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Some of the early Mister & Me’s I look at as if I pulled out my junior high year book and flip through it’s pages and landing directly on my school photo.  Cringe! the hair, the goofy smile, the unconfidence of a young man… and the style.  Good gravy–the style I had–I just want to look away and erase the past. 

For example: In the 9th grade, down at Chewning Jr. High, in Durham, NC, I wore a faux-velvet shirt for my school picture.  I look back at that shirt and wonder “why”??  Obviously I was trying to be George Costanza without even knowing who George Costanza was.  I was a clueless kid living carefree days.  A lot of kids hated their junior high days.  I, myself, didn’t mind them so much.  Those days were my last hurrah of my childhood.

Sometimes I look back at these strips of mine and wish I had ironed out some of the rough edges as I was working them out (Vader looks a little bit like a rumpled tumble-weed to me here).  But, at the time, I was still trying to find the voice of what, and who, Mister & Me was, and I was proud of what came out.  Proud of where I was, and how far I’ve come.  No one starts anything without a little trial and error.

Much like I have said before:  The story, the joke, the soul of the strip is still there.

Everyone has their own faux-velvet shirt in their lives, even a comic strip.