One of the pieces on exhibit at the San Diego Comic Art Gallery was this original drawing of Rocket Raccoon and Groot. I loved the Guardians of the Galaxy movie when it came out, and saw it three times in the cinema. (I've seen it many more times at home since). The character of Rocket resonated with me powerfully at that time in my life, and I began buying the Rocket Raccoon series by writer Skottie Young each month. Marvel liked Justin's sketch, and used it as a variant cover for one issue in the Rocket Raccoon series. I never saw it in my local store, or for that matter in any other store I visited, but I looked.
Justin worked on the Ultimate Spider-Man book with writer Brian Michael Bendis for a long time. Although I enjoyed the series initially, I hated the idea of Peter Parker dying, and Miles Morales taking his place. But Miles caught on, and became the biggest original star of the Ultimate universe. When Marvel decided to collapse all their universes into one, Miles Morales escaped into our own.
He's still got his own title, and remains a popular character.
One of the last movies Justin saw in the cinema was Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse, which starred Miles Morales. I saw it, and enjoyed it immensely. I was happy Justin got to see it too. I know it meant a lot to him.
When Marvel brought back the Star Wars comics, they chose Justin to color the first few issues. Justin and I were Star Wars fans from way back, and I know he was tremendously happy to have worked on the series.
This last piece is fun. Justin and I chatted a lot about the movies we liked, and my favorite Marvel movies before Guardians of the Galaxy were the first two Captain America movies. When I saw it in the exhibit, I thought of Captain America, and our dialogues. But then later, looking at it more closely on the computer, I realized the star on his chest is the Carl's Jr. happy star logo. Then I noticed the H on his helmet and best. So this picture must date from after Justin moved to Florida, where the Carl's Jr. restaurants are called Hardee's.
I've traveled and vacationed in Florida a few times, and been to a Hardee's. While we chatted online, I never got to actually visit him, and meet in person again. That's something I'll always regret. Alas, we'll always have Hardee's.
Dragon Dave
P.S. Many thanks to the IDW Publishing company, who run the San Diego Comic Art Gallery, for holding the exhibit. Also, many thanks must go to his mother Debbi, for arranging such a fine display of Justin's work.
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