Patty-Cake
A Survival Guide for Children? For Parents? Or Both?

A very sympathetic, sophisticated and realistic view of modern-day childhood is to be found in Patty-Cake and Friends, a comic book series now enjoying its tenth anniversary. It's currently published by SLG (Slave Labor Graphics). The latest issue (June 2005) is #14 of the present series; but there have been earlier series involving other publishers. I know of 43 issues in all.

The artist and writer, Scott Roberts, began creating the characters many years ago, inspired by old-time "kid comics" such as Peanuts, Little Audrey and Dennis the Menace. It's rooted in his own 1960s childhood, and yet it rings true for today's childhood as well. What it mainly deals with is not the setting, but the children themselves-- how they think, feel, behave and react to things. Hence its "timeless" quality and its wide appeal. On first seeing it I compared it with my all-time favorite comic, Little Lulu, and I didn't at first see much resemblance; but now, looking past the stories and the surroundings-- looking inside those little minds and hearts-- instead of seeing different kids, I just see the same kids in different settings.

Patty, nicknamed Patty-Cake by everyone in town, is a girl of 7, featuring the blend of qualities you typically see in a kid who's been raised well but still has a lot of childhood left to stumble through before she'll understand everything. She isn't mean, or callous, or overly rebellious, or filled with hate, like some less fortunate kids whose emotional growth is handicapped by bad parents, bad schools, or bad peers. But she's still childish. Thus, she can be stubborn at times; she is often confused; she can get very hurt over the smallest things; she can have a temporary obsession with one thing to the exclusion of all else; and she can cause trouble without any malice, or be wrong when she's sure she's right, simply because there are so many things that she hasn't yet learned.

Other Characters

KEITH is a loudmouth and not too bright. But he's still accepted as "one of the gang".

IRVING is only five, and treasures Patty's friendship because he learns a lot from her. (Note--mostly "life's lessons", not school stuff.) But he's sometimes a trial upon her patience.

JOSE is ten, but treats Patty as an equal and sometimes teaches her things. (Same note.)

SUSIE is antisocial; she hates all the other kids, plays mean tricks on them, and then convinces herself she's an innocent victim and the malice is on their side. She is Patty's principal enemy, seizing every opportunity to get Patty's goat with biting remarks. But Patty can't resist the temptation to do the same in return, thereby making Susie's problem worse.

Patty's PARENTS are a guiding light, constantly pointing her in the right direction, and her successful development owes much more to their influence than she realizes. Her mother has just the right mixture of kindness and firmness that a good mother needs. Her father is a high school shop teacher and knows how to handle teenagers, but doesn't understand small children quite as well as his wife does.

SANDY is Patty's 13-year-old sister, not really bad, but somewhat wild and rebellious. She's a handful for her parents, and is sometimes a bit unkind to Patty, but the bond of love among them always speaks loudest to her in the end.

KEVIN is a big bully who gets his kicks terrorizing the other kids. But Sandy has mean fists and gives him a good beating if he bothers Patty.

JANINE-JEAN is 25, a singer and guitarist who performs in restaurants and such. She often baby-sits with Patty and the others. She sings for them, teaches them guitar chords if they want, and acts "cool" like them, instead of "talking down" to them like an adult. As a result they all love her, making her job with them a lot easier-- though "incidents" still sometimes occur.

PHOEBE is in Patty's class at school but lives on the "poor side" of town, in a run-down house with lower-class parents who are overly strict-- though she still loves them and doesn't let anyone make fun of them. She is desperately in need of friendship and tries to hang out with Patty's group, but doesn't fit in because she hasn't learned enough about how to behave among them. She goes to their homes uninvited and wants them to devote all their time to her; she tries to show off with dangerous tricks; she tells them every little thing about herself, such as what she had for breakfast, and bores them to death. What little attention she does get is mostly pity rather than friendship. She is discussed further below.

Sample Stories

Susie, the girl who hates everyone, is to be in a school play along with Patty and others. Jose is working backstage, operating the curtains. Susie keeps goofing up her part (though not deliberately) in rehearsals. Kevin, the bully, messes up the curtains and then frames it on Jose so he can get the backstage job. The drama teacher finally gives up on Susie, drops her from the cast and puts in Phoebe, who does the part well. During the show, Jose gets his revenge by handcuffing Kevin so he can't close the curtains. Susie, taking advantage of this, runs out on stage and tries to break up the play (and get attention?) by putting on a fake suicide act with a trick knife, catsup, and a lot of moans and gurgles. The spectators, though not fooled by it, are disgusted and angry. So spiteful is Susie that she tells on Jose just so he'll be punished too, even though he did nothing to her. The kids have a good laugh about it afterwards, saying the play was so dumb that Susie's routine was better than anything in it.

Patty goes off to summer camp for three weeks, with the reluctance typical of first-timers. Two mischievous boys, Nick and Bob, scare her by saying it's a nudist camp and they'll help her undress. In her cabin she makes friends with two other girls, Cathy and Wanda. Her bunk-mate, Faye, is nervous and withdrawn. Counselor Dave shows Patty how to play an autoharp. They go canoeing. Faye whines and grumbles, wishing she were home, taking no interest in anything. When the girls talk in the cabin after bedtime, Faye threatens to report them. In the morning she won't shower with the other girls, saying she doesn't want to see anybody naked or let them see her. They do hiking, arts and crafts, leaf study, and insect study. Faye meanly taunts Patty when a counselor gives her a picture of a cat, which Patty also wanted. In the woods, Patty and Cathy go to the river to find a frog for Faye (i.e. to put in her bed), but Nick and Bob hit them with water balloons and they have to go back to camp and get dry. They sing songs and tell stories around the campfire. When they head home, all the kids-- except Faye-- have had a good time and are sorry to leave.

Patty's school gets a new gym teacher, Mr. Blocker-- a former Marine-- who bullies and threatens the boys, calling them softies and pussy willows, saying he's going to make "men" out of them. The principal brushes off their complaints, saying everything will be fine, but the teachers and parents show some concern. When Dewey, a fat boy, proves unable to do strenuous exercises on the "rings" and such, Blocker calls him a "girl". Phoebe says "I'm a girl!" and does a dazzling acrobatic performance. Blocker is steaming with anger, obviously stemming from sexism. When Phoebe fearlessly stands up to him in Dewey's defense, he says "Are you sure you're a girl? You don't act like one." All the kids sit down and defy Blocker, ignoring his orders, until in his rage he punches a hole in the wall. They're sure that will be enough to get him fired, but instead the principal hires a woman to "assist" him, and lets each kid choose which one to train with. (Some of the girls, including Phoebe, cheerfully choose Blocker.) But after a short time the woman is turned off by Blocker's sadistic bullying and says "Either he goes, or I go." The principal says she can go. But by this time the teachers have heard enough complaints about Blocker, and they finally make it clear to the principal that the kind of man he hired is not what children need.

The most recent stories-- especially that one-- show a change taking place in Phoebe. Instead of being a lonely little sobbing heap, begging the kids to be her friends in spite of her "loser" image, she's now shedding that image as her good qualities begin to shine through. She is clever, strong, courageous, sticks up for others, and won't tolerate injustice. (Which makes her a lot like Little Lulu-- on the inside!) Thus, where she once drew only sympathy from the others, she is now starting to draw respect and true interest-- and, hopefully, greater acceptance. If so, she will no longer need to force herself upon them and be seen as a nuisance. I don't know what plans Scott Roberts has for her in future issues; but, although it's too early to tell for sure, I suspect Phoebe as a member of juvenile society is on her way to success.

Kid Talk

The Patty-Cake comic is well-sprinkled with "kid talk", giving it a flavor of reality that nothing else could give. Words used by the characters include:

LIKE as in "I bought, like, a bracelet."

SO as in "You are SO dead!"

MAJOR as in "He's a major fathead!"

And other familiar expressions such as: cool, gross, dude, wicked, big time, ew, um, and "Yeah, right!"

Specific instances of dialogue that are amusing:

Jose (to Patty): I knew I didn't wanna come to your lame-ass lunchy-wunchy anyway!

Sandy (to Patty): So she's all "No way" an' I'm like "Yes way" an' she's all "Getouttahere" an' I'm "Sweartagod!"

Patty is explaining to a boy why her parents won't buy her a certain game.
Patty: My parents said it was too dumb. Oh, and gross. They said it was gross.
Denny: Waitaminnit-- Your folks used the word "gross"? I didn't think that was a grownup word.
Patty: Oh, well, they may o' said "disgusting" or "repugnant" or somethin', but it meant the same.

On the bus to summer camp, Patty is conversing with the girl next to her. At the same time, other word-balloons show the following lines, coming from kids elsewhere in the bus and not visible:
"Ninety-nine bottles of--"
"Aw, man, don't sing that!"
"Shut up!"
"You shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"Why don't you both shut up?
"No, YOU shut up!"

Jose is brooding after seeing a monster film that turned out to be a bad one. Patty is approaching.
Jose: Man, a week of lookin' forward to somethin'--for what? I'm still ticked......Lousy piece of--
Patty (interrupting): Hiya, Jose!
Jose: It sucks when movies can't be as cool as they make 'em look.

At dinner in Phoebe's filthy house-- right in front of Patty, who is present as a guest-- Phoebe's mother smacks her and yells (written as shown here): "Get yer elbows off the table! We don't #$%*in' eat like pigs in this house!"

A Few Choice Patty-Cake Gags

Patty is mad at older sister Sandy for throwing her into the swimming pool, and now she wants revenge. So when Sandy is talking to the lifeguard, trying to convince him she's "very mature", Patty calls from the pool: "Hey, Sandy! Where did you say was the best place to pee in the pool so nobody will notice?"

Patty is wearing roller skates for the first time.
Mother: I want you to wear your safety helmet. Put it on pronto!
Patty: Mom, I've landed three times on my stomach and five on my butt! How is wearin' that on my head gonna help?

Jose is teaching Patty to play football. She bends over and he chirps "I see London, I see France." "You do NOT!" she exclaims, her face dark with embarrassment. "Yeah I do. They're covered with little yellow teddy bears." "That's not teddy bears, stupid-head. It's bunnies--see?" And she bends over again to show him.

Faye, the spoil-sport from the summer camp story, shows up at a kid's birthday party and manages to antagonize Susie within ten seconds after meeting her-- not that it's hard to do with a brat like Susie. When Faye goes to use the bathroom she finds out (too late) that Susie stretched plastic wrap under the toilet seat.

In the school play, a boy does his part fine in all the rehearsals. Then, when they go on before the audience, he's about to walk out on the stage naked. When the drama teacher grabs him and asks what he thinks he's doing, he says-- in all true innocence-- "I'm playing Cupid, and he doesn't wear clothes. It's lucky I remembered that."

Patty's father is driving through heavy traffic, with her next to him, when a truck driver gives him the "finger". Patty asks what it means, and he says it's just the way truck drivers wave. Then they stop to eat in a roadside diner, and soon he's confronted by a big hulk saying "Think you're funny, mister? Teachin' your little girl to make the finger at truck drivers?"

I think Patty-Cake and Friends is a fine comic and deserves to be widely read-- not to mention the possibilities of animation, which (for whatever reason) hasn't happened. I don't know how many adults read it, but they could benefit from some of its insights. And for today's children, it's at best educational and at worst harmless fun.