Marvel comics

When we first pitched the idea of doing a daily comic strip to the LA TImes, we had planned on using Al Williamson. Al did up 2 weeks of worth for the presentation George and I did to the LA Times. We did not realize it while we were doing the pitch, but the Times had already decided on using Russ Manning because he was their in-house guy. It was a bit embarrassing going back to Al to tell him the Times didn't want to use him. That's not something you want to tell an artist after they've done two weeks of finished comics for the job, but Al, as usual, was the consummate professional and did not bat an eye. Mind you, he wasn't working for free -- we paid him -- but the principle of pitching a series and having the series go to another artist would really irk some.

Al gave the first weeks comics to George, and the 2nd week to me. At one point, when i started writing up my history, I told this story and the response I got back implied I was lying. These fan experts can be so irritating!!! This dweeb tried to tell me that Al Williamson wasn't involved. That's the problem with this fandom. Some folks have got so much vested in their position as Star Wars experts they assume they know what happened, and what was going on... Boy, you know, you're only as good as your source. If you read a source that based his expert opinion on the BS of another second hand gossip, you can think all these 3 stories add up to the gospel truth. But they don't. And that, folks, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with religion. The gospel truth is told by one person, who tells another, and so on and so on... This is gossip, and gossip does not add up to truth. Before you start spouting off history, check your sources and do your due diligence. and remember, just because it's in print doesn't mean it's the truth. Writers, after all, are some of the worsts gossips.

After doing the deal for the Marvel Star Wars comics, Marvel sent me a bundle of the 1st issue. Most of the STAR WARS samples I received, I put into storage. Locked the door on the storage room, walked away, went on to work on my next project. Stuff sat in storage for years. Ended up having 3 large storage rooms in Los Angeles. The first one was on Pico Blvd., in the Westside, because I was working at MGM. Then I needed a 2nd storage and got one in central LA, around my office in Korea Town. The last one I rented was on Figueroa, in Highland Park. You can see how with the passage of time, my new storage rooms moved east because renting a new space in the Westside became more and more expensive. By the time I was filling my 3rd storage room, I was practically in East LA :)

I've heard people end up picking up some great stuff because they buy out storage rooms... right, it's a TV show -- Storage Wars??? Anyway, I always made sure I paid my storage rent on time. Didn't know what was in there, but the idea of someone going through the detritus of my life didn't seem right. I'm meandering. I was going to show you the bundle of Marvel comics. Bumpy decided we had to get rid of stuff and listed the bundle on ebay. then, after putting the listing up, she talked to someone and found out the whole deal on selling comics. She had thought it would be great to keep the whole bundle together, but found out breaking them up and grading them would net more cash. And Bumpy likes cash. grin emoticon When she pulled the listing, some buyers were really angry. This was the lot we were thinking of using to create a Star Wars Comic creators fund with Hero Initiative. Didn't work out, but we still have the comics.