Tuki by Jeff Smith, Concord 2023

      Jeff Smith was traveling Route 66 on his Dawn of Man tour promoting his new Tuki project. Jeff and his companions headed to Northern California where he used to live in the 1990’s when Bone was started. During his presentation, Jeff praised retailers Joe Ferreira of Atlantis Fantasy World in Santa Cruz and Joe Field of Flying Colors Comics and Other Cool Stuff in Concord as early adopters. Joe Field is the founder of Free Comic Book Day and a co-founder of WonderCon. I’ve met Jeff numerous times since San Diego Comic Con in 1993, thirty years ago. I backed the Tuki Kickstarter, but my books are lost in the house. I went ahead and made a new purchase from Flying Colors to show support. I was standing by the register when Jeff entered, recognized me, and gave me a pat on the back. This was the first time seeing Jeff since my last SDCC in 2016. The presentation was fun. Jeff showed some of his childhood drawings saved by his mother. Tuki is planned as a six volume series. Jeff’s Ohio State University Lantern comic strip Thorn will be a future Kickstarter project.