Yesterday marked the end of a great comic strip.

Richard Thompson’s multi-award winning comic strip, Cul De Sac, came to a premature close.

For those who might not know, Richard has been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease, and unfortunately it just reached the point in which he could no longer produce comics and forced him into anearly retirement. This year I had the unbelievable pleasure of being able to be a part of Team Cul De Sac. Cartoonists from all over the world, big and small, alternative or mainstream, got to together to celebrate Richard, the Otterloops, and Cul De Sac, by being asked to draw them. My comic strip was nestled in the pages between Bill Watterson and Jim Davis and I couldn’t have been prouder. And the book has been an unbelievable success, raising thousand of dollars for Parkinson’s disease research.

Every day I was able to stop by the Otterloops in their little Cul De Sac and get a good laugh out of Alice or Petey. And yesterday was no exception. But, it was sadly the last time I will be greeted by a “new” Cul De Sac comic. Of course I can always revisit them, and reread the books collecting their adventures, over and over again, as I have my library of Bloom County, Far Side, Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes books. But while the strip ended way too young, it went out on top.