I realize that today’s comic kind of lays the melodrama on kind of thick. But I thought to myself about how high the stakes were for me personally and for my comic avatar for Iron Man to be a success. Considering the challenges I put him through in order to see the movie, I thought some sort of crecendo – some sort of resolution was in order.

If it helps any to explain it, I was listening to Nine Inch Nails’ “Leaving Hope” a lot while I was drawing this. I don’t know.

I talked about this a little bit during The Triple Feature talkcast on Monday night, but more than anything, I was just happy that Iron Man was a quality film and not some steaming pile like Ghost Rider. I really pinned a lot of my hopes on this movie – which is sort of unlike me.

After doing this comic for nearly 6 years, you kind of become jaded to the process. You do your research and familiarize yourself with upcoming movies. You digest the rumors and the spin… the wild conjecture. You run all of this past your filter for months on end before ever seeing one frame of celluloid. Does anyone remember a time when they walked into a movie blind? Does that even happen anymore unless you’re some kind of hillbilly?

Factoring in all of those distractions, Iron Man still worked exceptionally well for me. It was such a treat. Not only that, but it was a huge weight off of my shoulders. If this movie had been terrible, I would have never heard the end of it. Now only in retrospect do I realize just how far out there I positioned myself.

One of the benefits of being a total nut job is that sometimes you get to meet up with people who share your passions. These were too cool to pass up: Check out the artwork sent to me by a couple of fans who share my love for all things Iron Man.

The first piece comes from a fellow by the name of Nicholas Robert. His Godfather Dan Busha sent it to me. He was a pretty enthusiastic guy! So I would have felt bad ignoring the piece considering the effort Nicholas put into it….

Oh, how I enjoy a delicious pun!

The second piece comes from Locke from the webcomic What Happens Next. I about peed myself when I saw this – I think it’s totally brilliant. Not only did Locke capture the armor design perfectly, but I just love the expression on Tom’s face.

Why can’t reality be more like this drawing?

At any rate, I thought you guys would get a kick out of those. I hope you enjoyed them.

Not much else from me this afternoon. Just kind of plugging away, working on a couple of secret projects. I wish I could tell you about them, but you know how it goes!

Take it easy. Have a great Wednesday