Behind the Book: The Cosmic Adventures of Astrid and Stella: Comet Together!

Chapter 3: Time Travel Tiger!

The Cosmic Adventures of Astrid and Stella: Comet Together! is the fourth book in our graphic novel series for early readers based on our childhood as sisters and best friends growing up all over the world. Astrid and Stella, unicorn and flying squirrel best friends in space, blast off on hilarious adventures in which they learn valuable friendship and social-emotional lessons!

Here’s a conversation between Eunice and I about making the third and final chapter, Time Travel Tiger!

Sabrina:  So we’ve arrived at the final chapter of Comet Together!, Time Travel Tiger!

Eunice:  Woot!

Sabrina: Or maybe you should say, “Toot!”?  In this chapter, Astrid and Stella make a new friend named Time Travel Tiger, who teaches them about some fantastic inventions and helps them learn how to communicate with the Tootles, interplanetary birds who talk by making tooting sounds out of their butts. 

Eunice:  I had lots of fun drawing them! Notice that the butts have a subtle airbrushed quality. . .

Sabrina:  Ha! The chapter starts out with Bobo’s latest invention, a fabulous talking toilet.  My family and I had just gotten back from a trip to Japan where the high-tech toilets were all we could talk about!  I love how you even gave it a face. . . 

Eunice:  Yes, and I once had a weird experience of sitting on a toilet seat that was oddly cushioned, so I decided to give the toilet a tufted back.

Sabrina: Hilarious!  Astrid and Stella have so much fun with the toilet! The catalyst for the story comes when they discover that Bobo is in the sick bay – he can’t help them blast off to their next adventure!

Eunice: I think we can all relate to the need to defrag our CPUs.

Sabrina: For sure. Astrid and Stella are on their own. They land on Tootonia, where they discover trees packed with gem-like fruits, and, of course, these strange butt-talking birds.  Astrid and Stella REALLY want to grab some fruits, but, being good friends, they don’t want to just take them. They need a way to communicate with the Tootles.  Enter Time Travel Tiger, who falls into the story through a portal. 

Eunice: Convenient.

Sabrina: To be honest, this whole story is built around introducing readers to Time Travel Tiger. Our publisher wanted us to create a new character who could potentially star in their own series, and we agreed.  I love the idea of time travel and learning about / imagining gadgets and tech from the past and future, so Time Travel Tiger was born. He uses a device called a Whizmo to scan specimens in his dada-base (which also, of course, also houses a library of dad jokes and puns!).

Eunice:  The scanning and all the information about the inventions was the hardest thing to draw in this book. 

Sabrina: I remember! It’s a lot of info to work into a comic book panel.

Eunice: I used a watercolor-y beam to “project” the scanned objects, and illustrated the invention’s history, which is narrated by the Whizmo using the same robotic font and word bubble style that we use for Bobo.

Sabrina: Researching the inventions was a challenge for me, too! This is definitely the most “educational” story in the book. Time Travel Tiger looks through his dada-base and comes up with the kazoo – which makes a tooting sound they can use to communicate with the Tootles.  He also shows Astrid and Stella a hammock, which they can give to the Tootles to gather fruits.  They craft their own kazoo and hammock using Bobo’s Craft Cart 5000 . . .

Eunice: I basically drew the craft cart of my dreams right there. . . 

Sabrina: They present their creations to the Tootles, who are delighted (as far as we can tell). They make an exchange and get some of those tooty fruits (Stella also gets doinked on the head — no reward without sacrifice). Mission accomplished!

Sabrina: They return to the Friend Ship, where Time Travel Tiger takes a pit stop at the talking toilet before heading off to his next adventure.  Bobo is still feeling a little “flushed” – in true Bobo style, he can’t resist a deadpan aside.

Eunice:  Hee hee. 

Sabrina: So that’s the end of Book 3!  I have to confess, I wish I’d had more space to flesh out Time Travel Tiger’s flaws and quirks; my son (a frequent reader and editor) was quick to point out that he needs more character development. It’s on my list for a future book!

Eunice:  I can’t wait to see more of him. . . I had fun designing his suit!

Sabrina:  As with all the Astrid and Stella books, we end Book 3 with a Galaxy Map of hilarious planets and interstellar objects.

Eunice:  My favorite is the Eggplanet, which is shaped like an eggplant. 

Sabrina: And mine is PLANET ME: THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. 

Eunice: On that note, enough about US!  We’re looking forward to having this book out in the world!  Leave a comment — we’d love to hear from you!

Sabrina: And let’s get back to work on Book 5:  Blast from the Past!, coming Fall 2025, in which we reveal Astrid and Stella’s backstory . . . 

Eunice:  And pugs!  Lots of pugs!

Sabrina: Yes! Inside scoop: the title Blast From the Past! comes from Time Travel Tiger, who makes a cameo appearance — it’s what he exclaims after passing gas!

Eunice: Tootle-loo!