Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so

FREE TO READ complete essay.

#1: Working for a big company does not mean "You made it". It doesn't mean anything except that you got to work for a big company. A lot of people slog the small handful of credits from their brief stints at Marvel or DC for decades, and that may get them table space at small regional shows until they die, but it is not a guarantee of future work or riches or acclaim or anything else.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will let it pass over me and through me. And when it has passed I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where it has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Alberto Martini (1876–1954), “Il teatro delle streghe”

ink on paper, 1922

The Marvel Guide to Collecting Comics cover. Pen and India ink. 11 x 15. 1982.

In the early 80s, Marvel decided to put out a small newsprint magazine about the joys of collecting comics and how to do it. For some reason, I was asked to design it and do the cover and (I think) a few interior illustrations. So I did. I got my friend, Kim, to help me spec type and guide me in other decisions as he was actually in magazine design and production.

This is the cover that ran, minus the trade dress, although you can see the discoloration on the art board from the rubber cement. Nightcrawler was hanging from the logo.

Apparently, I wasn't so concerned about drawing mint condition comics on the cover. But then, that's what I read when I was in college!