Back in the mid 90's David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview magazine did a feature on artist Mike Wieringo, a good friend of mine (and to so many others) who as everyone knows is sadly no longer with us. I had the privilege of being an assistant at the studio in Hillsborough (named Artamus) where Mike and a lot of other comic artists were working at the time, and when the magazine came to photograph Mike, they decided on a group shot of everyone there. This was in the early days of the studio, a little before Casey Jones and Dave Johnson joined up for the later period. I had actually misplaced this photo for a long time, but recently when in Chicago visiting family (our cousins the Heniffs), they had a copy of it, and I was stoked to see it again! I get a little misty seeing this, it really takes me back to a great time in my life. Most everyone in this photo has scattered to the four corners of the country now (Rich Case and Scott Hampton are still nearby, but Jeff Parker's in Portland Oregon now, Chuck is in California, John and Craig are in Georgia) so I really miss the gang, I considered them all close friends and great people. I never really thought much about the studio eventually disbanding and people moving away (and of course Mike passing away didn't even occur to me), but I suppose change is inevitable. Even when it's the kind you don't want or aren't necessarily ready for, you have to embrace it at some point and go with the flow/adapt. Had I known then what I know now....well, I guess that's the cliche, right? The other slightly amusing thing to note is that for some reason they don't list poor Richard Case's name at all, yet they do name Scott Hampton, who wasn't even there that day! Good times. I miss 'em!
