Ted Naifeh‘s an artist whom I remember first encountering in the early ’90s drawing an issue of Dark Horse’s Comics Greatest World, although I suspect he might be a little shocked I still remember that book. He’s done a huge amount of work since then, from Gloomcookie to Teen Titans, but my favorite comic of his is, easily, Courtney Crumrin.

If you’ve never read Courtney Crumrin, it’s about a sarcastic girl who (along with her useless parents) go to live with her great-uncle that turns out to also be a warlock, and Courtney gets into all sorts of trouble and adventure. My description isn’t doing it justice, but trust me, it’s fantastic.

When I got this gorgeous sketch from him, he was a guest at SPX and I thought he was putting in all the extra effort with a second color and such because I ran the show. Then I found out a few hours later, nope, he had no idea who I was, he just put in all the extra effort because that’s what he does for everyone. Which, to me, says it all about what a great guy he is. Naifeh’s the bomb.