The first graphic novel I ever made was GEAR. Nickelodeon picked it up and we made it into the TV series Catscratch. That seemed easy. My next graphic novel was Creature Tech, a personal, idiosyncratic, strange journey of Dr. Ong, a man with an alien attached to his chest trying to bring him back to God. I sold those movie rights to Fox/New Regency. The next book I made took me just three or four months to write and illustrate and it was called Tommysaurus Rex. I sold the movie rights to Universal for the most I’ve ever sold anything to anyone. This seemed easy! I decided to write my masterpiece, Earthboy Jacobus.
I spent over two years pouring over that book, writing and sketching everything to perfection.
Nobody wanted what I still consider one of the best stories I’ve ever told. It remains unsold today, and I kind of like it that way. It keeps me humble, hungry and has lowered my expectations on all of my books since then. It’s important to not just make books to be sold, but to tell stories just so they can be told.