I’m feeling very proud today of my friends at Penny-Arcade. I’m beaming. And every time I want to express that to them, I feel compelled to qualify it. “I’m sorry if this sounds condescending.” I’ll say or “I don’t want to try to sound like a big brother here.”

Mike, Jerry and I all started in 1998 at Mpog.com. I remember the first time I had a long conversation with them on the phone and we discussed the future. And every time I go over to visit them in Seattle, I get overwhelmed by the family they’ve grown out of those humble beginnings at Mpog.

I just downloaded their new video game. I just installed it on my mac. And when I get home, I’ll download it to my Xbox and install it there, too. Today is the day their video game goes live. I say that as if it’s just business as usual.

I mean, because NOW…I guess it is.

But in 1998, that was pie in the sky shit, man. That was dreaming so big it got you a little scared. But now it’s just a Wednesday. That’s just Penny-Arcade now. I sat over there in the heart of it for a week and got to work next to these guys and observe the clockwork operate.

They certainly don’t have to be any more, but despite their success, they care about the work. They care about it like they did when they were two guys hungry for any semblance of success. They still make their decisions (both creative and business) as if today is the last day they get to do this and it could all come toppling down like a house of cards.

We went down these very unique paths and ended up in these very distinct places. We get lumped together all the time as “video game comics” but we have such different products. I was stressing over this recent story-arc and they were joking about how they would have had the whole thing started and wrapped up in three panels.

I know that Penny-Arcade doesn’t need me to be proud of them. And despite the fact that by any conceivable metric, they qualify as my superior…I still, occasionally, get welled up with these undeniable feelings of big-brother-like pride.

Today is one of those days.