Today’s sketch came about from thinking back on my time on FLASH with Mark Waid. It was my first regular, monthly (or as close to monthly as I’ve ever been able to get– that is to say, not very. But I try real hard) assignment– and there couldn’t have been a better way for me to jump into the monthly comics pool than working with Mark on that book. I’ve said this in many interviews I’ve done about FLASH and my career in general– but it bears repeating again here…. the wonderful thing about getting a Mark Waid script for me (especially at that time, being thrown into the crucible of a monthly head first, heart racing and mind screaming “WHAT AM I DOING HERE….??!!?”) was that from the first word, I was drawn into the world that Mark was writing. The characters seemed immediately real to me and therefore, even though my skills were not always up to the task–ESPECIALLY on those first couple of issues– I never balked at anything that Mark asked me to draw. And he asked me to draw a LOT of things that I’d never had to draw before. Things that were immensely difficult to compose and render…. but the stories were always so fresh and the characters so vivid that although I tore out more than ONE hair in frustration at times, I was never resentful of anything Mark was asking for. So, working with Mark was a terrific training ground for everything that was to come later. Drawing those wonderfully crafted, and highly challenging stories on FLASH prepared me for all the work I would be doing from then on. I’ve worked with a great many different writers since that time– and many of the stories they’ve written may have been equally challenging as those early FLASH scripts… but few have been as enjoyable or pushed my limits like they did.

I’ve been getting reports from various comics pro buddies of mine who attended COMICON INTERNATIONAL in San Diego this past weekend. And all of them have told me that they enjoyed themselves totally. I had actually sworn off attending COMICON anymore because of its size and the fact that they seem to be moving so far away from comics and putting a greater emphasis on Hollywood and video games. But after reading Steven Grant’s PERMANENT DAMAGE column over at COMIC BOOK RESOURCES today— as well as hearing how much fun all my friends had at the show, I think I’ve changed my mind. Grant makes some very insightful points about comics and their place in popular culture… especially as they relate to movies and video games. So after all that, I’m thinking I might just have to make the trek to San Diego next year myself. We’ll see.

OK… that’s it for today.

This is Entry 131.

Mike