The end of an era.

After attending for over 15 years and exhibiting for the last 6, this year was my farewell for the foreseeable future to San Diego Comic-con. Actually, last year was suppose to be my final cross country pilgrimage, but having been nominated for a 2012 Eisner, I dug deep—into my wallet, that is—for one last hurrah and to be in the room as Jonathan Ross succinctly captured the heart of doing reality comics (pardon the super nervous shaky cam):

As a consolation prize to being an Eisner non-winner, I was flabbergasted to discover that VIETNAMERICA was one of two graphic novels being discussed on an academic comics theory panel:

I went as an audience member, but when the panelists noticed I was there, I suddenly wound up on stage as part of the discussion with Keegan Lannon, Jade Hidle, and freakin' SCOTT McCLOUD?!

I reread UNDERSTANDING COMICS every time I start a new project, so to unexpectedly be talking with him about VIETNAMERICA was an honor I'll be carrying to my deathbed.

So one redeye flight later, I'm back in Brooklyn and excited to get back to work. To me, the Eisner ceremony simultaneously marked the end of a long, unpredictable, wondrous, journey with VIETNAMERICA as well as beginning its new life in college and university classrooms and all the exciting opportunities that that entails: I'll be back to Davidson in September, then the University of Oregon and Connecticut in October, with Stanford in January and hopefully who-knows-where next? All while devoting every waking moment to new comic projects, illustration gigs, and watching life unfold through the eyes of this squeaky lil' porpoise: