Downloadable PDF for your coloring pleasure.

I don’t know if I can condense into words what happened to me at PAX East.

“Thank you” is how I want to start. I don’t think I can say it enough. Thank you to everyone who came to our booth, said hello in the halls, stopped to ask for a picture, offered to trade Pokemon, came to our panels, waved at us out and about Boston…thank you. I will never be able to say it enough.

It’s no secret that Mike and Jerry are rock stars. I saw it years ago when they had a get together in the Grapevine Mills, TX Gameworks. They were quite literally mobbed and I remember thinking to myself that had I tried to organize a similar meet up, I would have had plenty of breathing space. Comfortable air supply. But these two were just swarmed. It was really awe inspiring. And until PAX East, I was convinced that my work would never generate such electricity.

But I was wrong. Kris and I were swarmed. We were mobbed. Our booths were never without a line. And everyone was smiling and friendly. Take a look at the line outside our After Hours panel. These people stood for two hours to get a seat.

It’s a given that the community at PAX is like no other. That the crowd has an energy unmatched by any other convention that I attend. But even previous PAX events were never like this. I have never been such a sought commodity in my entire life. Period. And it made me feel very great and very small simultaneously.

I remember at several points during the day, Kris and I looked at each other and made faces that expressed “Oh my God! Are we living up to this? Do we deserve this?” And that’s a point that we discussed at length the entire weekend. How energized and rededicated we both feel to making sure we deliver 100% the most amazing content we can to this group of supporters. And how now more than ever it’s time to dig in and never take for granted that we have this. And deliver. Execute. Entertain. Educate.

Guys, I am so excited about this year. About the stories I want to tell you. About the jokes I want to deliver. About the ideas I want to share. About the corners I want to turn. And I’m so grateful that we live in a time and place where economy, interest, technology and culture have mixed into a perfect storm that allows me to do so.

So thank you for PAX East. Thanks for making my 40th birthday a mid-life windfall.

And get ready. Because if you thought what Kris and I did at PAX East was fun, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Be sure to hit the site this weekend as I’ll be posting strips Saturday and Sunday.

I’ve been sick all week and I’m eager to draw!