So, this is my first submission to Sketch Charlotte’s “Sketchercise” event. Y’all are on like, topic 9 or something. So I figured I’d at least submit one. So I went to the first challenge, which was to draw your favorite comic strip character. I spent a LONG time thinking of all the strips I read as a kid and teenager. Hours staring at the boxes in sequence were spent by me, as I was learning to read. There were sooooooooo many great ones. But my “favorite”? Damn, that was hard. Not easy. And then I realized that one strip that blew me away. It had T-O-N-S of adventure, trippy escapades in bizarre lands, colorful characters, and one fella who had no problem at all solving matters with his hands. That strip was “Captain Easy, Soldier of Fortune”.

The strip and characters, Easy and the original lead, Wash Tubbs, just blew my young mind away, even though it was the Bill Crooks & Jim Lawrence Easy I was growing up with. I loved how the characters’ faces were cartoony and real all at the same time, and especially how the clothes had motion to them, even though a modicum of lines were used. So thanks to the Sketchercise challenge, I’ve rediscovered my love for this, my favorite comic strip character. For Christmas I think I’m going to ask for the Fantagraphics volumes reprinting Crane’s unbelievable Sundays. I mean, Easy is so damn cool … he’s old-school, but he’s just truly kickass. He doesn’t get dusty with the years. Every time I look at a strip, I think, “Damn, Easy lives. He’s so cool. Wow, I can’t believe that situation they’re in!” So, thanks, Brandon, for giving me the hard time about not submitting to “Sketchercise”. It has reconnected me with my love for the great strips which got me into comics in the first place. Now, we’ll see how much I catch up to the rest of you Sketchercisers.