Jon Hastings update

Jon "Bean" Hastings wrote in today. I told him that I remembered him in 5th Grade drawing Dr. Seuss sketches in class, and that he always knew what he wanted to do. He responded "Oddly, and through a bizarre series of lucky breaks, fortunate contacts, stick-to-itiveness and the plain old inability to realize that it couldn't be done, it does seem that way."

-Received his degree in art from U.C. Santa Cruz, making him a Fighting Banana Slug who's actually doing what he studied in college.

-Professional cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer for fifteen years.

-Letterer on Scott Adam's "Dilbert" for six years.

-Created the Eisner award-nominated comic "Smith Brown Jones: Alien Accountant" published by Slave Labor Graphics.

-Wrote and illustrated the children's book "Terrabella Smoot and the Unsung Monsters."

-Was on the board of directors for the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco. (CartoonArt.org)

-Edited two benefit books for the Cartoon Art Museum, "Spark Generators," which featured nearly 50 cartoonist's stories about their influences. Contributors included: Will "The Spirit" Eisner, Lynn "For Better or For Worse" Johnston, Bill "The Simpsons" Morrison, Trina "The Great Women Superheroes" Robinson, Jeff "Bone" Smith, Micheal "The Norm" Jantze and Tony "Maakies" Millionaire, among others.

-Most recent work can be found in Slave Labor Graphic's "Haunted Mansion" comic based on the classic Disneyland attraction. (A huge honor, since he is a huge fan of Disneyland. even asking his wife to marry him on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.)

-Has lived in Corralitos for over ten years with his lovely wife Terry and a lot of animals. When he's not scribbling away, he likes to watch B-movies, visit tourist traps and read comic books.

-Website: www.KiwiBean.com