I am thankful for my two partners and best friends, nearly brothers really, Ron and Conor. Those guys have been part of one of the best things I've ever done in my life, and without either of them, it doesn't exist. We've all had to learn to work together, and retain our friendship, and I give thanks for them every day. They're talented and funny and motivated, and they bring out the best in me. I'd also say the same to the writers of iFanboy.com, Mike, Sonia, Paul and Jim who are all talented in such varied ways, and it drives me to write better and entertains me at the same time. Plus you're making iFanboy better, and for that I owe you.
I am thankful for all the people who helped me make comics this year. I had more comic book pages produced this year than any other, and while nothing has been published on paper yet, these guys are helping my dreams come true, and it means the world to me. To Kalle and Doug, for putting pictures to my words, to Jordan for making them come alive with color, and to Charles for doing incredibly good, but rarely appreciated lettering work, I say thank you, and I am more appreciative than you'll ever know. There's one other person I need to thank who worked with me on a short story to be announced and posted very shortly, and his friendship and help have been invaluable to me in this past year.
Obviously, the most important person in my life is my wife, Lindsay. There's no one who motivates me more to do a good job, and to get off my ass and do the things I talk about. I've got to look her in the eye every day, and she knows if I've been wasting time or not. When she is proud of the work I do, there is no better review. On top of that, she's evolved into one hell of an artist in her own right, and I'm always inspired by how she taught herself how to be an excellent photographer, and now she has made it her career. And that all happened right in front of me. So if she can do it, I certainly have no excuse. When I say I'm going to write a novel in a month, she's the one who has to go to bed every night while I stay up writing, and she's the one who has to hear me complain about having nothing to say, and she's the one who tells me to keep going. She puts up with everything, and I love her for understanding and supporting me.
Finally, I am thankful for the support and kindness of those of you out there who I have come to know through comics and the internet. Whether you're people in the comics industry, or iFanboy fans, or whoever, I can't express how helpful it is to have you people cheering me on and giving me kind words and encouragement all the time. I definitely float along on the ego boost I get from you folks daily. Thank you all for that.
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I can't wait to see this one with color. But that piece might look damn good on wall too, if you know what I'm saying.
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“Jack, you’re gonna have to drive for a while. I think I’m losing it.”
This startled Jack awake, who had apparently been sleeping while sitting straight up with his eyes open. At that instant, he shouted “Henson!”
Ted squinted his eyes with curiosity. “Did you just yell Henson?”
“No.”
“Yes you did. You woke up with a start and yelled ‘Henson’. Is that like, Jim Henson?”
Jack was sheepish. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why would you say that? Oh my God. Do you have a thing against Jim Henson?”
“Really, Ted. I just don’t want to-- Listen, do you just want me to drive?”
“Don’t change the subject on me. Tell me about Henson.”
“Nothing, it’s just that sometimes I have, you know, nightmares about him.”
“You have nightmares about Jim Henson?”
“What’s so strange about that? It’s the same thing every time. He steals my puppets, and burns then, and laughs in my face, stealing my wife.”
“That... that is not OK, Jack. By all accounts, he was a wonderful man.”
“Sure, that’s what people who didn’t know him say. The guy was a class-A prick.”
“You’re saying the guy who created Big Bird was--”
“Huge prick. Yes.”
“What did he--”
“Fucked my sister.”
“What?”
“Just to prove he could. He even showed me a Polaroid of it. He lived to torment me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
With that, Jack leaned over, and rummaged through his bag again, and produced a very old Polaroid photo of Jim Henson right in the middle of a sex act with a young woman.
“Holy shit! Why do you even have that?” yelled Ted.
“Because I need to prove it. The guy is a humanitarian hero to millions, but to me, he’s the guy who fucked my sister, just to mess my shit up. That’s how he got to be number one. Ruthless cold fuck, he was.”
“I didn’t know.”
“No one does, Ted. No one does.”
Once again, submitted without context. I can tell you that it's a flashback, and it's page 9. Doug nailed what was in the script, which is always satisfying.
You'll notice over to the right side of my website, I've added a comic book writing section with all the stuff I've worked on and can post on the site. There is actually a good deal more work than that that we're trying to get published, so it won't be going up quite yet, but it's a few examples I like, and a lot of "Learning Process" going on there.
Finally, I thought I'd show you a penciled page from Boston by Kalle Malloy, with whom I worked on Logue's Patrol. Submitted without comment, lettering, or context of any kind.
Also, it should be noted and celebrated that it was one year ago that Kalle and I started working together on comics. He's definitely become a friend, and he's a great guy to work with. In that year, I've also met several other people in the process who have also become friends of mine. That's the great hidden secret of making comics. You aren't just making the comics.
People don't believe me when I say he likes to run.
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