It started with a label sticker. The kind you put on a package with a pre-printed address. It’s this long rectangle with rounded corners. It would determine the shape of characters to come.

Skottie Young does these covers with little characters that are super popular and basically helped launch his career into the stratosphere. Which made it possible to have series like Middlewest, Bully Wars, and the upcoming Twig. And at a convention long time ago now, Funko sold out a table full of these box head vinyl figures. Arguably the two most popular mini-characters in North America right now. This isn’t about them. Or the long running chibi tradition of characters you find in Manga/Anime.

But I had to acknowledge them, right? They’re the giants that came before and I’m just the little guy 😉

I’m here to tell you how a rectangular label spawned 10 covers (and counting) full of little heroes and villains battling it out in their own sketch cover stories. From the Venomverse to Star Wars and beyond they keep growing.

But it started with a pandemic and of course, Deadpool.

It was just this fun doodle I did with these markers I’d just added to my collection and it might have stayed like that had it not been the middle of the beginning of the pandemic. Not a lot has changed in our household since then, because being immunocompromised means conventions and large gatherings are still a risk even with vaccination. In early 2020 we were all on lockdown and everyone was doing business by mail as much as possible. Conventions went online and more and more good folks took their money directly to the artists. And because none of that was going to the convention organizers (or their volunteer staff) all of that saved money could buy more art from indie artists like yours truly.

Making art is fun. It’s more fun when it has people to enjoy it beyond the drawing table. And you can make more of it (and even better) when you have money to buy those expensive supplies. I saw a lot of indie artists like myself get to step up their game because amazing folks chose to support us through either commissions or sharing our work. It was an amazing time for the community. No expensive tabling fees and more direct one-on-one interaction with people.

This also meant the postal service was swamped and backlogged. They were receiving a glut of packages like they haven’t seen in a generation after a generation of cutbacks and layoffs. Not to mention people home (or in hospital) sick with COVID-19 and these hard working people were at a breaking point.

Enter Deadpool with box-shaped head and a little Postal Service outfit.

Too often there are people we need in our lives to deliver food, to get our products where they need to be (so we can buy food), and keep us connected in ways a telephone or internet connection can’t. Amazon may have supplied a lot of households, but most of those deliveries were made by your local Postal Service. And after seeing pictures of the sorting facilities I hoped people understood the pressure these people were under. But did these people know how much their hard work was appreciated?

What was once a job that people didn’t just need in their lives, but welcomed with a smile and eagerness, had become a “no news is good news” situation on both sides. It felt like the mail was only for bills and junk mail. And postal workers only heard from people when their packages were damaged.

So I started putting stickers on my sketch cover packages and instead of just writing “Please don’t bend” or “Handle with care” I started writing notes of thanks to all the postal service folks along the way. I hoped they would see the art and take a second to read what I’d written. To know in the middle of a hard day during the most difficult time we’d seen in generations that they were appreciated and their effort was recognized. We all need that. These good people needed it more than many of us.

My clients liked these little characters and there seemed to be a mixed response on social media. So I kept making them. A client asked if I could make a couple they would make copies of and add to their own comic packages. And then I started hearing back from folks that when their packages were delivered the Postal Service person mentioned the stickers and it had made their day. One client went to pick up a package that the Postal Service person didn’t want to leave because it was raining. When the client picked up the package they were told the sticker helped get them through a really bad day. At my own post office the good folks there started noticing my stickers and I got the chance to see the smiles for myself.

It’s such a small thing. A mini thing. Easy to ignore or dismiss, because even when I post pics of these characters the reaction is much less than my other pieces.

But these little folk got their start as heroes for unappreciated heroes. As you’ll see in upcoming parts a little “Thank You!” can go a long way toward creating connections in your life.

Don’t sleep on this, folks!

Fox

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