We were so cool...

Growing up, getting old, getting fat etc




I was sitting at work thinking about all the people I've ever known, all the friends that have come and gone as well as all the things we used to do together. The simple fact that the gray box sitting in my closet that we call a Playstation used to be the "new" and "cool" thing. I remember getting home from a long day of skateboarding, sitting down with a 2 liter soda and a fast food burger and playing Tekken 3 for hours on end. I now need to take breaks from staring at the television because my eyesight starts to get blurry during the hour long Worms and Call of Duty 4 sessions. There was a time that the bands NOFX and Rancid were new to me. I really wanted a 32X for my Sega Genesis. Summer vacations were the best, and I'm willing to fight to get those back (who is with me?). I am getting old, it is a fact. I can't believe I am 28 years old. I remember my first part-time job, I worked as a bus-boy at a local bar, it was always exciting at that place. Now work sucks, I sit at a computer day after day bored out of my skull. Worse than work is when you realize you are going bald and getting fat. I can't drink like I used to either, I used to drink close to a case when I went out to parties but now I usually stop at two if that. I'm becoming the people my friends and I used to swear we would never become.... Oh well... at least it gave me inspiration for a comic.
I understand not everyone was into punk rock and skateboarding growing up but you can just replace those specifics with just about anything else you have been passionate about in your life. I hope some of you out there can relate to this. This is more about how I feel at this current moment.
I never planned to post this up on Retrojunk.com, but after I finished it I realized that I was being very nostalgic when I put this together. Although it does not touch on the standard Retrojunk topics I felt this was still relevant. Hope you enjoy it:










Log in to comment on or rate this article. You can even write your own!
Comments
    mikemonmouth Posted 2 years 10 months ago
    amazing article. i'm 29, startin to feel up there and realizing i'm not cool anymore haha. thumbs the fuck up
    grandmasboy3692 Posted 3 years 6 months ago
    dude!!!!

    i really love this article!!!!

    and the drawings amaze me!!!!

    im an animation student and i really like your works!!
    cvillatoro Posted 3 years 9 months ago
    dude did you draw these? nice work. getting old sux. good to know i'm not the only one out there . thumbs up
    Fellini Posted 3 years 11 months ago
    This is pretty depressing. Sounds like you're really down on yourself. You're 28, you're still in the prime of your life. It's your fault for being fat. And it's your fault you sound so self loathing.
    Bombtrack Posted 3 years 11 months ago
    The artwork on this one is super awesome and stylized. Even if you are "bald and fat" (which you are not) I still think you are a pretty awesome dude. Keep 'em coming!
    connor93 Posted 3 years 11 months ago
    dude like all the punks have long sideburns.....

    wait i have really long sideburns.. awesome
    Ninja Turtle 777 Posted 4 years 1 hour ago
    This art is great. I look forward to reading more stuff like this. We drank beer and slept on our friends couches! haha I laughed so hard because I remember feeling cool just because I had passed out on a buddys couch. Weird how something like that makes you feel cool.
    sixsixsix82 Posted 4 years 2 days ago
    Dude...so rad. Some people need to lighten up on this site. HAHAHAHA. You're art is amazing.
    animemaster0x70 Posted 4 years 3 days ago
    i like your comics!
    gainesvillefrank Posted 4 years 4 days ago
    Whoa. Nice work. Very original.
    MadMacks Posted 4 years 4 days ago
    I just got back from a long weekend back home in Maine, and I stayed up till 4 in the morning drinking beer in my garage with my best friends. Hell I even played a little xbox one night. Great article man, and btw alteredbeast its Mad Dog 20/20 unless in WI they got some special brew going on.
    edwin Posted 4 years 4 days ago
    im 32 and im having the best time of my life. it seems that the older i got the better i got at everything. my drawings and creativity are the best theyve ever been. when i was young i was a punk ass kid gettin fucked up on whatever drug or alcohol i could find. i sold drugs and rode around in stolen cars with my friends. i was convinced that by the time i was 24 i was gonna be dead. but as time went on old friends died or went to prison or just simply moved on and the party faded out. drugs became kinda boring(but not that boring,hehehe) and somehow i actually became a responsible adult. granted i dont have the body i had back then but thats through my own laziness. but i did get a hell of a lot smarter and to me that makes me way cooler than i was back then.
    alteredbeast Posted 4 years 5 days ago
    i still like to drink my face off (i'm from WI) but in high school we used to drink Mad Dog 50/50. now just smelling that stuff can make my stomach turn. totally here ya on the crashing at a buddies house, still do it.
    matacron Posted 4 years 6 days ago
    When your tattoo fades, just do what I did: get it re-inked.
    killergnome Posted 4 years 6 days ago
    This was an excellent article. I to grew up the same way. I remember the long days of skateboarding for hours on end. I loved all the get togethers with friends playing playstation all night and drinking till our livers were mush and our brains were jelly. I remember the first time I heard Rancid and Operation Ivy, Sex Pistols, The Vandals, Etc.. We need more articles like this on Retro Junk.
    cgimovieman Posted 4 years 6 days ago
    Uh, that's a little depressing and pessimistic. I never did any of that and I'm not old, fat and bald. In fact weigh about 50 pounds less than when I was high school and look even better. Life is pretty darn neat. I think you need to get yourself a life man.
    sweatysides420 Posted 4 years 6 days ago
    This Article Inspired Me After 3 years to finally become a retro junkie. ive been attending this site and its great (And not so great) Stories of our past. But now after reading this article, i would join this fine group just to say to you, and the many others to follow. "This Was A Great Representation of my past" im 23 and Playstation was new and is still cool. (The days of tekken3, ahhh) and i was lucky enough to meet Tim Armstrong (from RAncid) and get his autograph, working as a busboy (still there) at a fancy 5 star resturaunt in Providence, RI. anyways punk rock love. great job. BTW Skatebording is STILL a great way to stay thin, might work on hair growth too...
    darthmunk Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    I'm gonna stay punk forever!
    jo8196 Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    I'm gonna assume the drawing on page 3 is of Sid Vicious. Great article by the way.
    thetwilightgamer Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    Your art kicks all kinds of ass and I think you did a great job on this one. Keep up the good work!
    velcrohead Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    I like this, and OH so true.
    Hoju Koolander Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    Very poignant, Pat. I'm still waiting for a Misfits-centric comic, though.
    frito23 Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    interesting topic, The last picture looks like a gringo castro
    Cosgrove Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    This is my brother in a capsule, but I think he's still cool. Great work and I love your art.
    pizzaguy Posted 4 years 7 days ago
    Nofx, Rancid, and Misfits... I listen to that stuff! :D
    Score:
    39
    More from Pat Henzy
    © Retro Junk | Contact | Report a Bug | Privacy Policy | Advertise