Your second infusion

Nothing new to report. Here's the next five pages of Sanguine.

A look at yesteryear: Sanguine

Following in Mafus' footsteps of posting older work, kinda getting in touch with your roots, I've decided to post pages from the last comic I did many moons ago: SANGUINE. Your basic group of vampires taking over an assassins guild story. Had all these grand plans for the tale, but never went any further with it. Kinda lost my taste for it. Too many vampire tales out at the time and Anne Rice kinda killed the true vampire mythos. Oh well. Take a peep and I'll post the entire story.

The art isn't the greatest. Kinda embarassing, but everyone started somewhere, right? Plus, this gets me out of drawing something new since I've lost a little bit of the old mojo as of late. Been down since Mike passed. So enjoy some old school flavor while I await the return of creativity.

The service

Just got back from the Mike's service. It was filled with good friends, beautiful words and love for a man who touched so many without even realizing it. The world is poorer without out him, but at the same time so blessed to have had him. I'll speak a little more on it later, but I'm worn out and in desperate need of sleep after the festivities afterwards. As his father promised, it was a celebration of his life and I'm thankful they invited me.

Update: Actually I don't think I'm going to elaborate on the service any more. I couldn't do the eulogies and memories justice, so why ruin a good thing, right?

Update II: Todd Dezago over at Perhapablog has posted Mafus' moving eulogy for all those interested. Make sure you've got a box of Kleenex nearby.

Mike memories

Mafus asked friends/fans/anyone who had a special or favorite memory of Mike to write it down and post it. Here's mine:

The first time I ever met Mike he had this great 'Preacher' sketch waiting for me. He knew I was a geek and Mafus told him who my favorite character was and that was all it took, ladies and gentlemen. It's been hanging on the wall ever since in our bedroom and will continue to do so no matter where our travels lead us.

My almost-favorite Mike story...It was the day after Thanksgiving last year. Mafus had graciously invited me over again, as he had the year before, to hang out and talk geek with him and his big brother. I had to bring my copy of Halo 2 over since Mike had brought the case, but left the game at his house. It was just the three of us as their Dad was getting his car inspected and Squeeze and their Mom were out shopping. We sat down to a couple games of Halo where Mike and I hunted Mafus down like a dog. After Mafus got discouraged enough to call it quits we threw in a Hammer flick, 'Plague of Zombies,' I believe. About half an hour into the movie Mafus fell asleep as he'd gotten up butt arse early to hit Best Buy or Circuit City for cheap DVDs. Mike and I just sat and bullshitted like a couple of old drinking buddies, even though we weren't drinking, while Mafus snored away. We brought up the idea of drawing on him, but decided against it since he looked so cute sawing those slumber logs. Instead, we basically MST3K'd the flick until Mafus woke up and Mike and I continued to rip on it despite Mafus' protests. Their Dad showed up shortly thereafter and spoke of his inspection woes in his usual humorous way and I vamoosed half an hour later as Angie was very, very pregnant at the time.



I don't remember much about what Mike and I talked about because it wasn't important, world-breaking conversation. There wasn't any weight or gravity to our words. We were a couple guys yakking, laughing and having a good time. Any outsider couldn't have been able to tell who was the fanboy and who was the pro. He was the down-to-Earth professional who treated everyone like a friend. You'd feel comfortable with him whether you met him two minutes ago or ten years. A great guy. I'm glad I went to Heroes Con this year to talk to and see him. I'm just so damn sorry it was the last time.

My favorite memory of Mike, and this may not even make sense, is that he'll always be my friend Mafus' brother. I was kinda Mike's friend by default as I hold Mafus to be one of my best friends, though he may not realize it. Mike was the bonus for having such a kindred spirit as his brother for a buddy. Mafus, who's probably hurting more than anyone else out there because he didn't only lose his best friend, he lost his brother. Mafus, who always had that tinge of pride in his voice (and in his brother) when he shared an insider tidbit that Mike had told him with me. "Keep it under your hat," he'd always say and that confidence was never betrayed. Mafus, who's just as genuine, funny and talented as his brother — cut from the same cloth, if you will. Ma and Pa 'Ringo raised 'em both right. I'm the better for knowing them both and counting them among my dear friends. Mafus, who's not alone. There's a bottle of Bushmills waiting for when you get back, my friend. We've got art to do and toasts to raise in Mike's memory.

The comic world has lost one of its greats...

Mafus called me this morning to let me know that his brother Mike passed yesterday from a heart attack. Needless to say I was/still am stunned. My mind raced with thoughts like, "This can't be true? Mike's only 44. We just saw him at Heroes and he looked great." But all I could manage was, "WHAT?!" I still don't want to believe it. If only denial would make something not be true. Mike was a class act, a genuinely nice guy and one hell of an artist. He always treated me as a friend no matter how long it had been since I'd last seen him. My thoughts are with Mafus and the rest of the 'Ringo family. He will be missed and remembered. Pour some ink on the curb for our friend.

Karl Kesel, Mike's longtime inker, had this to say and since it brought tears to my eyes I thought I'd share it:

"Mike's art was about hope, not hopelessness. He drew heroes, not martyrs. And if that was wrong, thank you Mike for never being right."

Still kickin'

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's bloody August 9th and this is the first post of the month. What a crock, eh? Haven't drawn much of anything aside for thumbnails for a freelance poster project. I have written a new short story though. It had built up over the course of a couple days and Angie was gracious enough to let me go to a bar to put the tale down on paper.

Three Guinness later and the tale was fleshed out and told. Still plenty of refinement before it's totally complete, but I'm happy with the way it turned out, which wasn't how I expected it to. Always nice when your characters surprise you. Once it's complete I'll ship it around and see if there are any bites. It's been awhile since I've gotten a rejection letter and I need to add to my stack.