The big allure of epic fantasy for me has always been the wonder of being introduced to and exploring (whether it’s in comic books, novels or movies) new worlds of wonder and magic. It’s the old chestnut of ‘escapist fantasy’ that allows me to– at least for a short time– be transported to a place that’s out of the ordinary…. where there’s always a new discovery or danger around every corner; where the rules of my normal, everyday life don’t apply; a place less….. mundane. That’s the reason I gravitated towards comic books so strongly as a child… and why I started drawing my own comic book adventures. I wanted to be able to put down on paper images and characters from my own budding imagination… and that eventually led to a pursuit of making drawing comics a life-long career. I’m very lucky to have had the success I’ve had in my chosen profession. I understand that, don’t get me wrong. But I can’t help but feel that so many of the comics being produced today by the ‘majors’ have lost their sense of wonder. That feeling I had as a child that I was being introduced to new worlds and characters that were so far out of the ordinary that I couldn’t HELP but be fascinated has been lost. The heroes of that time have been grounded. Their lives are just as mundane as my own anymore. Sure, I might not be able to stick to walls and spin webs…. but other than that, there’s not much difference between me or any other comic book character these days. My ‘adventures’ with my computer problems or chiropractic visits or urinary tract/bladder infections (a story for another day….) aren’t that much less interesting as what happens in your average comic featuring folks who– although they wear colorful costumes– don’t seem to do much out of the ordinary. More often than not, they tend to stand around having conversations about unimportant things about as much as I do in any given day. It tends to diminish the enthusiasm that I have for what I get to do for a living. I STILL LOVE IT, yes. But I could love it so much more if more of that imagination that the folks who created these characters could be harnessed by the folks who are writing them these days. Hopefully one day, that can happen.

Sooner rather then later, please.

And so my thoughts can’t help but drift back to a time when I was able to employ my imagination to a more personal endeavor. I still think about TELLOS often. In the 12 years (or so) that I’ve been drawing comics professionally, my time working on that book was, perhaps, the happiest and most creatively fulfilling. I might not think so much about that time if it weren’t for the constant reminders I get from folks I encounter. Whether it’s at shows I attend around the country (well, mostly east coast….. I don’t go out west much anymore) or via email forwarded through this site– or, as recently, during my interview with Fabrice Sapolsky for COMIC BOX magazine that I mentioned last post. He asked me if I ever had plans to get back to new TELLOS material. He told me that TELLOS was still enormously popular in France and that new adventures would be sure to meet with success. And so, even though I’ve been contemplating creating stories that I would control 100% by myself….. I can’t help but think that I might still try to make some time– somehow– for something TELLOS related. The problem is finding that balance between paying the mortgage and getting the work done. But KOJ, JEREK, SERRA and the gang keep worming their way into my thoughts.

This is Entry 168.

Mike

My computer is working again — for now. The power supply had burned out. As it turns out, that’s been a common problem with the particular model of iMac G5 I purchased. I hope it’s something inside the original power supply and not some hardware flaw that’s going to make this an ongoing occurance. Although the folks at the Apple Store originally told me that it would probably take a week to install the new power supply, after telling them that I needed my computer back sooner than that because I use it every day for work (that’s the insidious side of the wonder of technology…. once you become dependent on it– then you’re DEPENDENT on it! It’s got you by the short-and-curlies), they were able to get it finished much sooner. However, when I returned to retrieve my crutch…. I mean my computer…. I was informed that the logic board is very close to crapping out as well. This is ALSO, it seems, a problem they’ve been having with this particular model. They tell me that the LB could last 5 more minutes or 5 more months…. there’s no way to tell. They have to order the new board (they had the power supply in stock, thankfully)– and so I’m here using my machine hoping that it’ll hold out until the new board comes in and they can get it installed. So far so good.

I recently did an interview with a French comic news magazine called COMIC BOX. The interview was conducted by Fabrice Sapolsky. Fabrice was a lot of fun to talk with– he’s a funny and knowledgeable guy. And he seems to know A LOT more about the American comic book industry than I do, and I LIVE here….! It’s an honor to have been chosen to be interviewed for the magazine and Fabrice also asked me to do the cover for that issue featuring…. who else… SPIDER-MAN. And as you can see, THE BLACK CAT. It was a blast to do, and I really love the way it came out. The LAST time my work was on the cover of COMIC BOX was back in 2000 when TELLOS debuted in France. So a public ‘THANK YOU…!’ to Fabrice for everything.

This is Entry 167 (not counting my brother’s post of a couple of days ago. And thanks again, Matt, for doing that for me).

Mike