Howard was born in Florida on February 29, 1968, and spent most of what he claims was a happy childhood there. He was on the swim team in grade school, and in a rock band in high school. Howard graduated from Riverview High in 1985, and moved to Utah for schooling at Brigham Young University. After two years there he served two years as a missionary for the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). Following that, Howard went back to school at BYU, and decided to move to Provo permanently after he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition and got married(1).

Howard currently works full-time as a cartoonist, writing, drawing, and coloring Schlock Mercenary, as well as doing comics for assorted corporate clients(2). He quit his job at Novell, where he was the Collaboration Product Line Manager, in September of 2004.

As Howard so eloquently puts it, “And while we’re on the subject of things I used to do, I used to be on the Board of Directors at Sanctus Records, an independent record label I co-founded, and which I’ve since sold and watched disintegrate under the misministrations of those I turned it over to. I used to dabble in web design, but I’m so far behind the cutting edge these days there’s no point in even bringing up what I used to do.(3)”

Howard is married to Sandra Tayler, and currently estimates that they have somewhere between three and five children(4), none of whom have consented to appear on this page. He has been known to mention them from time to time in his Open Letters or in his Live Journal, when they are not looking.

(1) Which, we understand, is another form of ‘graduating’ your Bachelor’s Degree at BYU.

(2) Demonstrating the perfect application of his Music Composition degree.

(3) Howard wishes us to point out that he had nothing to do with the design of this website and is not to blame for any of your issues with its design or interface.

(4) Actual children may vary.