Everybody seems to get a pass during the holiday, so why can't I blog a day late? I know I said before that late columns are for wussies. Past Drew can time-travel to the present and slap Current-day Drew upside the head and call it a day.

   Well, Saturday July 3rd was Free Comic Book Day and the store signing at Yancy Street Comics went better than imagined. My staff photographer flew in from Austin Texas and got some great shots of the event (Okay, he's really just a friend that happens to be a photographer). Unfortunately, my home computer didn't have the appropriate hookups and software for him to download his digital pics so I'll have to save them for a future blog. I've accepted the fact that I'm a relative caveman as a computer user.

   Yancy St. Comics is a great store, and also, a great-Looking store, which is very family friendly and clean. Some stores I've visited look like dingy porn dens with half-nekkid Lady Death-type posters. Steve, Chris, Kevin and the rest of the Yancy St. Gang handled the event superbly. They promoted it in the newspaper, which a lot of people cited as the reason they came. We signed at the Karate studio two doors down, where there was a lot of room for both us and the crowd. We had a constant flow of people and I managed to unload, I mean, hand out my huge stack of comics for free.

   Tonight I'm having dinner with some fellow ex-CGers. It's weird to get together after all that's happened in the past year.I can't help still feeling a sense of loss. On July 4th, I got a call from John Dell, who's just moved back to Louisiana and was busy inking Ultimate FF. He was surprised that I wasn't working as well, as was I. We chatted briefly, and I promised to get back to him soon, as I had friends over for Independence Day. No big party like I threw last year. Most of the guests back then were coworkers that have since moved on to their home states and elsewhere. I know it's not 'goodbye forever', as we're all sure to run into each other on the convention circuit, but it's not the same.

   I'd gotten close to some coworkers and missed out on opportunities to get close to others. Some of us are actually staying in the area because we'd miss the little comic-book creator community we've established. Others have either moved or are killing time until they can sell their recently-purchased houses. Some are awaiting the end of their apartment leases. I've had experience as an employee in the corporate world, but I never before thought of my coworkers as fellow travelers. That's because comic professionals are a small group, a microcosm of the artistic community that actually can make a living with their craft. And artists, more often than not, are constantly seeking validation from other artists.

   Despite my past criticisms, I had a lot of good times at CG. Believe me, many of us stayed there as long as we could out of support for each other, even when the cracks started to show. The tragedy is that this sort of company will never be attempted again, for it may be perceived as template for failure. Sadly, it could've worked...

   I ran a dry run of this blog to a lot of my former coworkers and after careful consideration, I've since heavily edited it down, because, frankly, I don't need any grief. I know I've invited criticism and I've since apologized to those I carpet-blogged, which I now know is bad form. I wish I had the fortitude to air my full opinions without concern of other's feelings, like all those British funnybook writers who get away with the most outrageous statements. Maybe being on 'the other side of the pond' makes you invulnerable.

   Yes, I am slightly mad, in every way imaginable.