Today is our tenth anniversary.

I never expected PvP to take me here. This wasn’t planned. It was just a temporary gig. It wasn’t supposed to be the idea that took me anywhere. When I posted that first strip, in May of 1998, I sincerely never dreamed it would inspire you to afford me a decade of this bliss.

And now, on a day when I should feel elation and contentment, I find myself desperately sad and frightened by the fear that I am now – officially – on borrowed time.

Despite knowing how rude it is to ask for more after being given such a generous gift, I find myself unable to do anything short of dropping to my knees and shamelessly begging you…

…may I please have another ten?

A quick report on the incredible day we had at Cape 2008.

The 3 day event got kicked off with a very eventful, live art show. As is bound to happen when you get a bunch of crazy comic book people drunk, there was a lot of tomfoolery, and a lot of rambunctious fun.

Got to catch up with my good buddies Robert Kirkman and Val Staples. I didn’t get to hardly spend any time at all with Mark Waid or Gail Simone and her husband. Which is a shame. But I’ll see them in Seattle and Heroes con, so we’ll get a another chance.

Everyone who participated in the live art show did fantastic work and I heard we raised a nice chunk of change for the Ronald McDonald house of Dallas. Telling Lea Hernandez that I had planned to draw Jade in her wedding dress for my piece turned out to be ill advised as she beat me to the punch, stealing my thunder and doing her own wedding pic before I could ever touch a sharpie to poster board. Oh well.

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day for an outdoor event. We had cool weather in the morning and a warm sun in the afternoon but it was never unbearably hot. Clear skies all the way to the horizon and beyond. Great crowd, huge event. Just the best FCBD around.

Kris and I were scheduled for a panel on making webcomics back at the store around 1pm. What we didn’t know was that the panel was a ruse. There was no panel. It was a surprise celebration of PvP’s 10th anniversary. I was shocked when my entire family walked in the front door during our talk and then my brother appeared from the back of the store carrying a 3D cake he had made for me.

The cake was a seven layer top hat, surrounded by PvP covers and characters made out of sugar. It was amazing. When he started to cut into it people in the crowd visibly winced. “What am I supposed to do with it?” he asked the stunned audience? “You can’t keep it. it’s cake. Come have some.”

The big surprise came when I was presented with a 10th anniversary gift. A 21 inch wacom Cintiq. So Scott McCloud, I finally have one and soon I’ll have to eat my words about never getting one. I can’t wait to try it out and give you a call. I’ll be drawing with fire once I get back from Seattle.

We took plenty of pictures, and I’ve uploaded them all to flickr. So please take a look. This cake has to be seen to be believed.

On a more important note, I can’t thank the people at Zeus Comics and the volunteer staff for Cape enough. Richard Neal, the owner and operator of Zeus always makes a point to insist that I’m a big part of Cape. I’m not sure how true that is. The guys at Zues are the real heart of that event.

Richard, Chris, Barry, Sean, Stefan, Lisa and all the volunteer staff break their backs making this show something beyond just a simple store signing on Free Comic Book Day. This entire event comes straight out of Zeus’ pocket. Richard really wants to build a community of comic book lovers in Dallas and he’s actually pulling it off. Those of us who live in the area all benefit from the hard work they put in.

Gail Simone, Mark Waid, Greg Pak, Bryan Hitch…these are comic book creators who you’re lucky to see at big cons. Here they are under tents in a park. Why? Because they love what Zeus has done with this expo and the love for comics that’s present at every Cape. I hope you made it out this year and if not, I really encourage you to make time to be a part of Cape 5 in 2009.

Thanks, Zeus, for another incredible year.