"Too Scary for an Actual Title" ("28 Weeks Later")
Written on May 12th, 2007:
I never got into Michael Jackson.
Seriously, even when I was nine years old during the whole "Thriller" craze, when the world seemed to revolve around the King of Pop, I didn't care one bit. What the hell was up with the white glove? Why wouldn't Paul McCarthy beat the crap out of him for trying to steal his dog-dog girl? You know Paul easily could! I mean, the guy posed with a baby tiger on his album cover with the biggest schoolboy grin on his face. What was I missing that made him so macho? And please don't say because he was a smooth criminal. I‘ve never seen a criminal dancing in the street and screaming “Whoo Hoo Hoo“ high enough that dogs picked it up.
But what irked me the most was his feeble excuse for trying to do a horror video. I can remember my classmates thinking 'Thriller' was just the scariest thing they've ever seen. "Ooooo, he turns into a werewolf and then he turns into a zombie, and then he breaks some moves. Really, it's just SOOOO freaky!"
*sigh*
Written on July 1st, 2009:
During the 2002 gallery, I drew a picture for “The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course” starring Steve Irwin in which he was being eaten by a crocodile as Erik just tried to ignore it and walk away. The picture was nothing but a friendly wink at Mr. Irwin who took all sorts of insane risks while celebrating the beauty of the animal kingdom. He was crazy, but you couldn’t help but really like the guy.
Unfortunately a year later, he lost his life observing a sting ray in the ocean. Although we could have left the picture up, we decided it was better to remove it from the site and destroy the original illustration. It seemed like doing otherwise would be in poor taste.
I say this now because, at the time of this writing, Michael Jackson has passed away due to an accidental overdose. For all the grief I said about him, he was arguably one of the greatest musicians of this century. He was also one of the most tragic. In his last few years he dealt with some rather serious accusations about his private life. Whether any of it was true or not; it’s not my place to judge. All I know is he grew up with an abusive father and due to his popularity as the youngest member of the Jackson 5, he never had any semblance of a normal childhood. I might have never cared for his music, but I do admire how he did everything in his power to make sure his own children were dearly loved and given every opportunity to experience life.
So perhaps, like the Crocodile Hunter picture, I should take this one down as well. But I won’t. Because just like Steve Irwin, this illustration started out as a friendly wink at a great entertainer but now has grown into a little tribute. - Jake