Bless me, Father, for I have sinned... it's been OVER A YEAR since I did any kind of meaningful blog updates...

What can I tellya? Life's been crazy. Truly crazy... sometimes the 'good' kind of crazy and sometimes the 'bad' kind of crazy, but the last 12 months have been perpetually, unceasingly crazy.

And it's only gonna get crazier...

Much to my own shock, I actually have a few minutes to spend on something other than work, and so I have chosen to indulge by 'blogging' about how cool 'Star Wars' is. Tragic, isn't it? Oh well... my thoughts on the current state of the presidential race will have to wait...

I'd like to challenge you (by 'you' I mean the four people who read this blog regularly) to think about your life before 'Star Wars' (later appropriately re-released as 'Star Wars - Episode 4: A New Hope'. Seriously... think about it for a moment. Think about the period in your life when there simply wasn't anything called 'Star Wars.'

Now think about your life AFTER seeing it for the first time.

It changed you a little bit, didn't it? It got you excited... it rallied your imagination...

Now, maybe you're one of those people who believes that every sequel/prequel after 'The Empire Strikes Back' was a dud (I have yet to hear someone denounce 'Empire' as anything other than sheer genius... so we shan't bother speculating on the possibility that someone out there feels that way)... I'm not out to argue your opinions of the other movies, comics, cartoons, the 'Holiday Special' or any other of the branches of the 'Star Wars' franchise. You are entitled to your opinions and I respect that.

But what you MUST admit is that 'Star Wars' is really friggin' cool.

Even if you loved the first movie but HATED all of the others, the reason you probably hate them is because the first one was so friggin' cool that it ALTERED you... you had been brought into this whole new fantastical world and it got you excited about a bunch of people, creatures, planets, weapons and stuff that AREN'T REAL.

Now take a moment and think about how amazing that is.

Real life can't be beat. Real life is awesome. Real life is filled with so much adventure and drama that there really is no 'need' for fiction at all. Thus, the fact that something that is utterly made-up (and on many levels absurd) can affect anyone to the degree that 'Star Wars' has is nothing short of astonishing.

'Star Wars' inspired me to draw a lot as a child (see the above illustration - drawn in kindergarden, this is a scan of an actual 'ditto' of the original)... this led me to get into animation... this led me to come to L.A. where I met the love of my life and got married... y'see what I mean by 'Star Wars' having an 'affect'? There are probably only a small handful of stimuli that have had a truly profound influence on where I have steered my life's course (among them, of course, are less whimsical elements like family, friends, religion, etc.). I'm sorry if I'm beating this point into the ground, but the fact that a wonky little film about robots and space-ships can have such a great influence is, to me, incredibly cool.

And, if you will forgive my presumption here, I don't think I'm the only one in the past 30-something years who was affected in such a way by it.

An undeniable, traceable, permanent affect... that's GOT to put 'Star Wars' in the category of "great art" doesn't it?

And, yes, it's become a gajillion-dollar franchise and all that... some of it is good, some of it is horrible... but it doesn't erase the original affect. Not for me anyway.

My point is, 'Star Wars' is really, really, really cool.

P.S. I wrote this while sipping ice-water out of a vintage 1977 Coca-Cola/Burger King glass (thanks, Leigh!) with Chewbacca on it.

That's right, amigos and amigas... HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS #8 is out there and ready for your dineros! It features a story in rhyme that is - for the third time - written by my lovely wife Leigh and illustrated in my "anti-slick" style.
This particular story brings our "water trilogy" (i.e. three stories about the unique properties of Mexican water) to a bombastic, zombie-filled conclusion.
That's right, amigos and amigas... HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS #8 is out there and ready for your dineros! It features a story in rhyme that is - for the third time - written by my lovely wife Leigh and illustrated in my "anti-slick" style.
This particular story brings our "water trilogy" (i.e. three stories about the unique properties of Mexican water) to a bombastic, zombie-filled conclusion.
Need a taste? Check out the panel from the strip in the gallery with all of the friggin' ZOMBIES!
Now if that's not enough to get your PayPal or credit card jamming on over to the HMLC web site and ordering a hundred copies then I just can't help you. Oh wait - yeah I can... here's the link:

[link]

Also, check out the blog for ComiCon appearances and updates:

[link]

And while you're at it, shouldn't you complete your collection of our books, paintings and other merchandise at:

[link]

Okay... enough plugging and pitching... JUST BUY STUFF, OKAY?! SHEESH...
Oh - and enjoy the comic!

Okay, I know I'm the least-updatingest guy on the planet, but the fact is that I've got pages on Deviantart, Facebook, Blogger, Tagged, Linkedin and probably others that I'm forgetting about.

On top of it all, I've been getting some freelance commissions lately as well as working on some secret projects that are exciting but - tragically - not in a state where I'm comfortable talking about them just yet.

What I CAN announce, however, is that the latest issue of HOT MEXICAN LOVE COMICS (premiering at the San Diego ComiCon next week) has a brand-spanking-new 3-page comic written by my lovely wife Leigh and drawn by yours truly... this story rounds out the 'agua trilogy' (all of our 3 submissions over the past several volumes have had a water-based theme) AND IT HAS ZOMBIES IN IT!

To check it out and order the damned thing go to:

[link]

Buy a bunch of them.

Also, thank you to everyone who have been adding me to their favorites and writing nice compliments to me. It really does warm my heart. I'll always try to make personal replies as much as possible, but, as I've said, I get a little overwhelmed.

I think I'm going to start posting more comic strips that I did while I was in college. They're very '90's-centric, so you might get a larf out of 'em.

Anyway, hope all is well with all of you crazy kids out there.

And now, back to the drawing board...

Howdy kids...

I've been working from home lately - and part of that 'work' is trying to find a new full-time animation gig.

Consequently, however, if anyone is interested in commissioning any artwork - NOW is the perfect time.

I just finished a couple of projects that were very stressful... as such, I haven't slept that well lately and I'm a guy whut needs his sleep.

My brain is constantly on overdrive, so if I don't get a good chunk of really restful sleep, it makes me loopy.

Working from home for extended periods has a weird effect on me... I literally become intoxicated by the womb-like environment of my home and studio.

My studio is particularly rad... it's got all my books, all my toys are on display, all my DVDs... everything is within reach and my chair rolls easily back and forth between my computer station and drafting table.

Anyway... back to job search...

BIG announcement coming soon!

Toodles,

JF