Abby Howard facts for kids

Abigail Howard (born August 3, 1992) is an American creator of webcomics and a video game developer. She grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. Abby is one of the people who started the independent game studio Black Tabby Games. She is well-known for creating comics such as Junior Scientist Power Hour, The Last Halloween, and The Crossroads At Midnight.

About Abby Howard

Abby Howard was born on August 3, 1992, in Jackson, Mississippi. She spent her childhood in Charlotte, North Carolina. She later attended McGill University in Montreal, where she studied Biology. She especially enjoyed learning about how living things change over time, which is called Evolution. However, she found the math and chemistry classes difficult. Abby has said that she was "a wretched student" because all she wanted to do was draw pictures.

In the summer of 2012, Abby started her webcomic called Junior Scientist Power Hour. With only 27 comics finished, she joined a competition show called Strip Search. Even though she came in second place, the show helped her become a full-time cartoonist. This meant she could leave school and focus on her art. Abby is married to Tony Arias. Together, they started the independent game studio Black Tabby Games. They currently live in Toronto.

Abby Howard's Creative Works

Abby Howard has created many interesting comics and video games.

Junior Scientist Power Hour Comic

Junior Scientist Power Hour was a weekly webcomic created by Abby Howard. It often featured stories about her daily life and funny versions of things from popular culture. The comic's Facebook page described it as being "about her incredibly interesting life with her cat, and sometimes it is also about other things." Most of the comic panels were hand-drawn in black and white. However, one comic featuring the band Tupper Ware Remix Party was drawn in bright colors, and later comics with them also used color. Abby's drawing style is influenced by another artist named Jhonen Vasquez, especially his comic Johnny the ... Maniac. Abby mostly uses traditional art methods, but she uses digital tools for coloring her comics.

Strip Search Competition

Abby Howard was chosen as one of twelve people to compete on Strip Search. This was a reality competition show about creating webcomics, made by Penny Arcade. Abby was the only contestant who used traditional art supplies instead of digital ones. She gained many fans during the show, who called themselves "Team Tangent."

The Last Halloween Comic

After competing on Strip Search, Abby Howard started a Kickstarter project for her next comic, The Last Halloween. She described it as a horror-comedy comic that would be released in parts. The project was so popular that it reached its funding goal in just 20 minutes! The Kickstarter eventually raised $126,507, which was much more than the $9,000 she had asked for.

The Last Halloween began on October 8, 2013. People who supported the Kickstarter got to read it earlier, on September 18, 2013. The art style is similar to Junior Scientist Power Hour, but it has more detailed drawings, different places, and a story that continues from one part to the next. Abby is a big fan of horror movies, and they influenced this comic.

The story is about a young girl named Mona. One Halloween night, billions of monsters suddenly appear in the human world. Mona finds herself needing to save the world. Abby first thought of this story when she was in high school. She even pitched it for the final challenge of Strip Search. Even though she didn't win that challenge, she decided to launch a Kickstarter for the comic, and it was a big success. Abby says her comic is partly a response to horror stories that aren't very exciting, like those with boring heroes and uncreative monsters. Abby plans out the entire story in advance. She likes this way of telling stories because she can add hidden clues and hints about what will happen later.

Scarlet Hollow Game

In 2019, Abby Howard and her boyfriend (who is now her husband), Tony Arias, started Black Tabby Games. This is an indie game studio that makes horror visual novel games. Their first game, Scarlet Hollow, is released in parts. The first part came out in September 2020, the second in June 2021, and the third in March 2022.

In Scarlet Hollow, you play as a character you can customize. Your character goes to meet their long-lost family for the first time in the town of Scarlet Hollow. You are there for your aunt's funeral. You find yourself trying to get along with your cousin, Tabitha, while also solving a spooky mystery connected to the town's past.

After the first part of Scarlet Hollow was released, the game had a very successful Kickstarter campaign. It reached its first funding goal on the very first day. After the Kickstarter, Scarlet Hollow was also a finalist in the AT&T Unlocked Games awards. It won both the runner-up prize and the audience choice prize. The game has also received great reviews. John Walker from Kotaku said it was "one of the best narrative games [he's] played."

Slay the Princess Game

In 2022, Black Tabby Games announced their second game, called Slay the Princess. Like Scarlet Hollow, it is a horror-based visual novel. In this game, you play as a character who is told by a mysterious voice to kill a princess who is trapped in the woods.

Black Tabby Games released a free demo of the game for Steam Next Fest. They also showed an extended demo at PAX East 2023. The full game was released on October 23, 2023.

Other Projects

In 2016, Abby Howard worked with writer Lonnie Nadler to create the comic The Portrait of Sal Pullman. She also wrote and drew the graphic novel Dinosaur Empire!, which is part of the Earth Before Us series from Abrams Books. It was published on August 1, 2017.

From July to December 2016, Abby co-hosted a horror podcast called Scared Yet? with cartoonist Kris Straub. They made 6 episodes where they talked about how to tell horror stories, gave writing advice, shared their favorite horror stories, and discussed their own experiences with writing scary tales.

Awards and Recognition

Abby Howard's work has won several awards and nominations.