NORTHAMPTON — Believe it or not, something good for all ages can come out of a liquor store — and one of those things has arrived on the Gazette’s comics page.

Beginning today, the cartoon “Wallace the Brave” debuts and will replace “Phoebe and Her Unicorn,” as Dana Simpson, the creator of Phoebe, is ending her daily comic and producing them only for Sundays. Phoebe and Her Unicorn has been featured in the Gazette since December 2017.

Enter Wallace the Brave, a youthful cartoon strip that was conceived in a liquor store in Jamestown, Rhode Island, a tourist hub of about 3,000 people.

Cartoonist Will Henry got an idea while gazing through that store’s window, which overlooks the docks of Jamestown. He saw one kid push another off a pylon. When they both had fun with it, he knew the vibe he wanted to capture.

He arrived at Wallace the Brave, “a rambunctious coastal kid that was kind and friendly and adventurous and I wanted a focus on nature — a good example for my kids,” he said. That doesn’t mean Wallace is an angel, “because no kid is a model citizen,” he said with a laugh.

Henry, 40, first had the idea for Wallace in 2012 when he was purchasing a liquor store called Grapes and Gourmet alongside his father. His thought was, “I can draw as I work, especially since winters are slow,” he said.

He pocketed the idea of Wallace for a while but by 2018, his cartoon strip would be featured in hundreds of newspapers nationally and internationally.

His artwork is especially important to Henry, and he retains the use of classic pen and ink, with his panels hand-lettered on watercolor paper.

“I like to think the artwork has a nice appeal … art catches people real quick,” Henry said.

He also said that Wallace the Brave has led him to a “sweet spot” where “kids like it, young parents like them, and grandparents can even see their childhood in it, too.”

The strip has been something of a “manifestation” in his life, he said, since he now has “two young boys and they live in a coastal town.”

Throughout this time, said Henry, his wife has been his “biggest advocate and critic.”

His drawing board was removed from the liquor store during COVID to cut down on contact during the pandemic. It has yet to return, as he now writes from home, but he still works alongside his brother for a shift or two a week at the liquor store.

“I wake up, put some coffee on, make lunches for the kids, and get to work,” is how Henry starts his days.

He shared an anecdote from those days at the store, where there is a bus stop right outside.

After seeing him drawing within public view in the store, kids began to take interest.

“Then there was a bus full of kids rolling into the liquor store after school. Because of the optics we had to put a kabosh on that one,” he said with amusement.

Henry got serious about cartooning while attending the University of Connecticut in 2004, where he studied sculpture for “more variety” in his experience of art.

Henry grew up and split time between the small town of Rohoboth in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He said it is “is the absolutely coolest feeling” and “a dream come true” to be able to support himself financially from his passion. A Wallace the Brave collection also has some accolades, as it was nominated for Eisner Awards for best humor publication and in the category of best publication for kids ages 9-12 in April 2018.

Before Wallace, he had brought to life Ordinary Bill, a cartoon he called “mildly successful.” It’s Ordinary Bill that made Henry, whose actual name is William Wilson, adopt a pen name.

Since Wallace is an all-ages product, he didn’t want his younger readers to discover Ordinary Bill. Henry said he wouldn’t go so far as to call Ordinary Bill a degenerate, but “he had his flaws,” so he switched up to the pen name.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com.