MIKE AND MINDY, AS PROMISED BY NOSTRADAMUS

Well, here we are a week into 2012. It is exciting times here in the crazyverse. Progress is being made on the book, I've done a ton new art recently, and it looks like that announcement I've been trying to make for the last three weeks will finally be made soon. I even got a brand new truck! It's a black Ford Ranger that I have named "Veronica," and yes, it is in honor of Riverdale's easiest rich girl. Hey, if the truck were yellow, I'd've named it "Betty!"

Yep, things are looking up at the moment, but enough about that. Y'all wanna see some comics, and I'm happy to oblige! So here's the first crop of comics from 2012, starting with everyone's favorite cat an' mouse duo, Mike and Mindy...

Sheesh, I've heard of playin' the butt trumpet before, but this is ridiculous! You may have noticed a slightly different format for Mike and Mindy this month. I was experimenting with thicker lines for the panel borders, but have decided that this may be a little too thick. So starting next month, panel boarders will go back to normal. Mushrooms will have to wait a little longer. Speaking of which...

This one's a little personal, as I got to sample many a bar of soap as a youngster, all because I didn't know that certain words were bad! You probably noticed two distinct changes in Mushrooms this month: that it's actually titled "MUSHROOMS" this time, and that it's in a strip format. The reason for this is because the above comic was one of my entries for the San Diego Union Tribune's Cartoon Contest. I got three more that you'll be seeing in the coming months, so starting in May, Mushrooms will return to its original one-page format.

Since I lost the UT contest a couple of months ago, a lot of people have asked me about it, wanting to now why I didn't win. Others want to know why I haven't written any scathing responses to the paper yet. Well, I guess now's the time to address some things so here's my response: I lost. Flat and simple. You see, it wasn't enough to just be a San Diego cartoonist, they wanted the cartoon to have a "San Diego" theme as well. Given all the bullcrap that my hometown's been dealing with in recent years, I felt I couldn't do a funny San Diego comic strip without taking cheap shots, and that's never been my way as far as my work is concerned. So sorry, you won't be getting any hate-filled rants about the paper or the winner out of me. Life's too short to hold grudges. It's time to move on.

Well that's all for today. I'll be back next time with a look at the Royal Rumble and one of my favorite wrestling moments, courtesy of Jake "the Snake" Roberts. Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!