By
Ryan Liebe
2
To Gunnar Thanks for the visit, I had a blast!
3
On the day Gunnar came to visit me in Arizona, I was at work. Gunnar had to spend the day hanging out with my friendly scribbles. Gunnar fit right in.
4
At the end of the day, Gunnar and I left the office and drove to my house where Gunnar was introduced to my collection of comic books and dinosaur toys.
5
Gunnar and I then went outside for a little exploration... It was a windy day and Gunnar may have been a little too eager to see all of Prescott - Gunnar took a ride on an uncommonly blustery gust of wind and flew off toward downtown!
6
Snap, my extremely energetic Labrador saw where Gunnar went. Snap and I left in a hurry to catch up with Gunnar but...
7
Snap got distracted. She smelled the grass that grows along side the forest trails. She stopped by the creek - I thought she had found Gunnar but, it was only some leftover Taco Bell. “Don’t eat that, Snap!” I yelled. I wish people would throw their trash away.
8
We looked everywhere but, Gunnar was nowhere to be found. So we kept looking.
9
I found a Stick bug warming itself in the afternoon sun but, no Gunnar. I saw a Roadrunner! “Can you find the Roadrunner?� But still, Gunnar was nowhere to be found.
10
We even took a train to ‘Where the West was Born’ but Gunnar was still lost. I was starting to worry.
11
We went to a Haunted House and asked a superhero if she had seen Gunnar. She was nice but had not seen any flat little boys. We left, I was a little scared.
12
Then, Snap saw something!
13
Under a rock, in some fallen leaves, there was Gunnar! I could tell that Gunnar had had a good time because he was still smiling but, his paper body was in poor shape.
14
I took it pretty hard...
15
Action was required and, I knew just what had to be done!
16
Gunnar needed a NEW BODY! And, I had the right tools for the job.
17
18 Gunnar, Thank you so much for the visit. You are certainly a difficult dude to keep up with but, I had a great time kicking it with you. If I ever find myself in North Dakota I’ll make sure to look you up. Here’s a little bit about me: It may be argued that Ryan was born with a creative lust to re-create the world around him imaginatively. It is not arguable or even up for discussion that Ryan hated schoolwork and found his knack for sketching by doodling all over his homework…except for the spaces of the margin where actual research was required. Wherever or however the drive to draw derived, the extreme compulsion has certainly stuck and has not relented. Nine times out of ten you will find Ryan hunched over a sketchbook, scrap of paper, envelope of the electric bill, post-it note, or even a paper napkin, drawing…giving life to an imagination that was forged without boundaries. When Ryan is not drawing he has been known to rescue damsels in distress, or wrestle giant bloodthirsty and carnivorous plants with his pet dire rat, Snap. Additionally, Ryan likes to read comics, play video games, geek-out in D&D campaigns and watch cartoons. Ryan instructs Animation in Adobe Flash at Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona. Ryan earned his Master’s Degree in Media Design through Full Sail University as an ‘Advanced Achiever’. He lives with his very lovely and talented soul mate, Claire Louge, and faithful and energitic Labrador, Snap.
20
Gunnar!
Keep it real. Stay in school and read lots of books, especially comic books because they’re good for you. Peace, Ryan Liebe