Maybe I would have done myself a favor by abandoning the washed-up Don Johnson after yesterday’s strip. But darn it if I haven’t become affectionate of the little guy. I tend to appreciate the delusional.

Interesting feedback regarding Miami Vice in the last couple of days. Once the din of "Hey, stupid! Michael Mann was the co-creator of the original series!" died down, there was some interesting dialogue in the THorum about what makes the big screen adaptation interesting.

I think when you boil things down to their essence, old farts like me who were alive when Miami Vice was on television really aren’t interested in seeing it up on the silver screen because we regard it as middling fluff. People unfamiliar with the franchise are interested in seeing it based on the artistic merits of the picture. The way it was shot. The gritty undertones.

Now it’s hard to been an advocate for old-fogey-ism (especially at 28). But youngin’s – you gotta understand. The fact that they made a Miami Vice movie is like making… I don’t know. A 90210 movie to you guys. Wholly unnecessary.

Now you’ll excuse me while eat this bran muffin, read my copy of The New Yorker and yell at kids to GET OFF MY FRONT LAWN!

I wanna draw your attention to a new sponsor – Minus. You guys really need to check out this comic. Beautiful in it’s simplicity, I love the water color treatment. Great stuff. I can really describe the plot, but artist Ryan Armand says he’s approaching it as though he were creating a comic strip for an early 20th century newspaper. Show some support for this and spread the word because Ryan sounds a little on the fence about whether or not he’ll pursue this art style. Something as unique as this could do very well out there in the big, bad world of web comics.

Y’know, as opposed to what I do which is pandering crap. Minus is art. If I could turn out stuff like this, I would.

Speaking of art, I will be on Artist’s Alley at Wizard World Chicago next week – Friday, August 4 through the 6th and I can’t wait! I’ll have tons of books for sale at special convention prices! I strongly encourage you to come visit me at table #3414 A. You can’t miss me. I’ll be the guy frantically trying to get people to BUY MY BOOK! I plan on pressing the flesh hard core this year, so I’ll be a big shining beacon of crazy.

I’m serious. I’ve been to this convention twice and it finally dawned on me that it was dumb to sit back and wait for people who knew me to wander up and say "Hi." I love those people, don’t get my wrong! If you’re already a fan, I want you to come by because I’m having a book release party in my hotel room on Saturday night and I want you to be there. I’ve got invitations printed up and everything. I’ll give you one.

But I also want to try and find NEW fans for the comic. And you can’t do that sitting on your rear end. Anyway, one of my goals is to try and get copies of "Theater Hopper: Year One" into the hands of industry folks. So if you know anyone that covers comics as a member of the media or maybe a representative of a small press group, please let me know in advance and so I can get in touch with them before blowing into The Windy City.

Something else I need to mention about the book release party. My good friend Zach Miller of Joe and Monkey will also be joining the fray as his second book is coming out at the same time. Also, we’re sharing a hotel room, so he kind of HAS to go along with it. Anyway, be sure to visit both of us in Artist’s Alley and we’ll be sure to give you an invitation to the party. It’ll be a blast!

Another thing I need to mention. I will have a sign up sheet for our mailing list available at my booth. If you come by to visit me, I want you to sign up for it because I’m giving away $50 in Fandango bucks! And because you guys come here every day, I’m letting you know about it now. So if you’re not signed up for the mailing list, you can do it today and be in the running for that Fandango gift certificate. It’s going to be a random drawing and I’m going to announce the winner here on the site on Monday, August 7. EVERYONE IS ELIGIBLE! If if you’re already signed up, you’re in the running. But since there’s only, like, 100 people on the mailing list, that’s not many of you.

SIgn up for the mailing list today using that handy form to the right of the blog and you might be $50 in Fandango bucks richer!

That’s it for now. Please don’t forget that I’m selling all of my shirts for $9.99 until July 31. Get your order in today before I pack everything up and haul it to Chicago!