by Mike Hansen
Thank goodness.
As far as I’m concerned, Jason Pearson is one of comics’ finest artists of the last 20+ years. After a health scare last year, he dropped off the radar to get himself together. Today, he posted on his Facebook fan page for the first time since December, and if these new commission pieces are any indication, he’s better than ever at his craft. His return to producing artwork – and, more importantly, to a healthy state of being – is worth nothing less than celebration.
Here’s what he posted today – click over and check out all of the stunning new artwork he’s posted for the world:
It has to feel right.
Before Joe Peacock interrupted me from committing suicide last December, that sentence, despite my drunken state, screamed repeatedly at me. It is, in truth, why I’m still alive. It screamed louder than my depression, my anger, my hate. Nine months since, I have only just begun to discover how much that statement has haunted my existence. In every step that I have taken throughout my life, those five words have permeated every decision in regard to life and love, death and consequence. Art and story has simply been my feeble, human attempt to explain.
Every member of family, friendship, and editorial, has tried to convince me that the old Nike slogan “Just Do it” was the correct assurance in avoiding my pitfalls. Yet in the back of my mind, I would always stall. Hesitate before the jump. Why? Why did I refuse the chance to become a drug dealer in 1986? Why did I move to Wheeling, WV to start my art career (an atrocious journey BTW). My move to Atlanta in 1991 to join Gaijin? My abandonment of my friends and studio mates to be with an Oregon mother of two, who I barely knew? Then moving onward to fucking Alabama and circling back to what– Atlanta?
Why not the slice across the wrists?
Remember, if I had solely agreed with the base feelings that most Nike-influenced Americans rely on, then you wouldn’t be reading this. I have avoided any attempts to reconcile with Marvel,or DC, who could enhance my financial status because– it just doesn’t feel right. They don’t care about me or my journey. And just like a child who has come to realize that his own parents hate him, or a man in a bad relationship with a spiteful woman, I have learned how to say goodbye — finally without hate or remorse. I hope they find what they find what they are looking for but I won’t, I can’t continue with that bullshit.
You know what does give me resolve to continue pushing on despite imminent destitution? Doing these fucking stupid commissions and begrudgingly writing the next arc of my creator owned project, Body Bags. Why? WHY? Why resort to efforts that have offered me nothing but an incredible surplus of agitation, disappointment and financial instability. Gainful livelihood abhors complication but my very existence is a motherfucking complication. So fuck it.Are we stardust as Joni Mitchell declares or are we just clusters of molecules slamming into each other as Schrodinger’s Equation suggests. Either way, reality is merely perception. These pieces of art should appear as nothing more then images of tits and ass, but within these requested preameters I had to ‘feel right’ about doing them. A reason for their existence had to be achieved. To you, Domino sits naked with Deadpool reflected in a mirror. To me, it’s a theory about the fear and hate of true love. To you, Elektra looks cool as a pin cushion for arrows and ninja stars, to me, she’s about acceptance. So is the Panda/Baby Doll piece. Scarlet Witch is about the death of family and the happiness that blossoms from it. Those are my conclusions. Maybe I’m stupid for using cheesecake to answer questions about psychiatry and quantum physics but it gets me through the fucking day. If I’m wrong, then at least you can be amused by the titillation.My next Body Bags arc entails sudden revelations about Mack and Panda’s approach in life and the true nature of their relationship. The first story is simply titled “Vicious”. It is to showcase Mack in his most truest of appearances as he dismantles a kidnapping ring single-handily. The next story, a mini-series, is tentatively called “Black Viking”, where Mack and Panda must kill an old friend.
I would love to say these stories are done and will be in your hands next month but the truth is I just started laying out the storyboards. Sadly, I am not independently wealthy and will need your help to produce these projects. I am worth 200 dollars right now and bills don’t stop coming because I found my ‘path’. A lot of idiots are resorting to Kickstarter and I, the biggest idiot of them all, will probably have to as well. Although, it should be my last option.
Please help me. Help me with your patience as I still owe some people artwork and with your love as some of you would like to own a piece of my mind. Contact Mike Alexandropoulous at MoreGreatArt.com.You can request a private commission or artwork from past projects like the Deadpool mini-series, Punisher Annual and others. Upcoming Facebook images will be of Panda with a .50 Cal Barrett sniper rifle, Red Sonja, Spooky Babe (that’s what Ben Defeo asked for), Catwoman, Batman from Miller’s Dark Knight and St. Michael (yes, you Catholics). Let me draw what’s right for you and maybe I’ll find out what feel’s right for me.
Finally, thanks to all who called and wrote your concerns during my darkest time. To combine to cliches, I CAN see the forest despite the trees but I’m not out of the woods yet. Your friendship and devotion helps lights the way although.
—
-J
Related articles
- EXCLUSIVE: Jason Pearson, Juan Doe’s “Archer & Armstrong” #4 Variants (comicbookresources.com)
All Day Comics 