A dream come true!

Today is a day I'll remember for the rest of my life.

I've been colouring comic books for just over a decade now. It's a huge thrill for me to be able to work on books that come out in print and sell thousands of copies every year! (The last book I worked sold over 3,000 copies in the first month!).

Perhaps I set my sights too low, but I've been very blessed in life to have achieved most every goal I've really set my mind on. Learning a musical instrument. Playing in a band. Recording two full length CDs. And seeing my name in the credits of a comic book. Here's a scan from Chronicles of Conan vol 17, published by Dark Horse Comics! I'm credited right next to Jim Shooter, nonetheless!

Anyone who knew me as a young boy knew I was a Marvel Zombie. So as awesome as Dark Horse's Conan series is, I've held a longstanding dream to see my name in print in a book from Marvel Comics. While I have worked on projects for Marvel for the last 5 years, my work is usually credited to the company name of the collective of talented colourists I work with - the way it should be!

Well, today, Marvel released a beautiful, 1168 page hardcover tome collecting Secret Wars II - a Limited Series that I became obsessed with as a 10 year old boy that sparked my love for comics. It holds a special place in my heart, and to this day I can pick up an issue of this series and I'm instantly back in the summer of 1985. I had some friends and colleagues go to bat for me to see if I could participate in the colour reconstruction, but alas it wasn't to be.

Thankfully, I had 'invested' in some original art from the series over the years, and Marvel found room to reproduce them in this collected edition. So guess what happens to appear on the credits page?

My name! My most sincere thanks to Wil Glass, Cory Sedlmeier, and Mark Beazley for playing a role in making this happen! Today is a day I'll remember for the rest of my life. My name, in a Marvel book. Scratch that... my name, in the DEFINITIVE hardcover collection of my FAVOURITE Marvel series! The ten year old inside of me is giddy with delight! Currently playing: Stan Bush - Dare Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Death Row Inmates Final Meals

I recently came across this bizarre webpage outlining the final meal requests of death row inmates. The prisoner at the top of the page ate the following:

• Two bacon double cheeseburgers
• French fries
• onion rings
• ketchup
• cole slaw
• two diet Cokes
• one quart of milk
• one pint of rocky road ice cream
• one pint of fried okra
• salad dressing
• tomato
• onion
  

Why choose DIET cola when, a) you're already eating a fatty bacon double cheeseburger and french fries, and b) maintaining a calorie reduced diet really isn't going to matter to you in a few hours!?

Let's be honest - no one ENJOYS diet cola! Why not treat yourself if you've been behind bars for the last 2 decades of your life?

It's very strange choice, but I suppose I could understand. I haven't touched a drop of cola in over three years, and if I knew I was going to pass on tomorrow, I still don't think I could bring myself to let it touch my lips again.

Currently playing: Paul Brandt - Leavin'
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

Mike Kowal

Pop Goes The World.

Every time I hear that song by Men Without Hats, I think of a cold winter day in 1987. My best friend, Robin Kowal and I spent the afternoon running around the upstairs of his Brown Avenue home, being chased by his dog Odie. The dog had a serious case of ADHD, and we ended up getting the dog pretty excited.

Robin's brother, Mike, who was around 17 at the time, had no patience for the tomfoolery of 12 year old children, and came upstairs hollering at us for disturbing his peace. He took off after Robin, and I hid under a desk in another room. Pop Goes The World was on the radio, and listening to it took my mind off of the verbal thrashing Mike was dispensing on Robin.

Without warning, the door to the room that served as my hiding place flew open. Mike grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and threw me out the front door of their house, the sound of the slamming door coincided with my rear hitting the ground. A split second later, the door opened again, and I watched as Mike's hand threw my jacket at my giggling face.

Mike moved away to University the next year, so from that point on, I'd always felt like his little brother's annoying friend around him. He never made me feel that way, but after provoking his anger that afternoon, I was always a little afraid of seeing the full wrath of his fury.

About 7 or 8 years later, I too was in University, during a particularly tumultuous time in my life. I was watching a band called the See Monkeys at the University Center, and lo and behold, Mike Kowal was the band's guitarist!

Despite having never mended the fence after the Pop Goes The World incident, I walked up to him after the show, reintroduced myself, and told him how much I enjoyed the show. Fully expecting to be brushed off as if I was the same annoying 12 year old pest from 1987, I braced myself for the worst. I was instead shocked to find myself carrying on a conversation with my alleged adversary about music, his gear (I was learning the drums at that point in my life!) and life in a band. I guess he didn't hate me after all!

Although I'll admit, I did flinch at the end of the conversation, when Mike extended his hand to shake mine in farewell. The man I was once so afraid of turned out to be a really good guy to talk with!

Mike Kowal passed away last week, after a decade-and-a-half long battle with Cancer. He more than earned his rest after a long and courageous battle. Cancer picked a tenacious dance partner in Michael, and he rose to the challenge, putting up a tremendous fight. I know his endurance and steadfast refusal to back down will always be an inspiration to me.

I just wanted to pay tribute by sharing two of my favourite memories of Michael, my best friend's brother, who unknowingly played a huge influence in my musical tastes. He was quite a few years older than me, so we weren't great acquaintances or friends, but through him and his record collection in the basement that I wasn't allowed to touch but did anyway, I was introduced to a large number of bands and artists that continue to influence my musical tastes today.

And knowing Michael's musical integrity, I think he'd cringe at being mentioned in the same sentence as the Men Without Hats. I'm sorry, Michael, and I'll apologize in person when I reach the other side!

Currently playing: Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!

1990-91 Upper Deck NHL Cards

Like millions of other teenagers, I too got hooked on the hockey card craze of the early 1990s. Hearing news that the price of Wayne Gretzky rookie cards were skyrocketing, my fellow teens rushed in droves in hopes of striking it rich.

I knew of one father who treated the cards as an investment in his son's future, and spoke seriously of how they would pay for his son's way through University. The rest of us were slightly more grounded in reality, but were still overly protective of our tiny cards of paper, because you really never knew if a card was going to be "the one".

The truth is that there was no way in hell ANY of these cards were going to be worth a dime. In a simple case of supply and demand, the market was completely flooded with hockey cards. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that during this boom, there were enough hockey cards printed to supply every man, woman, child and pet in North America with 4 complete sets of each of the main card lines.

Hockey cards were as plentiful as grains of sand. In my home town of Dauphin alone, I can think of FOUR hockey card shops that sprung up overnight. For a town of only 9,000 there were more hockey card stores per capita than there were men's clothing stores, clinics, and arcades!

The bonus of having such a huge stock of cards is that almost a decade after they were released, unopened packs can still be found. This week I noticed Toys R Us had unopened packs of early '90s Score, ProSet, and Parkhurst cards for sale.

Even better, PharmaPlus was selling unopened packs of the very first series of Upper Deck NHL cards. Just holding the matte finish foil pack in my mitts again brought back a huge wave of nostalgia, and a slight sheen of sweat on my palms.

I opened it slowly, savouring the sound of tearing foil, curious as to which players of old would be contained in the pack. Lo and behold, the NHL logo peering out at me after being sealed away for 19 years, was that of my beloved Winnipeg Jets.
The pack contained not one, but TWO Jets players! Brent Ashton and Paul Fenton! How sweet was that!
Having studied every card in this set when it first came out, it was a real blast experience facts and details brought out of the closets of my memory by the sight of these photos. Once again, the knowledge that Toronto Maple Leaf Lou Franceschetti was actually BORN in Toronto! Bill Ranford won the Conn Smyth Trophy as Playoff MVP. Brad Shaw had played his entire career (to that point) for the Hartford Whalers. And Michal Pivonka had obviously made some enemies for the Upper Deck staff to choose such an unphotogenic mugshot for his card (see right).

The following cards were included in my pack:
#80 - Michal Pivonka, Washington Capitals
#90 - Brad Shaw - Hartford Whalers
#92 - Paul Fenton, Winnipeg Jets
#102 - Wendell Young, Pittsburgh Penguins
#200 - Checklist, #101-200
#201 - Conn Smythe Trophy, Bill Ranford
#220 - Brent Ashton, Winnipeg Jets
#242 - Steve Larmer, Chicago Blackhawks
#328 - Rich Sutter, St. Louis Blues
#347 - Rod Brind'amour, St. Louis Blues, All Rookie Team
#375 - Paul Ysebaert, New Jersey Devils
#396 - Lou Franceschetti, Toronto Maple Leafs

They're all for sale if you need any of them to complete your collection. Paul Fenton and Brent Ashton excluded, of course.

Currently playing: Colin James - Cadillac Baby
Currently colouring: A yet to be solicited project for Dark Horse Comics!
Proudly in my fourth Cola free year!