Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.

Lord of the Rings, I think, is far and away the most brilliantly done stuff.

A true friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else.

When I submitted samples, I had only written stories to give myself something to draw. I was told, "The art is good, but not quite professional yet. But, I like the writing." I've been a writer for almost a half a century. It's very cool.

My father brought me my first stack of comics, when I was seven years old and in the hospital. I was not a well child. And that's where my love for comics began.

The bottom line always remains the same: What is the basic humanity of the character? How do I make them resonate with the reader?

I was a very sickly kid. While I was in the hospital at age seven, my Dad brought me a stack of comic books to keep me occupied. And I was hooked. When my eighth grade art teacher, Mr. Smedley, told me he thought I had actual art talent, I decided to devote all my efforts in that direction in the hope that I might someday get into the comics biz. I became an art major, took every art class my school had to offer. In college, I majored in Advertising Art and Design.