I made the sketch very clear. I gave them every opportunity to change the tank into a giant salami but they didn’t go for it. This was a cover for The Week Magazine. Gouache on paper.

The people and things you see here were just a tiny percentage of the bizarre and interesting sites to be seen at Comic Con. All perfectly normal in the world inside the con. In the back ground of a nice hotel or in any of the restaurants, bars or coffee shops, it can get goofy to very surreal. I loved it all.

I had my picture taken with Ray Bradbury. I wasn’t sure if I should look at him or the camera as he looked very frail. He was mobbed by almost everyone. He seemed in to it and was happy to pose for photos. One kid leaned in to Mark Texiera’s booth where I was sitting and asked who that old guy was that just rolled by. Mark told him. Next question, is he somebody famous? Mark went into a rant that ended in a nice line that went something like, “READ A FUCKING BOOK!!!” or something very similar.

This might be a couple of parts. Last week I was in San Diego for the big Comic Con. It was definitely great for recharging the creative batteries. Change of environment, people, and monsters. I’ll start this part with the illustration I did for Sports Illustrated. I sat in a coffee shop right across the street from a beach. My friend Patrick occupied his time snapping photos, telling stories and bringing me espresso. Patrick is in a band with his friend Chris and we were listening to their new CD that just came out on Earwig records. In my opinion it’s a fantastic CD!

SI was about Iraqi athletes being barred from competing by China. Boy, they really get the concept of the Olympics, eh?