2020 proved to be a personally challenging year, one of stasis, of survival. 2021 has already begun to present itself in a similar fashion, while simultaneously feeling completely different. Gone are the days of shelter-in-place and being a somewhat-revered essential worker. Now, there is motion, and both the exhaustions of last year and this young year have begun to finally catch up to me. The situation is untenable and will not last, for I will not last through it. Therefore, it has become a time of growth and transition, and I will survive, as will this website.

Through 2020, I didn’t produce much. I was exhausted and unmotivated. I’ve heard that referred to as “COVID fatigue.” It’s a pretty accurate moniker. The virus changed our way of life, in ways that we won’t even fully realize or understand for years to come. For me, it changed the way I looked and felt about art. The time I took away from this project helped me understand just how important creating is in my life. I needed to find a way to get it back.

With the dawn of 2021, I took a dive into the deep, icy pool of digital art. I have done very little on traditional, physical media in the last six months, and it honestly has turned things around for me. I’m enjoying this far more than I had before. It’s truly wonderful. So, when I say it has been a rollercoaster getting to this point, you know what I mean.

I had started doing three comics per week. I had so much free time back then. Gradually, that dwindled to twice a week, and then to once per week, where it currently sits today. 300 comics was a distant goal for the longest time, trudging slowly down the path toward it over the course of the past six years. But I got there, and I am there today. To commemorate this 300th comic, I felt that perhaps it was time to update the group photo, which proved to be a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated. However, it is done, and it is delightful (for me, at least).

Anyway, enjoy the comics, as I plan on continuing them for another 300 comics, and another 300 beyond that, and beyond that. It’ll be a long time before you’re rid of me. Thanks for reading and sharing these characters with me. Your readership truly means the world to me.

-The Retail Explorer