This is why Sam Spina is Awesome

Sam Spina is a cool guy. He is a comic artist currently living in Denver, home of Noah Van Sciver and John Porcellino, who updates his blog daily. Sam also publishes mini-comics that I highly recommend, such as Sharker the Forgotten, Hoodle Origins and Fresh to Death (all of which are available on his blog).

Image courtesy of Poopsheet Foundation

I ordered some of Sam's comics in February and they were great. In addition to the comics, I also ordered a small watercolor painting that he offers for just $4. I told him to work around the theme of "space," because it was for my 3-year-old son who is really into space (he knows how many moons each planet has). This is what he came up with:

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My son and I both love it, and it's now gracing his bedroom wall in a purple frame. Recently, I commissioned Sam to create a painting for each of my 18-month-old twin daughters. I gave him somewhat vague guidelines (they like balloons, one of them really likes hats, the other likes to climb on things). I also told him to make the paintings different, but also interconnected, since that's something parents of twins (and I'm sure twins themselves) deal with: the idea that they are individuals, but also share a unique bond. This is what I received yesterday, and it couldn't be more awesome:

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Sam even worked me (or my name at least) into his 24-hour comic this year. He will also be contributing the cover to Candy or Medicine Volume Eleven, which will be out in September in anticipation of the Cincinnati Comic Expo, and will be contributing a five-page comic to Candy or Medicine Volume Twelve, which will be out in January 2011.

I can't recommend Sam's work enough and encourage everyone to purchase all of his comics (and a painting!), follow his blog, follow him on Twitter and all of that other good stuff.