Hughes the Force Screening!

The Hughes the Force premiere may have changed my life. I got to walk the red carpet, sign posters and comic books, take pictures with fans, meet people I idolize both as a fan and an artist, and generally experience one of the coolest events in my lifetime with some of my new and old best friends. Even if nothing else in my career comes close to the way the Hughes the Force crew and audience made me feel, I'll die happily knowing that for a day, I got to be a big fish in a big ocean. The amount of positive energy and warm welcomes from every cast and crew member was overwhelming. Opening a box and seeing hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of MY comic book, printed from the same press that Dark Horse Comics themselves use, was also an unreal feeling. I'll never forget how it felt to flip through my OWN published comic book!

And no surprise at all, finally getting to meet Catherine Taber (Padme on Clone Wars) and James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan!) was also even more amazing than I ever expected! Catherine was a class act and a total sweetheart, and even though she was surrounded by swarms of fans, she took the time to take a quick picture with me and my best friend Joe Sorbera, and called it a "Joe sandwich"! HA! We're looking forward to seeing her again at Fan Days next week!

James was another fantastic person to get a hold of. I spoke to him briefly after the Q&A he hosted, and he greeted me with a huge hug! I did my best to keep my professional composure, but I'm sure the fanboy in me reared his head anyway! Anyway, I caught him again at the after-party and gave him the sketch cards I made him (posted today). He was so gracious! And FUNNY! So we talked casually for a while and he really is just an amazing human being. One of the guys and still SO awesome! Another class act! He and I also talked about something else that I'll be mentioning down the road, but let's just say that James and I will be interacting more on a professional basis in the future...I won't say more than that! Believe me, IT'S AWESOME and I can't wait!! Anyway, you can check out the cards I made him here:


I also had the honor of meeting and chatting with Randy Martinez and Denise Vasquez, two juggernaut artists and no strangers to the Star Wars scene. The both of them were so encouraging and gave me a lot of solid, constructive advice, and were a complete pleasure to talk to! They're both going to be at Fan Days as well, and I can't wait to see them again!

And finally, the film itself. You guys NEED to see this. It's the ultimate Fan Film to a point that it's in its own damn category. If you're familiar with Kyle Newman's "Fanboys", you'll probably like this movie. It'll be available online soon, but you can also catch a screening of it next Saturday if you're attending Fan Days! And be sure to stick around after for the Q&A that I'll be a part of! But really guys, it's SO good. There's so much heart and wit, I know the Star Wars community will embrace it just like all the other great fan films out there. I'm so humbled and honored to be a part of this chapter in Star Wars history! I'm also so lucky to have so many people in my corner that got me this far, because frankly, without all of your love and support, I'd have gone nowhere in my life. So truly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.