Anyone who’s read a recent interview with Jeff Parker or visited his PARKERSPACE.COM web site will know that THE IMPOSSIBLE MAN plays a role in the upcoming SPIDER-MAN/FANTASTIC FOUR miniseries Jeff’s writing and I’m drawing. IMPOSSIBLE MAN is one of those peripheral characters I always had some affection for and always wished I could get a chance to draw at least in a couple of panels at one point. Now, with this miniseries, I’m getting to draw him much more than that. I think I’ve written on more than one occasion that I’m constantly surprised at the opportunities that I get to draw favorite characters from my childhood as my career chugs along. Eventually, I might get to draw them all if I’m lucky enough to continue working in this business. The FANTASTIC FOUR have so many wonderful iconic characters in their ‘mythos’ that I’ve always admired… like BLASTAAR, CLAW, MOLE MAN, DOCTOR DOOM, SUPER SKRULL and GALACTUS– many of whom I wish I had gotten the chance to draw.

GALACTUS is actually a character that I never felt I wanted to draw. It’s not that I don’t think he’s an amazingly creative and powerful figure in the FF pantheon of foes…. I just felt that there was no way to top or equal the stories that had been done using him in past FF eras. Plus– his costume is pretty damned difficult to draw. However, I believe that the higher-ups at Marvel wanted him to be used toward the end of the run Mark Waid and I worked on… and so it was done. To be honest, I think that Mark came up with an incredibly fun and interesting spin for using GALACTUS, and I ended up being very happy with the end results. Of course, that’s Mark for you– always coming up with great ways to use characters that may have seen better days.

OK… see you Wednesday.

This is Entry 347.

Mike