Phil Jimenez

Phil Jimenez is without doubt one of the greatest ever comic book artists, and certainly the nicest person in comics.  He is my idol.  I am a fan of his work.  Last year, I had the honor of inviting him to one of our events with Tall Tales Productions. He visited Albuquerque for the Sci fi Expo. This past August, I took him to Santa Fe and gave him a tour, one which I give my Spanish Classes.  Having an entire day, well really week, to talk with Phil, I learned many things about my idol.  We had a lot of similarities.  We talked about things other than comics. I discovered many things about my new friend.

One thing I discovered about him was that he was an aspiring Paleontologist,  so naturally on his second trip to New Mexico, I was going to treat him to something special.  I teach at Central New Mexico Community College, and there are courses that take students to the New Mexico Museum of Natural History. I even had a special behind the scenes tour lined up so he could see the newly discovered dinosaurs in New Mexico, one found in in San Juan County, and the other found in Ghost Ranch.  The plan was this, take him to Albuquerque Old Town called La Plaza Vieja.  There, we would eat breakfast at Little Anita's.  After breakfast,  we would walk a bit on the plaza to the Museum, take the tour, see the behind the scenes exhibit, go back to the plaza. There, we would eat lunch at the historic Church Street Cafe, which I am sure Phil would love because it is haunted.  They are also famous for their San Felipe Tea, which is half lemonade and half iced tea.  I later planned to go to the San Felipe Church, and the San Felipe Church museum and then take him to the Covered Wagon where I was planning on pranking Phil, also I was going to show him the jewel dinosaurs there.

My brother Duane and I had all the roadside dinosaurs scouted so Phil could take pictures with them.   Everything was a tentative go.  My brother and I had been following the journey Phil and his mother were passing through during the Holiday Season.  Pam Peterson, his mother died on Friday, Dec. 30. Her battle with cancer was over.

But alas, today I found out that my friend is not coming to Albuquerque because he has to take care of the affairs of his mother.  This wasn't unexpected, but I was hoping against hope that he would show up anyway and hang out with us.  I was looking forward to arguing with Phil about the current incarnation of Wonder Woman,   I wanted to get Phil all riled up until he would realize that I agreed with him and then let him off hook.

Well, I will miss seeing Phil at the Con, and I know his fans will as well.

I want to let everyone know that Phil's table will still be at the con, and if you want to sign a sympathy card, please drop by.