R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy

(Click on the comic if you can't see the full image.)
(C)Copyright 2015, C. Burke.

He lived long. He prospered. Can us doing the same be part of his legacy?

It's been a while since I've included an obituary comic. I did a few very early in the run of (x, why?), but I had to stop. So many childhood idols were dying off, I could fill the strip with them ... except that I couldn't because my skills as an artist just weren't up to where they needed to be for a tribute. That's the main reason Gary Gygax didn't get a memorium strip (and that really bothered me at the time). As it is, if I hadn't taken the time not that long ago to create most of the artwork in today's comic, this might not have happened. Or it would've just been a picture of Leonard Nimoy and a quote with very little personal to it.

Whether or not to insert the character that sometimes is/sometimes isn't my own personal avatar was an easy question to answer. If I wanted to convey any personal emotion, it was the only way to boldly express it. Something I didn't do for so many of the other greats who have passed in the last 8 years that this strip has run -- people who inspired me or touched my life in some special way.

I never saw Leonard Nimoy in person. I was at one convention where I saw Mark Leonard and Jane Wyatt, (a.k.a. Spock's parents) and Nimoy was supposed to be there later in the evening, but we didn't stay that late. (It didn't help when we found out that they were only signing autographs on Sunday and we only had Saturday tickets). Another opportunity never came along. I envy the people who worked with him in his later years as he made guest appearances.

One thing I can take away from all this: from all the quotes that have been posted in social media, it's clear that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is still the most memorable and meaningful of the Star Trek films (even if you prefer The Voyage Home). I've read the quotes, watched the funeral scene, heard the bagpipes.

I'll close with a different franchise. Some of you out there might not be Star Trek fans, and that's okay. But some of you might remember Nimoy from Mission: Impossible. Well, thanks to the magic of cable television and vintage programming, even though you won't get Spock, you'll always have Paris.