So I think I found a way to plug my cartoons into AfterEffects to get the similar hand-held feel of my old Tiktok Videos. It’s not so bad, right?
Love, Joolz - DE-Why?
DEI is a tricky topic. Without Diversity and Inclusion programs, many people would not have gotten out of poverty. DEI programs have helped carve out a bit of a middle class for Black and Brown people.
But let’s be real. I’ve been a DEI hire. I hated it.
I left engineering because I got sick of being Northrop’s little DEI hire everyone could push around. The problem with being a diversity hire is that the other people in the company implicitly think you’re stupid. I literally had a more prestigious degree than most of my coworkers in my department, but nobody cared. I helped spearhead a system where we track aircraft performance for daily status reports (In Excel) and it got taken away from me by the Mayonnaise set. Hell, I couldn’t even be allowed to update the status reports on a fucking Powerpoint, because my manager took that away from me too.
The irony. I’m the only one in this department with an engineering degree (not engineering technology, for no-math-doing goobers), but I’m still considered an idiot to be shoved to the side.
This is why I’ve got mixed feelings about the current fash’s destruction of DEI programs. DEI programs do help POC get out of poverty. I can't deny that. But DEI programs are kind of a shitty bandaid solution to the problem of White-run companies not hiring people of color. If all your leadership is all white, any POC employees are never going to be respected. Not really. DEI hires are meant to give the image of a diverse workplace. Not actual integration or unity. Just the same ol’ brown people doing the grunt work while the white higher ups reap all the profits and credit.
This even happens to me in Comics. In the past, any time some yutz wanted to have a project with a Latina lead, they'd come to me. It never went well. On one job, the guy claimed he wanted me to give him my opinions on his script, but refused to listen when I would actually give them. On another project, the writers wanted me to storyboard their entire trash wedding comedy movie, but then wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell them naming their only Latina character “Cha-Cha” wasn’t gonna play well with audiences. I walked off both projects abruptly. They both apologized to me later for acting like assholes to me but of course I did not answer either email.
Will I stop patronizing a company if they roll over for the fash and remove their DEI programs? Hell yes. But do I ever want to be a DEI hire myself ever again? Absolutely not. I'd rather never work a corporate gig again than be treated like a paid housepet.
TL:DR No I’m not going to work on your project because it has a Latina lead. DEI hiring is over.
-Love, Joolz
Worlds Worst Podcast - Men's Loneliness
Maybe they’d be less lonely if they destroyed Capitalism
Does the Worlds Worst Podcast count as an Update?
Jules and Blackbird review the new Fantastic Four movie. Can Pedro Zaddy save us from mediocrity? Watch it and weep!
I know this isn’t technically a comic update, but it’s something I guess.
-Love, Joolz
Happy SDCC! New Animatic
Happy SDCC, everyone! My own comics have been slow as I rest up and ramp up for the next level, but I want to show you all this amazing Hurricane Vendetta Animatic assembled by my Animation Partner, Dustin Garcia. I did the artwork and he did the sound design and editing. We’ve come up with something very special.
Consider this my own media drop from Love, Joolzlandia. I’m bringing the convention to you so you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on visiting San Diego. Don’t get me wrong. You should come to San Diego. Just do it for the surfing.
Anyway, subscribe to my mailing list to get the next Media Drop by 7/27/2025 12:30 PDT. This includes our second finished Animatic, featuring original music by our mysterious band, Zeenager. It’s very cool. We hope you’ll dig it. Thanks so much.
Coming soon!
-Love, Joolz
Surfriday: What's in your Surf Kit?
A first aid kit is definitely a good bet. Also, I lost the bottle with the pin-up girl on it. So there's that.
I'll have to expand on this list because it doesn't include a poncho, a patch of fake grass, a wetsuit bag, a extra wax, and the hella obvious SUNSCREEN.
One day I might have to put this into a proper surf instructional book but only for San Diego. The rest of the cities around here I can't surf for beans there.