Ah, to hell with it, this has bothered me for long enough, so I'm just going to lay all the cards out on the table.
So, I've known Jaime, at least somewhat personally, for a long time. I wouldn't say that we've ever been friends, but definitely acquaintances. We both live in the same small town in Western North Carolina, where everyone knows everyone, and we've had a number of mutual friends, and travelled in some of the same social circles, over the years. I've even travelled to a few cons with him and some of our mutual friends back in the early '00s. Granted, I haven't personally spoken to Jaime in maybe ten years or so, but I have seen him around town numerous times. So, yeah, I
know Jaime.
I'm not speaking as someone who's had any sort of business dealings with him whatsoever, and I certainly don't have any axes to grind. As a matter of fact, while I've always felt that Jaime was talented, I've never really been a huge fan of his art. It's not something that ever appealed to me, in the same way that I've never really been a Todd MacFarlane fan.
So, all that backstory out of the way, several years back when I first started lurking on these forums, before I ever even signed up or posted, I was a little amused to see that Jaime had been trying to set himself up online as a commission artist. But, I figured, good for him if he was finally doing something with his talent. Then, I started reading threads such as this one where people were commenting on his lateness and excuses. My first thought was that it was pretty much par for the course. Whatever, it wasn't really my business.
However, when I saw his posts concerning all of the various "catastrophes" that had occurred in his life, well, that almost broke me there. Frankly, I'm pretty sure that many of them simply weren't true. Out of curiosity, I'd even attempted to verify some of the things that he was claiming, because I thought that they were so outlandish, and never could. I mean, if even
some of these things were even
remotely true, then
someone would've heard
something. Remember, small town and all that. Yet, I chose to keep my mouth shut because I wasn't really involved.
And, honestly, this has always bothered me. I think that there's a lot of good folk in the comic art collecting community, and especially on these forums, and I love being a part of them in my own small way. I've been ripped off and lied to by some artists in the past, and I really hate to see it happen to others.
Especially when it's being perpetrated by someone I know. I can't help but think that if I'd spoken up earlier that maybe it would've saved someone at least a little bit of a headache.
So, why am I going on about it all now? Well, simply put, Jaime had been off the radar for awhile and I was hoping that maybe he'd cleaned up his act. Truthfully, that still may be the case, I don't know. What I do know is that I'd just like for others to know exactly what they're getting into and what type of person that they're dealing with when they do business with him. As most all of us know, it's up to each of us to weigh the risks vs. rewards in this hobby. Personally, I just like to have as much information as possible when making such decisions.
OK, time to step off the ol'
.
