Unreal Life

A cup of strong black coffee, the concrete troll under the Freemont St. bridge, a self-indulgent cry alone in a car, pulling faces to make a baby laugh, a fat brush dipped in black ink that drips messily.

These are the things holding me together.

Because suddenly I’m 2,500 miles from home. I’ve moved from limbo into the frenetic game of ultimate Frisbee that is “real” life.

I’m turning over a new leaf . . . again.

This weekend I ran off to the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. It was a great time. I showed off my work to a lot of people. I attended a few panels where I made irreverent drawings. There was one Q&A of particular interest about webcomics.

Webcomics are basically just comics published online. So far most of them are pretty similar to the stuff you read in a comic book, but the unique capabilities of the internet open up really exciting possibilities on how comic books can be made and read. Some people have monopolized on the idea by charging people to view their online comics, but the system isn’t very efficient. Most people publish online comics to gain readership or for kicks. But rest assured that as soon as large corporations figure out how to make a quick buck off of web comics, they’ll be everywhere.

Anyway, despite the politics, web comics are the cutting edge as far as comics are concerned and they open up some exciting possibilities.

All in all, I learned a lot at the comic con, especially about how to whore myself out. Ain’t nothing wrong with being an art prostitute.

Meanwhile I’m glad to be finishing up with all this traveling nonsense. I can get back in the studio and start cranking out the drawings. If I’m going to be as good as I think I can be, I’m going to have to be relentless.