Congratulations, Jason!

I can finally share something very near and dear to my heart. Jason Lutes, our sturdy CCS captain and one of the best people I’ve ever met, finished his masterpiece Berlin. It’s been a two decade journey for him and it finally culminated this year. Twenty-two issues.

This weekend, my former classmate and current CCS teacher Luke Kruger-Howard presented Jason with a gift. The first seven issues of Berlin, with each page done by one of his former or current students. We all conspired in secret to complete our individual page in time for 2018’s commencement.

Mischief managed: The Secret Berlin Project. 159 former students and friends of Jason Lutes worked for months in secrecy to recreate the first 6 chapters of Berlin to celebrate the completion of Jason’s epic project of the past 20+ years. Presented tonight at the graduate family reception for the class of 2018. We love you Jason ❤️❤️❤️ #cartoonstudies #berlin #jasonlutes

A post shared by Cartoon Studies (@cartoonstudies) on May 4, 2018 at 5:34pm PDT

I tackled page 44, and it was a chore to recreate, not only in my own style but to have it stay true to Jason’s meticulous work as well. It’s a great page though, and it was fun to think how Jason worked through the dynamics of the design. It was a double dose of learning from him yet again. Also it was a major pain in the ass, or hand rather, and I’m going to kill Luke next time I see him. Rain and bricks. The whole page is rain and bricks.

Thanks to Luke Howard for arranging this. And thank you Jason for all that you do. Congratulations on such an amazing achievement and for helping so many cartoonists learn to captain their own ship.