away. That’s actually how the very first comic starts.

I had always been an imaginative kid, so after watching my dad goof around with the squirrels I decided to put my own spin on the whole ordeal. I created The Squirrelinator, a cute and feisty hero who seeks to maintain order in his backyard. The comic was originally meant to focus only on the adventures of The Squirrelinator, The Squirrel, and a few other furry friends, but it soon spread to incorporate events from The Squirrelinator’s daily life. ‘Poolside Adventure’ was the first of these comics.

I loved taking ordinary events and making them over-the-top, showing The Squirrelinator wielding his hot pink flamethrower to solve his problems, And yes, we all know that violence should never be used to solve problems. Remember, The Squirrelinator was created to be an outlandish comic in which no one ever really gets hurt. All the characters return to entertain another day! (Yes, the lady from ‘Poolside Adventure’ returns again and again.)

I hope that you all enjoy the wild and crazy adventures of The Squirrelinator. I hope you relate to the everyday joys and struggles of our hero, and I hope his exaggerated reactions make you laugh. If I see or experience something frustrating, I often ask myself, What would The Squirrelinator do? Imagining him and his extreme reactions always makes me giggle and return to a good place.

Most of all, I hope this comic allows you to see the extraordinary in the ordinary, to laugh off life’s little frustrations, and to see the world as a colorful place where anything can happen.

Enjoy!

“The Punisher”