2024 – What the HELL was THAT?!

A little recap of the year and some plots of the future and a fart joke or two.

FWACATA

Dec 22, 2024

Transcript

Hey everyone! After taking a breather, I’m back with one last podcast to close out 2024. What better way to wrap up this insane year than by reflecting on the highs, lows, and all the chaotic middle ground? This post is a deep dive into the episode—available now on Patreon—and a celebration of the year that was, alongside a sneak peek into what’s coming for 2025.

Let’s get into it:

🎨 Thank You and Screw It: A Year-End Reflection 🎄

“Thank you” and “screw this” in the same blog post? Absolutely. After all, it’s the holidays where gratitude meets existential dread over sugar cookies and awkward family moments.

Here’s my epiphany of 2024: Art and commerce are like eggnog and tequila. You can mix them, but the hangover isn’t worth it.

I could churn out soulless content for clicks, powered by SEO wizardry and algorithmic despair. But that’s not why I create. For me, it’s about making art for the sake of expression—not for the metrics, the likes, or the wallets of faceless masses. This year, I’ve been chasing the bizarre, the messy, and the personal if it resonates with you, great. If not? No refunds.

The money side? Let’s say 2024 was a sweet disaster. Why tie creativity to capitalism? When I create, I’m not trying to hit a sales target. I’m trying to connect—meaningfully, authentically, messily. And that’s what FWACATA is all about.

Chasing the Weird

This year, I’ve embraced the wild side of art—AI experiments included. Tools like MidJourney aren’t stealing art; they’re quirky assistants filling in the gaps. Think of them as background artists, leaving me to focus on the heart of the work.

Whether sketching Santa battling robots or diving into podcasting, I opt for the unconventional. Case in point: This is a podcast.

Lessons from 2024

If 2024 taught me anything, it’s this:

Create what you love. The alternative isn’t worth it.
When you strip everything away—the deadlines, the algorithms, the hustle—the only thing left is the passion that got you started. Creating what you love isn’t just a choice; it’s a necessity. Without it, creativity turns hollow, a chore rather than a calling. And let’s face it, the alternative—creating for trends, fleeting attention, for someone else’s approval—isn’t worth it.
Creating what you love means embracing the messy, imperfect parts of the process. It’s in the sketches you’ll never finish, the stories that veer off course, the art that doesn’t land the way you envisioned. It’s about chasing ideas that race your heart, even if no one else gets it. It’s making something because it feels right, not marketable or hashtag-friendly.
Of course, creating this way isn’t always easy. The world has a way of steering us toward “safe” paths—ones that promise stability but drain the joy from the act of making. But when you focus on what you love, something magical happens. Your work starts to resonate, not because it follows a formula, but because it’s real. People feel that authenticity. They connect with it because it comes from a place that matters.
Let it be messy. Perfection is boring; authenticity isn’t.
There’s something liberating about embracing the mess in creativity. We live in a world obsessed with perfection—carefully curated feeds, polished presentations, flawless final products. But here’s the truth: perfection is boring. It’s predictable, sterile, and, frankly, forgettable. Authenticity, on the other hand, is messy, chaotic, and wonderfully human.
When you let your work be messy, you give it room to breathe. You allow for surprises, happy accidents, and moments of brilliance that can’t be planned. The smudged lines, the offbeat ideas, the plot twists that take you by surprise—these are the things that make your creations unique. They’re the fingerprints of your imagination, proof that something real and raw has been made.
Authenticity isn’t about getting everything “right.” It’s about being honest—with yourself and with your audience. It’s about showing the rough drafts, the failed experiments, and the behind-the-scenes chaos that goes into making something meaningful. When you’re authentic, you’re not trying to fit into anyone else’s mold. You’re creating from a place that’s entirely your own, and that’s what resonates with people.
For me, the messy moments are where the magic happens. A character that wasn’t in the script suddenly comes to life. A painting that starts as a disaster evolves into something I couldn’t have planned. A story that feels unpolished turns out to be the most relatable. That’s the beauty of embracing imperfection—it keeps the work alive and exciting for both the creator and the audience.
So, let it be messy. Let it be imperfect. Don’t worry about what it “should” look like or how it will be received. The mess is where your voice shines through, where your work becomes unmistakably yours. And that’s something perfection could never achieve.
Stay curious. Whether it’s exploring new mediums, AI, or offbeat ideas, lean into what excites you.
Curiosity is the lifeblood of creativity. It’s the spark that pushes you to try something new, to ask “what if?” and to explore beyond the edges of your comfort zone. Whether it’s experimenting with a new medium, diving into the possibilities of AI, or chasing an offbeat idea that won’t leave your mind, curiosity is what keeps your work vibrant and evolving.
Staying curious means permitting yourself to play. It’s about approaching art and storytelling with a sense of wonder, like a kid discovering something magical for the first time. That curiosity can lead you to unexpected places—a new drawing style. This story concept challenges your usual themes or even tools like AI that open up fresh creation possibilities. The medium or method doesn’t matter as much as the excitement of exploration itself.
Sometimes, curiosity feels risky. What if it doesn’t work? What if people don’t “get it”? But leaning into what excites you is that it’s not about perfection or pleasing others—it’s about feeding your creative fire. Even if an experiment fails, you’ve learned something, grown, and added a new tool to your creative arsenal.
For me, curiosity has led to some of my most fulfilling projects. Trying out AI-assisted art, for example, has shifted how I think about storytelling. Exploring unconventional ideas for comics has opened doors I didn’t even know existed. And the best part? It’s never dull. Every experiment, every rabbit hole, keeps me connected to the joy of creation.
So stay curious. Let yourself wonder, question, and explore. Chase the spark, even if it leads you somewhere unexpected. Because when you follow what excites you, you’re not just making art—you’re growing as an artist, and that’s where the real magic happens.

3 Things I’m Excited About

FWACATA as an Anthology: The stories I want to tell are all in one evolving project. I see the following 20 issues in my head in many ways. I wonder if the model I have in mind will work, but it's something you won't know works until the 8 issue or so. Until then, bust ass.
TANX/H00D: In the shattered remains of our world, where nature has reclaimed its throne and humanity struggles to find a place, TANX/H00D delivers a fresh and bold vision of what comics can be. This series explores a unified post-apocalyptic universe where overgrowth and chaos reign supreme, blending raw survival, untamed beauty, and a deep examination of humanity's role in its own undoing.
TANX follows the relentless march of armored survivors who pilot reassembled war machines through landscapes overrun by sentient, mutated flora and fauna. These mobile outposts cobbled together from the remnants of past wars, are humanity’s last hope for survival in a wilderness that devours the weak. In their journey, they face savage eco-terrorist factions and remnants of old-world AI, now twisted into unpredictable forces of nature.
H00D focuses on the individual—the masked wanderer and scavengers who navigate this wild world on foot. Robin Hood, in The Apocalypse, is a robot. The Merry Men are driven by personal quests for redemption, revenge, or survival. They roam through bioluminescent forests, forgotten cities strangled by vines, and cursed wastelands where reality bends. Their stories weave through the same world as TANX, uncovering its secrets and expanding its mythos.
Together, TANX/H00D is more than a comic series; it’s a sprawling, interconnected saga. It challenges readers with vibrant storytelling, stunning art, and layered themes of resilience, identity, and humanity's complex relationship with the natural world. This bold reimagining of post-apocalypse storytelling promises to redefine what a unified comic universe can achieve, one battle-scarred page at a time.
New Shirt Designs: I'm getting into it again and have new ideas, plus there was a sudden uptick in sales, so I'm going to be pushing that going forward.

2 Goals for 2025

Expand My Work: More mediums, more ideas, more FWACATA.
MOAR COMICS: Always.

1 Regret of 2024

Not fixing my literal ass. I need to get things FITTER, not for anything significant and grand or as vain as looks. It's just energy. I need to oil the machine more and move it around because the little aches and pains have been out of hand lately. Long story. Moving on.

Shoutouts

To everyone who’s supported FWACATA—whether you’ve read, listened, shared, or just thought, “Huh, that’s cool,”—thank you. You’re the reason I keep going, chaos and all.

Music in this episode:

"Lord of the Rangs" – Kevin MacLeod
"Space Jazz" – Kevin MacLeod
"Tyrant" – Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

FWACATA.com: Where Creativity Lives

Before we jump into 2025, here’s your invitation to explore FWACATA.com. It’s not just a site—it’s a hub for everything I’m working on: comics, art, blog posts, and beyond.

Check out my partnerships: