I’m handing out major props to Josh Meinzer (AKA “Fenris) the write and artist of Aikida for today’s excellent guest strip.

Josh’s comic is one of my absolute favorite on the internet and it was a real treat when he said “Yes” to do this for me.

If you’ve been following Aikida at all, you know that Josh is telling a MASSIVE new storyline right now. He’s introducing new characters left and right. Fleshing out his existing characters. And doing all of it in an inventive way that doesn’t feel convoluted at all. Top it off with the fact that it’s emotional when it needs to be and laugh-out-loud funny when it wants to be and you’ve got a winner.

The thing I always admired about Josh’s work is that he is able to add layer upon layer of detail to the characters and it always makes perfect sense.

I’ve been actually re-reading his archives and what started out as a kind of gag-a-day gaming comic with occasional cheesecake drawings of the ladies has turned into a very rich experience. It’s like these character have always existed in his head as fully realized creations and he’s been unfolding them in front of our eyes very slowly.

I admire the hell out of him, if it isn’t plainly obvious. If you want in on a little secret, reading Aikida is what inspired me to flesh out Jimmy’s character back in September when he lost his job and also inspired my introduction of Charlie.

The Jimmy storyline went well, I thought. But introducing Charlie was like driving with the parking break on. Meanwhile, when Josh adds new characters or adds layers to his existing cast, it’s like spreading jam over toast.

At any rate, for today’s buzzComix incentive sketch, I drew Aikida in her demon form. I hope you like it. I think it turned out pretty well, but I had hoped to have had more time to work on it. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (which opens this weekend) that leads into Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (which opens May 19). I want to get to the story ideas I have soon so they’re still timely.