Sunday, December 2, 2007

Remembering Mike

I'd intended to post my second rough for the Perhapanauts pinup but I thought this was more important. Suzanne and I just got back from a weekend in Durham, working on Mike's house. Though we had a great dinner with Andrew and Vanessa Neal and Richard and Colleen Case, we were feeling a little depressed. It hit us around lunchtime today when we were packing up to leave. The house is nearly completely empty and is so devoid of anything "Mike" that it hurts a little. Worse, every time we make a repair or clean up the yard or do any kind of improvement, we realize that we could very easily have come down and helped Mike with this stuff when he was alive and removed at least some of his burden. Mike pretty much worked all the time. He didn't get weekends or holidays or four weeks of vacation like I do. If he took time off, that was money out of his pocket. I think back at all the times I emailed him complaining that I had to work an all-nighter or cancel plans to work over the weekend and I'm ashamed. He'd try to be sympathetic and offer encouragement but he was probably shaking his head and thinking, "Welcome to my life." Though Suze and I are probably being too hard on ourselves, every weekend in that house feels like a reminder of how much I failed my brother when he needed me.

I was in this state of mind when I got home to discover an email waiting for me on my work account from Ron Richards if iFanboy. It seems the guys at iFanboy teamed up with the very cool Augie de Blieck, Jr. of Comic Book Resources to do a video remembering Mike's career. It features interviews with Tom Breevort and everybody's pal Todd Dezago. Watching this video really cheered me up. Seeing how much other people appreciated Mike's work was heartening. I was also very happy to see Augie participating. Augie's always been a true and genuine champion of Mike's work and Mike seemed to like him a lot. It was also cool to see where Todd works. I've never been to his house in New York and he appears to have a very cool workspace. Certainly a lot neater than mine, which looks like a rat's nest.

It is with much appreciation and gratitude that I give you the link to the video that Ron sent me. Please check it out and subscribe to their podcast. (I did many moons ago.):

http://revision3.com/ifanboy/ringo

There's a downloadable Quicktime version on there too. I was going to make some petty quip about Tom Breevort putting on some pounds since the last time I saw him in San Diego (where he took one look at my portfolio, evacuated his bowels on it and then lit it on fire) but since I've put on even more than he has and he was always a stand up guy with Mike, I think I'll pass.

Todd looks good, though.

9 comments:

Christian D. Leaf said...

Peeped the podcast. Very nice stuff with a few surprises. Looking forward to hearing news about the TELLOS jam issues. And, like you said, cool to see Todd's creative digs.

Also, stop being so hard on yourself, sucka. Watch the eggnog, too. Hahaha.

Cully Hamner said...

Matt, you haven't failed anybody. All of us who get into this line work made a choice, and make a choice every day to keep doing it. Sure, Mike would grouse a little-- as we all do-- but I know he loved it, good and bad.

Anyway, don't feel bad that you complained to Mike about your problems. He had plenty of people to complain to, himself. I know... I was one of 'em! ;)

Heywood Jablomie said...

Hey Matt,

I'll be watching this later tonight when I get a chance to actually sit and watch it. Anything to do with Mike always gets 150% of my attention.

As for how you feel, I can't presume to say too much, but it all sounds like normal feelings to be having. But, I agree that you shouldn't be so hard on yourself though, that's one of the things family are for-bitching and moaning to each other about life(as well as enjoying the great things in life).

renecarol said...

Thanks for sharing the link. I'll check it out when I have some time to watch it.

Parker said...

The guys did a good job with that, thanks for posting that link. It's funny hearing Brevoort talk about Mike leaving voicemail as Borat.

And it's been a while since I've looked at Mike's early work. It's so influenced by Art Adams, I always thought. A great overview, and Augie makes a good Mike expert.

Heywood Jablomie said...

Just a quicky here Matt, but he podcast was really nice. They did a great job with it!

Brian said...

Matt,

Thanks for the heads up. It was very enjoyable, especially the interview with Todd.

As for the other stuff, listen to Cully, he is a wise, wise man, who knows of what he speaks.

Anonymous said...

Been out in the sticks, just got back to a computer.

I'll check out the p-cast later.

I don't believe you failed Mike in any way.

As I once mentioned , I found your blog because he had mentioned it so everyone would start coming over, back when you didn't post as regularly.

Your feelings are quite natural and I'm glad watching the video cheered you up.

Stay Cool ! !

Jadielady said...

I will definitely download to my ipod tonight, and I'll post a message on my blog to make sure all my friends check it out.
*hugs*
You never failed him. You loved him, and looked up to him, and that's all a sibling ever wants