044 “A Sticky Situation”

The first time I met Hilmy was when I was in Malaysia. My first impression of him was his big powerful infectious smile. The guy radiates positive energy. He was a fun guy to be around, and I was amazed when he told me that he liked my comic. He loved the Mike thread, and when he heard that I was planning a Mike strip, he didn’t want to do just one panel, he wanted to do the whole thing. And there is just no saying “No” to this guy, you just wouldn’t want to.

The unfortunate part is that he’s not as fast as Eisu. As I’ve said earlier, Eisu is a speed demon, and I’m not. Hilmy and I go about the same speed — a total crawl. Even as the day was ending and he only had some pencils finished, he was still enthusiastic about doing the strip. He took it home.

A few days later when I was leaving Kuala Lumpir for Kuching, I stopped by Multimedia College once again, hoping to get the finished strip. He said he hadn’t finished it, but he will — well, I was boarding the plane that day and I knew that if I didn’t leave with what he had I may never see the strip again. So I got what he had done — some parts pencilled and inked, and I said I’d do the rest myself. Looking at it now I can’t tell which parts are mine and which are his.