When you can sit down with a plain sheet of paper in front of you and make some notes, and, little by little, you see it take shape and become a concept for a movie or a TV show. That's a real thrill. You watch it go from notes on a paper to a meeting with writers and directors and actors. I can't think of anything that's more exciting.

Of what import are brief, nameless lives . . . to Galactus?

Every kid loves fairy tales, stories of witches and giants and magicians. Then, when you get a little older you can't read fairy tales anymore.

In fact, I was too dumb to save any of the old comic books or the old artwork. I used to give them away.

Life is never completely without its challenges.

When you work with people whom you like and you admire because they're so good at what they do, it doesn't feel like work. It's like you're playing.

What the hell could you do? I've never been arrested, I haven't taken drugs, I've had the same wife for 54 years; where's anything of interest to people?