4 years of Beetle Moses!

April 22nd 2026 marks the 4-year anniversary of when I posted my first beetle moses comic (the pizza hut squid - first image). You might notice the Instagram and twitter handle at the bottom right corner are for my now-defunct, old personal username; while technically not a "beetle moses" comic at that point, I consider it to be the very first comic I drew which kickstarted this phase of my artistry, and marks the moment I decided to commit to drawing comics. The other images here are from those first three or four weeks of routinely drawing and posting. They could be considered my ideas in their rawest forms, back when I didn't know what I was doing, but I thought I did. I know I can be sappy when I talk about comics and this big overarching project I call "beetle moses", so please bear with me while I am sentimental once again.

These last four years have permanently changed me as a person. In the beginning of all this, I knew a couple of things: I wanted to throw myself into my art (I was 27 at the time, the oldest I've ever been, and I thought time was running out for me. Spoilers, it wasn't), I was pretty good at drawing, and people told me I was funny. Oh, and I had recently quit my retail job and did NOT want to rejoin the workforce. Comics were just there. To be completely honest, I wasn't even trying to be a comic artist. I wanted to be an animator, or something, but most importantly I wanted to write jokes and draw. The medium of webcomics felt obvious and easy entry. Now comics are like, my whole life.

I now have a much, much deeper appreciation and understanding of comics as a medium, as an industry, as a commodity and mode of expression. I didn't realize it at the time, (but I've known for a while now) that I was entering the field of comics during a massive changing of the guards. I think we're seeing this across almost every artistic medium, but I'm a comic artist so I'm going to stay in my lane for the purpose of this commentary. Almost every aspect of what is established, old school, the way you're supposed to do things as a comic artist is basically dead - only still being held onto by the pearl-clutching, bible-beating, bitter dudes who think the misery they endured as a career comic artist is just the reality. The internet is here, and it sucks sometimes, but you know who it sucks the most for? All of the antiquated industries that people used to RELY on for money, clout, exposure, recognition. I didn't need permission from anyone when I started comics, and I make exactly what I want to draw. Jobs will let you go for no reason at all. Independent art is forever and ever.

To have independently built up a reader base made up of people like you (yeah, you), and having the opportunity to explore my art in the way I see fit has made me a more collected, confident human being. I'm making silly, absurd, sometimes even plain stupid comics, but I know (and I know many of you guys also appreciate <3) how much of myself I pour into my work. I feel a sense of purpose and responsibility to actually explore challenging ideas and try to surprise myself and my readers. It took about two years of drawing full time (sometime in 2024) to realize I was not creating at my full potential and actually decide to try and improve. I suppose you can be the judge and compare some of these images to more recent work in my catalog. I couldn't have drawn the Flyer or I Dreamt of the Beach in my first couple years. I couldn't write or draw at that level. I still have artistic goals I'm working towards, but they're much clearer now.

These days I see young, new comic artists who are inspired and (to my eye) clearly wearing the beetle influence proudly in their work. It's completely surreal. I've got my debut book coming out through a major publisher - it'll be in Barnes and Noble and comic shops all over the country. I was in Austin last weekend for Staple Expo, which is a pretty small but very awesome con (highly recommend going next year, I'd love to be back). In my first couple years of con appearances, I would typically see a ~70:30 mix of people coming up to my table - 70% people passing by, and saying "wow, this is your art? I've never seen it before - It's cool!" and 30% of people specifically looking for me: "dude, I love your work!" This last weekend at Staple was like, 90:10 THE OTHER WAY. It was mind-blowing. I did a panel on Saturday that was standing room only, people watching from the hallway (last photo). I still can't really process that this is where I'm at right now. I guess that's the power of comics.

All this is to say, thank you for being here to read my work. I know that people who love beetle moses comics are a special breed. I'm asked sometimes what my reader demographic is and I can hardly answer it. I see people from all walks of life interacting with my work or coming up to meet me at conventions. I think the thing connecting all of us on the Venn diagram might be reading beetle comics. I have so much more to say with my art, so I hope you'll continue to ride this elevator with me. It might get weird, but I'll never phone it in. Thank you again for being here, and cheers to the next 4 years!