University of Diverse City Hawaiian Style by Jon Murakami

Well okay, this title is a little redundant as the "University of Diverse City" strip is set in Hawai'i. This one means a lot to me personally because the strip was in the college newspaper when I was attending the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Years went by and my interest and collection in original comic strip art was growing, and I honestly wanted some work by Jon. Although his strip was no longer in publication (it ended when he graduated from UH), his artwork could still be seen in things like local greeting cards here (his style is unmistakable). Fast forward to Kawaii Kon 2008. My cousin and I attended and Jon was in Artist's Alley! Needless to say, I was very happy to finally meet him and he created this piece for me featuring two of the girls from the strip lounging on the beach in Hawai'i. (Another note; at Kawaii Kon 2010 Jon brought some University of Diverse City originals for me to pick up!) Jon is such a cool and generous guy (true aloha spirit) and I feel fortunate to know him.