New Year, Same Mission (With a Few Bigger Monsters)

I didn’t go into 2025 with a list of carefully measured goals or a vision board taped to the wall. My only real intention was simple: keep illustrating and keep making comics.

I did both.

And when I slow down long enough to look back, it turns out 2025 was packed with more good work, good people, and good surprises than I realized in the moment.

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Illustration: Print Is Still King

One of the highlights of the year was doing illustration work for Texas Highways, the official travel magazine of Texas. I didn’t get too weird with it, but I was still able to bring my voice to the page with a fun caricature of a dude who’s been a fixture in the Texas music scene for over 35 years.

Holding a physical copy of the magazine when it was finished was a reminder of why I still love print. Nothing beats the smell of fresh ink and paper. And it was nice to get a 2026 calendar in the mail, along with a hand-written note from the Art Director that I worked with! Long live print.

On the commercial side, I continued working with two of my favorite breweries: Bayheads and Wilmington Brew Works.

I’ve been working with Bayheads since before they even opened their doors. At this point, I’ve done twenty-something posters and labels for them, along with their original branding guide and logo. I’m looking forward to doing more with Charlie next year. In fact, we already have the next project in motion.

Wilmington Brew Works is even closer to home now with their new Brew Works North location, literally around the corner from my house and next door to my local comic shop. This year we continued the adventures of the Hop Fink with Deep Space Cowboy, and released a matching Wilmington Brew Works x Pat Higgins pint glass. I’ve got some other ideas for my Hop Fink character that I’ll go in to later…

For both breweries, I make a conscious effort to give the work its own distinct look. It’s all clearly my style, but you can tell which pieces belong to which brewery. I’m proud of that. Seeing my art on beer cans, posters, pint glasses, and liquor bottles never gets old.

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Comics: Finished, In Progress, and Brewing

On the comics front, I managed to finish a few things while still juggling several works in progress.

One of the most satisfying projects was a one-page adaptation of Eraserhead for a David Lynch tribute show at Talleyville Frame Shoppe in Wilmington, Delaware. I contributed two pieces: a large framed original (17” x 26”, ink on bristol) and a 9” x 12” print of the finished page.

To make working at that scale manageable, I drew the page in sections and assembled it afterward. I wasn’t wrestling a giant sheet of bristol across a massive desk. The result was a bigger, bolder piece with fine details that were faster and easier to lay down. Plus, it was just plain fun adapting a movie that I dig.

I also completed a ten-page story titled “Murder Apes” for the Horror Not Hate anthology. It’s an anti-fascist, anti-hate horror collection supporting LGBTQIA+ and immigrant rights. Horror has always been my lane, and this project aligns perfectly with my values, so it was an easy yes. The Kickstarter is live now, and all profits go to a good cause. Check it out, grab a copy, and enjoy some killer horror. You can get more info on the Kickstarter and back it HERE!

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Still Cooking

Not everything wrapped up neatly this year.

I’m still working on Hellscape Americana Volume 2, the follow-up to the award-winning first volume. It’s fully written, and several stories are already thumbnailed, but other projects took priority. This book is going to be strong, and it will be finished and Kickstarted in 2026.

A couple paragraphs back, I mentioned the Hop Fink…I’m in the early stages of developing a new comic featuring the character. The response to the Hop Fink has been great, I enjoy drawing him, and it felt like the right time to explore him in comic form. It’s early in the process, but I’m excited to see where it goes.

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Gallery Shows and Getting Out of Town

I participated in a bunch of gallery shows this year, including Talleyville Frame Shoppe’s Wicked Winter, Coffin Show, and Big Little Art Show, as well as Poppycock Tattoo’s Cabinet of Curriosities, 15th Anniversary show, and several others.

The show I was most excited about, though, was The Bat Show at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco. Curated by Winston Smith and Studio Fallout, the show paid homage to the iconic Alternative Tentacles logo. If you know me, you know the Dead Kennedys are in my all-time top five bands, and I’m a huge fan of Winston Smith’s work.

Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out for me to make the trip west. I would’ve loved to talk shop with Winston Smith or catch Jello Biafra between DJ sets at the opening. Maybe next time. Did you miss the show, too? Now’s your chance to get yourself a copy of the BATALOG!!

On the upside, I did get out of town for the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards weekend in Boston this past August. The entire weekend was incredible. I reconnected with friends from the NCS Philly Chapter, met people I’d only known online, crossed paths with heroes, and made new friends. It was pure camaraderie, community, and cartooning. I’m already looking forward to next year.

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Teaching, Boards, and What’s Next

This year I began serving on the board of the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles as Co–2nd Vice President and Program Chair. I’ve been working on some exciting initiatives, and several of them will start coming to life in the year ahead.

I also continued teaching and watched another talented group of creatives graduate last spring. I’m looking forward to seeing this year’s students do the same in May. Teaching continues to be one of the most rewarding parts of what I do. Sharing experience goes both ways, and I’m constantly inspired by the next generation. I’m also headed back to school myself…I was just accepted into a Master’s program at the University of Delaware and will start taking classes this spring!

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Looking Ahead

It’s important to take a moment to reflect, but it’s just as important to keep moving forward.

What do I have planned for 2026? More comics. More illustration. More programming work. More learning. More drawing.

No grand manifesto. Just continuing to do the work.

Here’s to another year of making stuff.