I always had a vague unease about eating meat as I got to be an adult. I’ve always loved animals and hate the idea of them suffering in any way. I feel like the animals of the world are the TRUE innocents… not tainted by hidden agendas, dark desires or fetishes; untouched by corruption. When my buddy Todd Dezago and I were flown to France back in 2000 –by the wonderful folks at SEMIC who were publishing TELLOS over there– I was treated to goose liver pate at a local restaurant. I ate it (and enjoyed the taste)– but then later started thinking about how it was made…. and I started feeling guilty. That kind of thing kept happening to me over the next few years– the vague feelings of guilt– until a friend sent me links to a web site that had video footage of the conditions that exist at the massive corporate farms that raise cows, chickens, ducks and pigs. I was horrified and disgusted to see the way these animals were treated in their short lives before they were slaughtered in order to become our food. That was in late September of 2003– and from that point on, I’ve avoided eating meat, fish, eggs or any dairy products. I’m not a TRUE vegan…. but I try to follow that diet as much as it’s possible for me at all times. I’m not going to post links to any sites, or try to preach about the ‘evils of eating meat’ or anything like that. I’m not the activist type. I’m just saying I do this for my OWN peace of mind…. and to set up today’s blog offering.

I recently joined a vegan forum– and some of the folks are involved with a vegan festival coming up soon, and I volunteered to do a t-shirt for them to sell with a superhero theme. I really liked the way it came out– so I thought I’d share it with you. You’ve seen me stumbling into learning Photoshop lately, and I was pleased with the end results here. AND it’s superhero themed, so it fits for the blog.

And as for animals– here’s a picture of my FAVORITE animal in the world, Charlie…. in a shot I took the other day of him in his favorite position for sleeping. I liked it so much I made it my desktop so I can get a chuckle every time I look at the screen.

I’ll be at HEROES AREN’T HARD TO FIND tomorrow (Saturday ) for their FREE COMIC BOOK DAY festivities. I’ll be there with Randy Green, Cully Hamner, Brian Stelfreeze, Jason Latour, Andy Smith and Rick Ketcham. So if you live in Charlotte or the nearby area, come on out and say “HI..!”. It’s going to be a lot of fun– and the weather’s supposed to be great for it.

Mike