Well...
I'm not sure what to say.
I'm just letting my fingers type whatever flows out of my thoughts.

Tonight I'm finishing up the colors on the What If book that Mike was supposed to draw.
The last thing I'm rendering is an awesome spread by David Williams and Arthur Adams.

What I've posted here is page 6. Probably my favorite page in the whole book. And it's one of Mike's last pages.

He illustrated 7 pages out of the story before he passed away.

Jeff Parker wrote the issue.
Karl Kesel inked Mike's pages.
And it's all being put together by Jim McLauchlin, Mark Paniccia and Nate "Never Late" Cosby.

An all-star roster of super talented individuals came on board to flesh out the unfinished pages:
Arthur Adams
Paul Renaud
Stuart Immonen
Cully Hammer
Alan Davis
Brian Stelfreeze
David Williams
Sanford Greene
Humberto Ramos
Skottie Young
Mike Allred
and Barry Kitson.

The cover is also one of Mike's pages,
and Paul Mounts colored it up so it looks extra incredible.

I hope everyone who liked Mike will buy this book.
It's Mike's final work, and it's as good as ever.
And the proceeds from this comic go to a worthy cause: Hero Initiative.
[link]

A lot of these creators will be at Heroes Con in June.
[link]
I think they are doing something that ties in with the What If release, but I'm not sure.
I'll be in Heroes too. I'll be taking up a little space next to Robert Kirkman, but I'll probably be coloring on my laptop. Please stop by and say hello.

...I'm sitting here staring at this page by Mike. It's done, but I'll never feel like I did it justice.

Being an Atheist and knowing Mike was an Atheist as well, it's really hard knowing Mike is gone.
He'll never be able to see these pages.
I'll never know if my colors would have been to his liking.
And I'll never get to hear him on the phone hesitating to tell me what he didn't like about my colors.

More importantly,
He'll never know how many people respected and admired him.
And he'll never know how much he's missed.

If you know Mike, you know he'd never believe it.
He was just as self conscious as I am... always hard on himself, always beating up his own work and his ability.
He'd never believe so many people were inspired by his talent.

But we know. That counts for something, right?
Being an Atheist is hard sometimes. Not just because of those around me who have religious faith, but because of my own beliefs about life.

Some people who have religious faith think poorly of me... like I'm thumbing my nose at some deity in the sky.
That's not it at all.
It's because I accept what's around me.
I don't create a reason for what might be or what I don't understand.
For me, there is only one life... this one that I'm living now.
When it ends, it's over for me. And that's very depressing. It would be nice to believe in some ever-lasting eternity where it's wonderful every day.

I can't do that, though.
I have to be responsible for the here and now.
I have to enjoy the one life that I have.

I've made my share of mistakes. I'm human, and I've done things I regret.
But only me and those around me can absolve my mistakes. I know there's no big reward for me after I die. What I will ever be is what I am right now.

I don't shirk my duties, and I don't try to make up excuses. I do my best to own up to my errors, to do the right thing, and to seek happiness while I have this one chance to do so.

For all those reasons, I love life. And I want to love the life of those around me. A world without an afterlife for me is the biggest reason to love all those in the world. You don't want to rob someone of their chance to live, because they deserve a chance to seek happiness as well during this one opportunity they have to find it. And if we all lived for that, and lived for each other, maybe we'd all find some sort of tranquility.
Working on this book just makes all of that more prevalent.

So please... if there is someone you look up to, or respect, or admire... tell them.
There may not be a tomorrow, and you only have one life to live.

I'm not here to offend you.
And I'm not saying live every day like it's your last.
It's just that no matter what you believe about life and death, don't throw away a moment when you have it.
Life is too short...

--------------------------

MVComics (coming soon)
[link]
MVCreations (which is being redone soon!)
[link]