One of Stars and Stripes’ own has a role on Army Wives.

For the Feb. 15 Spouse Calls, I talked to Julie Negron, creator of the “Jenny The Military Spouse” comic strip -- a regular feature in Stars and Stripes Sunday Scene section -- about “Jenny’s” recent appearances on the Lifetime television drama.

“The show's art department saw the strip in The Paraglide at Fort Bragg, where the show was filming,” Julie said. “The set director wrote to me about using the strip on the show.”

Clips of “Jenny” are posted on the character’s refrigerators, and a full color strip appears in the mock post newspaper, Julie said.

“The art department told me that, even though the comic strips may not make it into the shot, ‘Jenny’ comics are all over the set for ‘flavor’ and to help keep the actresses grounded in their fictional lives,” Julie said.

On her “Jennyspouse” blog, Julie posted pictures, sent to her by the Army Wives crew, of cartoons in use on the set.

Julie said she’s been trying to catch her work when watching the show.

“I’ve been recording Army Wives as much as possible and am frantically pausing every time I see a flash of something that could be a cartoon,” she said.

“My husband and I pause, fast-forward, rewind so much that I don't even know what the storyline is half the time.”

“I spotted the strip on the Holden's fridge in Season 2, Episode 16, but completely missed spotting anyone reading the newspaper. Maybe that's coming in Season 3?”

In the third season of Army Wives, viewers might also spot “Jenny” on mugs, t-shirts or bags. Julie said there are plans to add products from her Cafepress store to the set.

Read on for more Q & A with Julie:

SC: When did you start drawing “Jenny”?

Julie: "Jenny" was born on the drawing board in February 2005. She was the result of several family brainstorming sessions where we fleshed out her story and outlined how the comic strip would develop. The entire creation process took several months and lots of input from both husband and daughter.

SC: Have you always wanted to be a cartoonist?

Julie: I've always pursued cartooning and had a hard time in art school because of that. Nobody was impressed with my goal of becoming the next Charles Schulz, and every art teacher I ever had tried to dissuade me.

I finally found footing in my preferred career when I got the job as editorial cartoonist for the small-town newspaper of Hermiston, Oregon. That gig lasted about a year and a half before I had to move again but I continued to market myself to every paper everywhere I moved.

Because I married into the Air Force, I was mainly marketing to military base newspapers. At one point, we were transferred to Clear AFB, Alaska, and I ended up writing and illustrating a weekly humor column about surviving in Alaska as a military spouse.

Before moving to Okinawa, I had a studio in my home where I produced greeting cards, notepads, and stationery under the brand name of “Art by jewls.” I had quit my day job as a secretary and told my husband to give me three years to make it as a freelance artist.

He wholely supported me, but by the time we got our orders to Okinawa, I was completely frustrated, had few leads, and was ready to quit. I packed up my studio and told my husband there would be no drawing in Okinawa. I didn't even take a pencil. I needed a break.

Three months later, when the idea for "Jenny" hit me, he laughed and said, "But you quit!" Nevertheless, he supported me again, helped me create the characters and develop the strip, and cheered me on when I doubted this pursuit.

Now that I'm deeply entrenched in "Jenny," I want to continue for as long as possible and put out some compilation books. Requests are piling up for the first "PCSing ... it's a Spouse thing" book, and I'm looking for a publisher.

I'm also developing a mainstream comic strip that I hope to get syndicated. It'll deal with life other than military and I'll be able to address issues that aren't really relevant to Jenny and her pals.

I've always been an observer of people...now I just need to create a space to observe "cartoon-style". I'm working on that.

SC: How many times do you think you have drawn Jenny?

Julie: I've drawn Jenny, as well as the rest of the characters in the strip, so many times that there are about four file drawers full of pencil drawings in my office right now. I couldn't add up all of the times I've actually drawn her, or modified a previously drawn version of her, but I can tell you the answer is "Plenty."

Many of the originals are now housed at the Cartoon Research Library at Ohio State University, an underwriter for the National Cartoonists Society, where comic strip history is made available to everyone.

“Jenny the Military Spouse" is the first comic strip of its kind and has made history of a sort. Therefore, it's being archived and recorded by professionals. My own archival method leaves a lot to be desired ... my file drawers are a mess.

SC: How is “Jenny’s” life like yours?

Julie: Jenny's life mirrors mine a lot. Her husband, DH, leaves on missions or assignments quite often, her friends are close but temporary, her life in base housing seems to be fraught with bugs, vandalism, leaks ... Her computer only breaks when her husband is out of town. He rarely gets to be home for special occasions ... She found her dinnerware in a box marked ‘Garage,’ even though she didn't have a garage at her previous apartment.

All of these things are from my life. Even though I wrote those episodes over two years ago, and they were true then, as I'm writing this my husband is fixing our family computer (remotely) from his TDY location … and the other day I found my china in a box marked ‘garage items.’

Many of Jenny's situations come directly from my life. I carry some sort of notepad with me at all times because I never know when an idea will strike. Whenever something silly or ironic happens to me or to us, my husband and I look at each other and say, ‘Comic strip!’ and then I have to write it down.

SC: How is Jenny’s life different from yours?

Julie: I'm a 'little bit' older than Jenny. But that's okay. I'm proof that you can age gracefully as a military spouse, keep your sense of humor and all of your own teeth. I have a previous Air Force marriage under my belt, which means we now have a modern, blended, family with two daughters who are grown and out of the house. The youngest actually graduated from high school on Okinawa with Kadena High's Class of '06, a wonderful experience for her.

SC: What special recognition has Jenny received?

Julie: Steve Wilson at WorldLaughterTour.com recognized the strip for "providing a resource for promoting laughter and humor, especially within the military family community." Steve put me in touch with Colonel James Scott, from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, who wanted to use the strip in Laughter Therapy for Reservists' families. It was a very proud moment for me and I still display the award icon on my website.

Currently, I'm submitting work to the National Cartoonists Society in hopes of getting some recognition for "Jenny" as a newcomer to the newspaper comic strip field.

The National Cartoonist Society Awards will be announced at the NCS convention Memorial Day weekend in Hollywood, where they'll announce all of the award winners including Cartoonist of the Year.

The NCS requires each member to send in his/her best published material from the past year for consideration in this year's awards. I opened up voting to "Jenny" readers because I didn't think I was qualified to choose the best. In other words, the ones that I spent the most time on may not have been the ones that touched heartstrings and funny bones. Cartooning is about conveying meaning, not talent (although it's nice if both are present.) I chose several of my readers' favorites, a couple of my own, and turned in twelve total. The final results are posted at jennyspouse.blogspot.com. (Four reader favorites were also featured in Stars and Stripes this month.)

I loved the contest and heard from hundreds of readers. I'll do it again next year and the year after that and the year after that because I want to keep the comic strip about military spouses in front of the cartooning community.

SC: Which is your favorite “Jenny” episode?

Julie: What? Choose my favorite child?! This is the most asked question I get - even though it's a logical one - and it's so hard to answer!

I'm going to give you my top three because that's as close as I can get:

Moving Day - November 27, 2005
TDY is A-OK - July 30, 2006
New Spouse Orientation - June 4, 2006.
But I'm extremely partial to Kids Across the Pond - March 11, 2007, which shows Chandra's stress while flying back to the States with a baby and a toddler.

When I look back through the archives, there are so many episodes that mean so much to me...it's hard not to say "That's the ONE!" I don't love all of them but I understand all of them because they're all personal.

SC: What is the latest in your life away from the drawing board?

Julie: We are currently suffering from PCS-hangover, not to mention culture-shock, after having just moved back to the states from Okinawa, Japan, where we spent the last four years. My husband and I will celebrate our 10th anniversary on April 1st. He left for an extended TDY the week after we moved in and will be gone until the end of April. Classic military life, no?

Julie also shared some “Jenny” trivia:

• DH is not Internet Lingo for Dear Husband. It's his name. But it works out the same. His name is DH Spouse. Her name is Jenny Spouse. Said Julie: “Both names have special meaning for me as do the names of Jenny's friends, Chandra and Cassie.”
• Ruben, the male spouse, is named after a real life spouse also named Ruben, who wrote to Julie to suggest that she add a military husband to the strip.
• Future new characters might include a dual service couple, as well as a spouse who used to be active duty and is adjusting to life as “just a dependant.”
• Jenny’s father served in Desert Storm, but Jenny and her sister were young and don't remember much about that time in their lives.
• Jenny occasionally gets advice from her mother who is now a freewheeling member of the ROWC (Retired Officers' Wives' Club) in Colorado Springs.
• Jenny went to art school in Colorado Springs where she met DH, who graduated from the Air Force Academy. Julie’s husband, Angel is also a USAFA grad.
• DH is the only active-duty spouse whose face we see. The reason for this is that the comic strip is not about the active duty member. It’s all about the spouses.
• Julie said: “Jenny's life will always depict a young, uninitiated spouse but the other characters in the comic strip can address the issues faced by everyone else...especially me!”