My 8-Year-Old Self and the Sophomore Slump

Mike Ivy is an Austin-born author, illustrator, and retired art teacher who taught in Pflugerville ISD for 25 years. His love of drawing began in childhood, when Star Wars inspired him to create a handmade Space Dog comic series—and a one-boy comic-book empire with an audience of one. Years of teaching, along with inspiration from artists such as Charles M. Schulz and Edward Gorey, eventually led him to create My 8-Year-Old Self. In My 8-Year-Old Self and the Sophomore Slump, Mike brings Space Dog back to life while exploring creativity, self-doubt, perseverance, and the challenge of making something new. The book marks a full-circle return to the imaginative world he began creating nearly fifty years ago. 

Below is a then-and-now comparasson. The characters may have changed over the years, but the childhood imagination behind them remains at the heart of the series.