STAR WARS and some other stuff

Hey my friends!~

By now the world is freaking balls about the new STAR WARS trailer. I know I am. (BTW, you can see it HERE. I see all my friends my age all having very strong reactions to it. For decades we've dreamed up the post-Jedi lives of Luke, Han, Leia... now we're gonna get a definitive screen version. Cool thing too is we have book and comic versions. Its like, pick your own story choice. Same with TREK. How Kirk died in the flicks but was resurrected in the books? Yeah, its just a good time to be a geek. I haven't bought any tickets yet, but I will at some point.

As a person who has the privilege to work on Star Wars card art for TOPPS, I get very excited at the possibility of drawing new characters or old characters with new looks and costumes. The force will indeed be strong with all of us. I cannot wait to see how it call unfolds. Its nice to be a very tiny part of it.

I gathered my thoughts from the events of this past weekend at Grand Rapids Con and I am looking into 2016 to see how I can make the most impact with my work. Streamlining things will be a major key. I will put a lot of feelers out and see what the possibilities are. I do want to try an erotica show, a horror show and a small press focused show. Just to see where the next step would be for me. Comic shows are great but too broad for me to make the impact I would like to make at it. So while I continue to carve out my corner of the nerd world, I intend to reach out to more sources to make new friends and fans of my stuff. So expect some new appearances along with some old ones from me next year.

I'm working hard to get STARSLAM 2 done in time for printing. It will not be done in time for the Kickstarter launch next week but its coming along. We will be shooting a video this week and getting it all set up to launch. The end is almost here! STARSLAM 2 is coming, finally! Hey, I'm not fucking around over here! (Just drawing people doing that!)

My thoughts are growing in anticipation to get to work on Pleasant Life 2 again. There are still a few things to flesh out as far as minor scenes here and there, but the meat of the piece is all in the script and first 40 pages I have drawn for it. It feels good to hang with the gang again.

Well, I got a long day of work staring at me. I best be getting ready to head in. Thanks for checking back!

Cheers, T

MAYHEM and STAR WARS VII (plus Cherry Con)

Hey folks! All the TALES OF SEQUENTIAL MAYHEM #3 books have been mailed out. Thanks for supporting our Kickstarter! I do have about a dozen personal copies available if you need one. Simply EMAIL ME HERE to order one. OR I will have them at this next weekend's CHERRY CAPITAL CON! See you there.

This newest Kickstarter really went well and after seeing and talking with other friends about their success at KS, I got more ideas to make the next one even better. So when we rock #4, it will be even larger! but for now, I am enjoying the fruits of the labor and a job well done and finished!

So GODZILLA is in the theater and I haven't seen it yet. I'm waiting for the crowds to die down a bit. I don't really dig seeing movies in the theater for various reasons. I guess I'm an old curmudgeon and can't deal with crowds. But I will see it, as I am dying to. Its about the only current thing on my radar.

However, I cannot help but be excited about STAR WARS VIII beginning filming. Not only are some of my old heroes coming back but it also means fresh blood, new toys, new cards to work on, and more. Plus now my kids get the thrill of seeing Star Wars on their terms now. The old sting and fights about the prequels and their dissapointment seem a dim memory. All I am left with is the excitement. I really don't want to build it up too much in my head, but I cannot help it. I keep checking out the toy aisles and considering rebuying lots of my 90's Star Wars toys to have them in the box. Also get the vehicles to play with the kids. I just want to be ready! Yeah, I'm in my late 30's but I am not checking in my kid gloves yet. In other words, the force is strong with me! Always.

Okay, I got a TON of things to get done before next weekend. This week is going to be a complete blur. Really looking forward to the Cherry Capital Comic Con and I hope ya'll can make it out. See ya there!

Cheers, T

MAY THE 4th BE WITH YOU - STAR WARS!

I missed this on May 4th but I shall make up for it here by telling a story. The story of my first autograph and how cool a celebrity is with their fans. In this case, Luke Skywalker himself: Mark Hamill!

As I kid I LOVED Star Wars. I had all the toys, tons of vehicles, books, record story books and so much more. I just loved everything from a galaxy far far away. My uncle Richard lived in Carmi, Illinois and he was very aware of my love of all things Star Wars. One day in 1984, he ran into an old flame of his by the name of Mary-Lou. They hadn't seen each other since high school when she moved away to California to try to make it and he had a car accident that paralyzed him. They were catching up and she revealed that she had since got married... to Mark Hamill. My uncle Richard knew immediately who he was and went out of his way to state that his youngest nephew (me) was a massive Star Wars fan. She made him a promise that when she got home that she'd mail him an autograph from Mark to give to me. She got his address and they parted ways.

Richard thought nothing of it and it was quite likely that she would either forget all about it or just not even bother busy Mark with it. But Mary-Lou got home and told her husband about it and he got a photo and signed it. PERSONALIZED it even! And sent it back to that address. And then when Richard got it, he mailed it to me. And I still have it today! Here it is:

It has seen better days and its been junked up a bit from over the years, but I still have it. And I never forgot the story. It reminds me that Mark Hamill and his wife are cool as fuck people. That he went out of his way to make a little kid's day. They didn't have to do that! But they did, and therefore they rock! Also, it reminds me of my uncle Richard, who hooked this up for me. He passed away a couple years ago.

I share this story mostly because it is only my little personal tale of connection to the world of Star Wars as a fan. Years later, I got to actually work on their card sets for TOPPS, which was a dream come true. And hopefully I will get more opportunities to do even more with it. And with the new movies coming, the chance is always there. I'm always happy to give back to the things that shaped my world in some way. And Star Wars, certainly deserves that praise. I've been reading lots of posts lately about the excitement for the sequel trilogy that is being made. There's never been a more fertile time in the world of Star Wars than there ever has been right now. And the knowledge that the old horses are coming back for one more go at it has us excited even moreso. In other words, the force is strong with us!

Anyway, just wanted to share this little tale of kindness from strangers with you. Peace and love,
T