It's been a good 4 days since getting back from the circus called San Diego and I'm still trying to catch up on sleep. At least I have confirmation that others are in the same boat and it ain't just me. I've got a bunch of e-mails to reply to still so I gotta do that before I polish off some MJ pages tonight. Oh, it's, like, party time in Vancouver right now. There's this annual fireworks display that goes on for 2 weeks and it's starting tonight. There's a huge crowd of people on the beach outside my window and I'm stuck here workin'. Damn deadlines to hell.

Anyway, on to more important news. I gave Marvel a call a coupla days ago about me leaving the MJ book. I thought long and hard about trying to maintain a monthly while trying to find work in Japan but I figure I'm moving for a reason and that I shouldn't half ass it. I've asked whether I could stay on covers to keep some sort of income coming in and I'm hoping that they allow it. So, as it looks right now, I'll be on till November or issue 15 and they will find a replacement for me after that. I called Sean (the writer) and told him about my decision and he was very understanding about it along with my editor. I'm fortunate that I work with such cool people. There are no guarantees with what I'm doing and it's more likely I'll come groveling back to them but it's something I have to do now or I will probably never do it. I've always felt that life is about risk and change and the more you do of both the more rewards await you.

It's time to own this thing called comix.

TAK