It’s the last day of October… and the day when so many children (and adults, in growing numbers….) dress up in colorful and/or frightful costumes and– for CHILDREN, spend the night scouring the countryside for candy… and for ADULTS who participate, spend the night partying and getting wasted. I used to love Halloween… back when I was a child, it was still OK to accept home made treats from folks. This was right as the advent of the ‘razor blade in the candy apple’ was starting to happen. I remember my last Halloween in Germany when we were living there while my father was in the Army– it was the first time I had heard of the rumors of people doing such things to harm children. I STILL don’t know if those stories were true…. but it was the first time in the three years we were there that my parents wouldn’t allow me to eat the candy apples, smores and other home made treats I had collected that last Halloween night in Deutchland.

Now, I live in a neighborhood where there aren’t really that many kids of ‘candy collecting’ age — and I usually leave the lights off in the house except the downstairs where I’m usually working during the evening/night time hours. So I don’t get costumed visitors anyway. But that’s fine– I guess I’d rather not have the distraction of having to answer the door every few minutes when I’m trying to meet deadlines. I guess that’s just another example of me becoming an old man….

Anyhoo– I thought I’d present a couple of cards that I did for UPPER DECK a month or so ago…. for their upcoming X-MEN set. It was a lot of fun to do ALL the work on a project for once… penciling, inking AND coloring. I would dearly love to do more of this. It’s my dream to one day work on a project where I do complete artwork, whether it’s a short story or a graphic novel. Maybe one day.

This is Entry 156.

Mike