Boxcar Astronaut 100 today…

Congratulations to the web-comic’s creators…

Hi Guys,

It's great to see both creators, Jeff Carter, writer and Marc Lapierre, Artist are as enthusiastic now as when they first started.

Sunday mornings for me are now, because of Boxcar Astronaut, a little like reading the "Sundays" of old when strip work abounded...sadly now pretty much a thing of the past, at least here in the UK.

I really look forward to a visit to the website on Sunday mornings.

These guys are a breath of fresh air in a world full of hyper-violent, totally immoral anti-heroes (despite the fact these same guys were envisioned and started off life as being the epitome of what embodies the concept of what it takes to actually be a hero).

There is room for some stories of this new kind of course, but now where once we had the rare character or two, like Wolverine and The Punisher, who would if necessary use excessive force to get the result, even if that meant causing long term harm to the bad guys, or even death, nowadays the distinction between hero and villain is not just blurred, but juxtaposed, whereby the only difference between hero and villain is the hero either has a bigger gun/sword/weapon or is more determined to get a result at any cost.

Reading Boxcar Astronaut is pretty much like reading Asterix, Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, Calvin and Hobbes, or a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby comic, or any Marvel DC comic prior to the 1980's...FUN and a joy to behold.

The characters are what I love most about the wonderfully creative worlds within Comicdom, they exude warmth, charm and a feeling that harks back to more innocent days, when a box and some odds and ands and a friend or two where all you imagination needed to create new adventures, in which you all had a starring role.

The stories within Boxcar Astronaut contain all the elements of fun, excitement and that sense of innocence, which all of us have shared experience of from our own childhoods.

The stories remind me of what I love best about this life; family friends, parties, open fires on a winter’s evening, Christmas, holidays, children, the seasons, comics, humour, innocence, laughter, great storytelling, great artwork, yes all of this and more, much, much more.

The stories are all such that there isn’t a person on the planet that would not relate to something within them…we have all been there and this nostalgic and fun-filled series of adventures leave you with feelings of warmth, happiness and contentment, alongside another of wanting more.

Back when I was a kid and avidly reading comics I couldn’t wait for next week to come around (UK comics were in the main weekly anthology titles back then) when I could read further episodes of my favourite character’s adventures, whether they were humour or adventure based.

Those feelings have returned as each Sunday I read that week’s episode and get to the end and sometimes read some of the back catalogue on the Boxcar Astronaut website, but always have that I wonder what will happen next feeling I had as a kid.

Below you will meet the Gang and also see three of the strips, respectively from episodes 2, 50 and 99:

So Jeff and Marc, please keep me and the many other folks that also read your work regularly happy, by having many more episodes to come, and if you haven’t seen the strip yet…shame on you.

Get over to Boxcar Astronaut right now you’ll be back to say thanks!!!

Here's to the next 100.

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
February 8th 2009