Anyway, Tim's latest comments continue to stimulate a good discussion on issues of the Middle-East and alternative energy sources.

Excellent commentary. I can only wonder how relations between America and the Muslim world would have been different had we not elected GW Bush (oh yeah, we didn't the first time, the Supreme Court did).

Bush is a more ripe candidate for being manipulated to do the bidding of the money wielders pulling the govenment's strings, that's true. But the Democrat leaders eventually fall in step with them also. Both parties and the entire political system are ultimately helpless in resisting being bought because they have no independent source of capital that doesn't come from the merchant masters of the world. A leadership that intends to change the tides of economic oppression must become economically independent first.

In Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, we aided Muslims in their fight to throw off the yoke of totaliatianism. In Indonesia, we sent medical aid after the Tsunami. So maybe these Americans are not devils. More Doctors, less Soldiers is what I say. Food and medicine, not guns and bombs.

This truly is the big hope for the world, knowing that through all the strife, there's been enough of a sense of goodness in America and the Western world to forge these humanistic efforts. This is exactly the spirit we need to strengthen.

The magnetic field energy device would make you rich if you could figure that out.

Scientists, like anyone else, can sometimes become so overly confident and proud that they stop listening to anybody else. They've shut down many discoverers who questioned accepted theorems and this is causing a stagnation today when we need bold and innovative discovery. Freedom of the mind from the peer pressure in the scientific community will do wonders for a new age. Let's consider the following idea as an example.

For those who may remember the 1978 DC Comics Calendar of Super Spectacular Disasters, it sported a Neal Adams cover of The Justice League of America, led by Superman wearing a harness type device with long mechanical cables which connected to the moon in the background, as the heroes tried to guide an operation of bringing the moon back into its proper orbit after it had apparently veered astray and was on a collision course with the Earth. The calendar sported 11 other such super spectacular disasters but that cover image and the feel of the moon's orbit around the Earth was a powerful and thought provoking image for me.

One reason for this was that I was penciling various comics for DC at the time, working out of Neal Adams' Continuity Studious, and I saw this calendar cover as a work in progress from the first layout sketches to the finished inking and production stages. Another reason was that Neal asked me then to design the title for the calendar as I was known for a particular ability with logo and title designs, perhaps due to the earlier experience I'd had as a sign-painter and graphic designer before coming into comics. So, while designing the title over his artwork, I found myself becoming very attached to this fabulous image and it remains one of the stronger comics visuals in my memory to this very day.

This image resurfaced into memory several years ago as I began reading about Neal's science project on his website. Without getting too much into Neal's ideas, it's perhaps important to pay attention to why he's coming to the conclusions he is. How he explains the impossibility of the subduction and Pangea theories and why it doesn't make sense that the continents drifted around on the planet as the Pangea theory postulates. What's more important in Neal's work is how much imagination he's showing in coming to the conclusions he has about our planet having grown in size throughout its formative stages. This thinking process is something that's perhaps missing in the scientific community today. A community of analytical academics with what appears to be little imagination bound by a peer pressure mentality. Comic book creators, on the other hand, exhibit an abundance of imagination in all areas of our knowledge and understanding and can perhaps help science advance in certain areas that it may be stagnating in. Areas important to our collective evolution as a species.

The area paramount to me today is breaking the hold of gravity which binds us to the Earth. Getting closer to solving this problem will clearly help us in so many ways and change the face of civilization as we know it. For example, The energy we waste today for transportation is so absurd and cumbersome that it's depleting a great deal of the Earth's resources, personal and collective. When considering the traffic jams world wide in all of the major cities and the time and resources wasted traveling such short distances, it's clear that the concepts we've come to love in the science fiction world and the comics portraying a future with flying personal vehicles, can put to rest this waste of time and resources we suffer from so greatly.

So here's an idea for scientists to ponder. It's based on a combination of the police radar and the windmill concepts. It calls for the development of a police radar-like device which not only measures the speed of an object coming towards it but also the weight and impact of this object as it's moving, and converts it into an energy source. In the same way a windmill converts the weight and impact of the wind into a similar energy source.

The idea is to place such a device in front of the moon in its orbit around the Earth. The device would be able to measure the weight and thrust of the moon, its enormous mass, speed and impact - and convert this unfathomably powerful energy into an energy source which would then be distributed to a series of other devices in orbit around the Earth. This would create an energy field of enormous magnitude such as we've never imagined before, around the Earth. This field, greater than the power of gravity on most objects that we'd like to make fly, can then be accessed from the Earth with a small device which would free whatever object it's attached to from the hold of gravity. When attached to a vehicle, the vehicle can fly... to a person, well they could then fly also.

So instead of looking to generate a new energy source, why not use one that's so close and readily available? I believe that the scientific community could come up with the mechanism needed to make this idea work. The problem is that they're not looking in the right direction. That's why they can't see it. They've stopped exercising their imagination.

That's why the scientists need comic book writers and artists to break the stagnation of scientific discovery today.

In the news, France is going to be the home of the world's first experimental Fusion reactor. If they can make that work, the world will have clean nuclear power, and our energy worries will be over. They have been talking about this since the '70's, but this reactor will not be finished until 2014 and will cost 13 billion. If they can make it work though, think of the possibilities.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, Tim - but I'm voting for the Anti-Gravity field.

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The current sixth installment of LITG is perhaps the more journalistic intensive of the series and focuses on the villainous reputation big publishers garner in their manipulation of intellectual properties given them by the comics creators. Rich covers current situations with the Jack Kirby estate and the upcoming Fantastic Four Movie, Denny O'Neill and Batman Begins - and Steve Gerber regarding Omega the Unknown and other Gerber creations.

The more lengthy and fascinating item, however, covers Scott Rosenberg's Ultraverse property which launched at Malibu in the 1990's and was eventually sold to Marvel only to get wiped out in the company's downsizing cutbacks in the years to follow. Well, it seems that in spite of renewed interest in reviving this property, Marvel appears to be ignoring it altogether and Rich speculates whether the hint of needing to deflect a part of the profits to the original proprietors and creators from Malibu is behind this indifference.

This latest installment is a marvelous exposition of the current state of affairs for intellectual properties in the comics arena and a great source of research of the behind the scenes efforts of comics creators to procure a just recompense for their intellectual properties.

Go. Read. And Learn.

Permalink Posted: 10:59 AM EST 2 comments  

Pretty silly, considering the dismal condition the comics industry remains in at the hands of DC and Marvel. Oh, we know the big publishers are doing well. Aren't they? They don't really need a healthy comics industry, after all. Not as long as they know how to pimp what the creators give them to Hollywood and the merchandisers. They can allow the comics industry go to hell and still come out smelling like a rose, it seems. And they do it all on the backs of the creators.

Jim McCann, who puts out a regular Marvel communique at Super Hero News, corroborates the above statement in a message he distributed recently which promotes the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. (Jim McCann's position at Marvel is not indicated in the press release - but in the flamboyant tradition of downplaying their comics production arm, he and the entire editorial and production staff are left without mention at Marvel's web site, while the company's corporate executives are given pages upon web pages of exposition and ego massage. They'd almost have us believe that the corporate executives are the ones producing the comics books.) Below are excerpts from the communique.

With a library of over 5,000 proprietary characters, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel's operations are focused in four areas: entertainment(Marvel Studios), licensing, comic book publishing and toys (Toy Biz).

Here's a question for all comics lovers: Which one of the above four areas of Marvel's operations is considered the least profitable? Marvel Studios are flourishing, we know. Licensing has always been very profitable, they tell us. The Toy biz has never been stronger, we can see that. What's that you say? Comic book publishing is on its 2nd consecutive decade sales slump? Comics aren't turning a profit? How can that be?

Why is it that comics publishing is at such an all time low? Would it be too embarrassing or expensive for Marvel to admit that their expansive entertainment, licensing and toy enterprises are made possible by the continued publishing of its comic books? Would they have us believe that Marvel comics doesn't know how to turn comic publishing into a profitable enterprise? Would that mean opening a Pandora's Box regarding where Marvel's wealth and success is coming from? Is it too much to ask Marvel to give credit to the comics creators for the billions they rake in on the backs of comic book artists and writers? Lets move on and see what else Jim McCann has to say.

Marvel facilitates the creation of entertainment projects, including feature films, DVD/home video, video games and television based on its characters and also licenses its characters for use in a wide range of consumer products and services including apparel, collectibles, snack foods and promotions.

Wait Jim. What about comic books? We all thought Marvel also publishes comic books. Oh right. Here it comes.

Marvel's characters and plot lines are created by its comic book division which continues to expand its leadership position in the U.S. and worldwide while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property.

What did you just say, Jim? Didn't you mean to say that Marvel's characters and plot lines are created by comic book creators, comic book writers and artists, FOR Marvel's comic book division? What the hell happened to the comics creators, Jim?

Oh, we forgot. The comic book division serves "as an invaluable source of intellectual property." Well that explains everything.

So, what you're saying, Jim, is that the source of these intellectual properties which the comic book creators give to Marvel is so invaluable that Marvel will say anything to make it appear that their comic book division produces these intellectual properties all by itself. Like magic.

You're so right, Jim, in corroborating how ungrateful Marvel Comics is to its creators for taking away the credit and the recompense for the intellectual property which comic book artists and writers give them, from their own intellect - and upon which they build their empire. Sadly, Jim, the only intellect Marvel comics is able to display lies in the abusive manipulation of the comic book creators and in their legal strong-arming of the intellectual properties the creators give them.

Thanks, Jim McCann, for corroborating the sad state of affairs for the comic book creators at Marvel. The only question I have now is how much longer do comics creators intend to allow for this blatant rape of their intellectual property to continue?

It's alright, Jim. Flaming Sword Productions intends on returning the intellectual properties of the creators back to their rightful owners and elevating comics publishing to the forefront of the entertainment ventures.

Consider this a promise from The Creators.

Permalink Posted: 8:43 AM EST 2 comments  

You help us to understand this dynamic. I think Americans are trying to understand. What we don't understand is why America is the object of hatred when it is the despotic leaderships of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Libya, and Iran that are keeping down their people. They are the ones who use the oil revenue to buy arms and develop nuclear technology instead of letting this money flow to their population.

America is the object of hatred because the despotic leaders of the Arab world are considered heroes there. Their values are different than ours and they're seen as heroes for confronting Western attempts at economic, cultural, political and military supremacy. It's not a matter of who's right or wrong. They believe that America is attempting to colonize their world and as long as America deals with them confrontationally, instead of diplomaticly, they will continue to hate America.

If we emerge from this quagmire in Iraq, maybe for the first time there will be a government there that is elected by, and servants of the people. I feel that as long as we remain there though, we just inflame the situation. Lebanon is looking promising now that Syria has been shamed into leaving these people to find their own voice.

America withdrew from Lebanon in 1985. Israel has been out of there since 1999. Lebanese leaders who support Western influence continue to be targets of brutal assassinations by Syrian dictates and the Lebanese people remain under the thumbs of Islamic oppression. Until there is a change in the relationship and Western leaders learn to speak to the Arab world in their language and address their concerns, all of our military efforts there are doomed to escalate the violence and hostility.

On the subject of energy independence, I feel that we MUST find an alternative to oil. Hybrid vehicles, hydrogen, fuel cells, these are where we should be looking to wean ourselves off of oil. Clinton had tax breaks and grants to fund the research but of course Bush (being an oilman)cut these programs.

Agreed. I believe, however, that our next significant energy source will be in tapping into the magnetic field which is mistakenly perceived as the source of the Earth's gravity. This magnetic field exists in the centerline of Earth's orbit around the sun. The moon also spins through a similar field surrounding the Earth. We need a switch of thinking processes in the scientific community in order to discover and tap into these forces. When this happens, our energy resources will become exceedingly abundant.

And finally, on the Comic Book Creators Party. In my humble opinion, I think that you should change the name to The Creators Party and open it up to all Creators. Actors, Musicians, Comics, Poets. You can get more people in if you make the tent bigger.

Agreed again, Tim. But we have to begin at home. Once we have growing support from the comics community for The Comic Book Creator's Party, The Creators themselves will step forth to make the tent bigger.

Mike, dialog with you is always stimulating and never boring.

You're the one making this discussion worthwhile, Tim, with your thoughtful comments. Stick with us, my friend, we're only at the beginning.

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Very insightful, Mike. I am still at a loss as to why we just can't seem to get along with the Muslim world. Could you explain the "Code of honor" thing a little more?

Nothing I'm about to say negates the fact that all people are created equal and can embody the highest human ideals. The issue at hand is the particular cultural characteristics forged through several millennia of a collective focus on certain aspects of a cultural identity and behavior.

Western culture is known, for better and for worse, to focus more strongly on outward beauty and material comfort - at least in comparison to the Arab culture - a characteristic that has its roots in the ancient Greek civilization. The Arab culture has become accustomed to settling for minimal lifestyle conditions while putting an emphasis on particular ceremonial behavioral ethics. A good example for this is the host and guest tradition which will often over-emphasize the extending of hospitality and also demand a proper response or expression from the guest. I've seen countless recurring incidents where American visitors of Arab homes fall short of sensing the need to extend the proper attention to the host's efforts to be hospitable. In general, Westerners are considered lacking of this sensitivity by the Arab cultures. The religious Islamic circles are the most extreme in their criticism of such issues and perceive the western culture as practically satanic in what they consider to be callous pursuits and insensitive lifestyle.

Such cultural differences are at the crux of the conflict. It takes a long time for a collective mentality to become more tolerant of a culture which is strange to it. I've often heard an American say something such as "Well, I paid him, why did he seem so ungrateful." The answer is that it's not enough to pay someone for goods or services. The transaction needs to be conducted with a certain measure of grace... Within the Arab world, this measure of grace is critical and even needs to be over-emphasized in order gain their trust.

When we add such particular differences between the two cultures to the historical baggage they've both carried through the generations, the result is the standoff we have today. You may not feel it with Arab immigrants in America but in the Arab world, it's not such a very big privilege to be a Westerner, as most Americans believe it to be.

I think that as Americans, we resent that our economic security and energy needs are held hostage to the Saudi royal family (who say "My friend!" to our face and then whip up hatred of us in their population).

Resent it or not, the situation is as you say, and will not change by virtue of this resent. If we try to understand why the collective Arab world chooses to hold the West's energy needs hostage, then perhaps we can compel them to change their behavior by gaining their trust through showing a behavioral sensitivity to their culture. The only other option is a complete military takeover and subjugation of the entire Arab world. I don't believe this to be a reasonable option.

I really don't think Americans in general want to oppress anybody, but we must concur that IJ's statement:"Nor can the world remain hostage to the never-ending and regenerated fear that the American people suffer from in general." This fear they speak of is real.

It is real and it's also what the Islamic Jihad feeds on, in its barbarism. So, how do we begin to overcome this fear and cease to feed the killers with what motivates their terrorism? Knowledge and understanding are the way to overcome fear. The more we're willing to understand our adversary, the less we'll fear them.

Some of their other points like "put an end to Zionism, before it ends the world" are totally ridiculous and betray their true agenda.I think it is time for the Arabs to stop throwing up Israel (and the US support of it) as the root of every problem.

They will continue to hold onto any excuse for their behavior. Their list of complaints are endless but Israel is the most comfortable and evident one they resort to. When serious amends begin to become manifest with the Arab world, the Israeli problem will melt away as if it never was.

Americans are frustrated with the war in Iraq, but how do we get out of this corner that we have painted ourselves into? Statements like "Bring it on" made by Bush do not help.

That's because George Bush is doing the bidding of economic manipulators in their pursuit of the Arab markets. America needs a new leadership that will defy the capitalist giants who are manipulating our leaders. The only way for such a leadership to rise in America is on an economic basis. Most leaders today who oppose the economic oppressors in the West refuse to dirty their hands with capital gain. Only a benevolent leadership which is prepared to take away the world's wealth and use it to fix the world, can change the tides. The Comic Book Creator's Party offers this solution by turning the comic book industry into the focus which will attract all the world's wealth into it. I realize I'm a one trick pony on this issue but it's the only answer I have for this question.

I'll only add that the seemingly ludicrous notion embodied in such an idea is the same thing which will help it succeed in America. America's pop culture is a very strong force. In the same way that a movie actor eventually became President, so will the Comic Book Creators gain the trust of the American people and be given the reins of leadership.

And finally, why did we not put our energy into finding Bin Laden, instead of occupying Iraq?

It's really quite unfathomable that we couldn't lay our hands on Bin Laden. Perhaps the Administration didn't really want to. Perhaps they need him out there for future issues. It's peculiar that Saddam Hussein, who had a greater ability to escape, was captured when the opposition in America voiced its accusations of being misled by the administration regarding Saddam's WMD's.

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Mike; I came across this video before I began corresponding with you. It is extremely upsetting to me as, even though I don't want to believe the opinions expressed by the makers of the film, I am sure that they are at least, in part, true. Of all of the people I know, I think you are the most knowledgeable as far as Mid-East events are concerned. I have always been against the Iraq war, but feel that we had to go into Afghanistan because that is where the real enemy that hit us on 9/11 was. They have some compelling arguments in the video, although I am unsure how truthful they are really being. I know that you are not afraid of controversial topics, so watch this and tell me what you think.

http://207.44.245.159/article7468.htm

Tim.

Below are a few excerpts from the transcript of the video message at the site Tim gave the link to:

People of the world! These words come to you from those who up to the day of the invasion were struggling to survive under the sanctions imposed by the criminal regimes of the U.S. and Britain. We are simple people who chose principles over fear...

... It is our duty, as well as our right, to fight back the occupying forces, which their nations will be held morally and economically responsible; for what their elected governments have destroyed and stolen from our land. We have not crossed the oceans and seas to occupy Britain or the U.S. nor are we responsible for 9/11...

...We do not require arms or fighters, for we have plenty. We ask you to form a world wide front against war and sanctions. A front that is governed by the wise and knowing. A front that will bring reform and order. New institutions that would replace the now corrupt...

...This conflict is no longer considered a localized war. Nor can the world remain hostage to the never-ending and regenerated fear that the American people suffer from in general. We will pin them here in Iraq to drain their resources, manpower, and their will to fight. We will make them spend as much as they steal, if not more...

...Lay down your weapons, and seek refuge in our mosques, churches and homes. We will protect you. And we will get you out of Iraq , as we have done with a few others before you. Go back to your homes, families, and loved ones. This is not your war. Nor are you fighting for a true cause in Iraq . And to George W. Bush, we say, “You have asked us to ‘Bring it on’, and so have we. Like never expected. Have you another challenge?”

I understand that my answer to Tim below will perhaps appear, to some, to be overly simplistic. I believe, however, that without delving into a prolonged and detailed essay, the following points touch upon the core root of the issue at hand.

The deception in the Islamic Jihad message above is similar to the deception the American government uses in justifying the war in Iraq. George Bush only tells a selective part of the truth in order to maintain public support for the war. The Islamic Jihad does the same in their propaganda. All things considered, it's true that the Jihad is struggling against foreign military abuse by the West but it's also true that the Arab world opens itself up for such a situation by allowing the extremist Islamic elements the measure of violence they employ in their struggle, such as in 9/11. These facts are only a selective part of the greater picture, however. There's more.

Neither the Islamic Jihad nor George Bush, have the real support of the people they claim to represent. There is no voice of the people in the Arab world - yet, as of today. When this voice rises, America will not need to take the measures it takes to defend itself. Opportunist Western leaders, doing the bidding of the money wielders, will not have the excuses they use today because the Arab people will choose a peaceful solution to the standoff between the cultures. The West's present military action will not be able to bring the change it declaratively seeks in the Arab world. The Arab world will not undergo its populist revolution to raise the voice of people for true peace and democracy under Western military occupation. This will only begin to happen when the American people begin pressuring their government to employ the use of diplomatic means to alleviate the standoff between East and West. It will only begin to happen when the West begins to set the good example of seeking co-existence and co-operation with the Arab people - not economic prosperity and supremacy through trade-merchant one-upmanship.

The voice of the people in the West is deeply buried today and led astray by the propaganda machine of the money wielders of the Western world - who are waging this war in order to force the Arab culture to fall into a superficial democratic rule that will open its markets to the West. It will not succeed. Because force of power has never been a lasting formula to co-existence and co-operation.

The West can't succeed in this effort because a peace forced by military rule cannot become true peace. Western leaders haven't yet made the proper effort to understand the Arab culture. The manner in which this relationship has developed since the industrial age can perhaps be summarized as follows:

This, of course is very difficult to do when the snowballing aggression on both sides reaches the degree it has today.

The American people must raise their voice for true diplomacy with the Arab world.

All this, of course, doesn't turn the likes of Bin Laden and the Islamic Jihad to angels, not by far.

These organizations and their supporters are cold blooded and thirsty killers, liars and manipulators and they revel in the spilling of blood and wanton destruction. They're fueled with the same religious zeal which the Christian front is using against them today. They care nothing about freedom for anyone because they've been the worst oppressors of their own people. They revel in ecstasy when Western leaders are so shoddy so as to allow them to justify their sick barbaric wars. The don't really represent the Arab people. They do not allow the Arab people to raise their voice for true freedom and democracy - and they have the West's aggression as an excuse to cause the snowball to roll and grow.

It will take a new, wise and just Western leadership to change the tides of the conflict in the Middle-East. A new leadership which betters understand the Arab culture and how to soothe the fury which the Islamic Jihad sows.

This is why America needs The Comic Book Creator's Party in 2008. A coalition of leaders who better understand the mechanisms of such conflicts and whose interests lie in bringing prosperity to both sides of the conflict through co-operation and understanding - not through military might and humiliating conquest.

A brave spirit for America, a bold hope for the world.

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Paul H. Cassidy, the first ghost artist of the comics, who streamlined Superman's look in the early years, passed away at age 94, on May 15 at a senior care facility in Milwaukee.

The artist joined the Joe Shuster studio in 1938, first inking over Shuster's layouts and then penciling and finishing his own stories. He left the Superman chores in 1940 due to the poor income the work brought, and returned to teaching in Milwaukee.

Paul Cassidy is credited with streamlining and cleaning Shuster's rough drawing style and bringing the "S" symbol closer to the one we know today. He was also the first to add the symbol to Superman's cape. Cassidy's layouts were dynamic and set the tone for the heroic appeal that Superman had garnered over the decades.

In recent years his children and grandchildren discovered a vast presence for the artist on the web, crediting Paul with his significant contributions to Superman. The Milwaukee Journal sentinel Online tells of their discovery and how the artist was comforted and moved by being remembered in his retirement years.

The SupermanArtists.com web site has more details of Paul's Superman work and Tom Spurgeon gives a nice mention at The Comics Reporter.

Have peace, Superhero maker.

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From left: Michelle, Ruthie, Michael, Oshrat, Daniel, Orly, Elana and little Naama.

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Anyway. I like the humanity in that rendition of Odin. The old battered man behind the mask of omniscence. Why, even the most Omniscent Creator was known to take council with his own creations regarding the ultimate works of his hands, the common people.

Still, I can't help exploring the two extremes. The new, more Omniscent Odin perhaps more compliments the superhero mythology and adds an alternative design element to the poster, in its exploration of what this mythology means to us.

A-Z Superhero poster is a dynamic work that seeks to reflect a progressive evolution of the genre. At best, we can expect the unexpected in looking ahead to its completion.

Omniscent Odin.

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It was a cool day in the summer of 77 on 45th and 9th. The premiere season of the comic book creators' volleyball games in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park. Years before the fences and "Keep Off The Grass" signs dominated the scenery. Amongst the regulars at the games were Berni Wrightson, Jim Starlin, Alan Weiss, Mike Kaluta, Walter Simonson, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Jim Salicrup, Roger Stern and Jim Shooter. All players in an all-star cast of the comic book makers, in their heyday of professional brotherhood, enjoying a little weekend fun in the park.

Jim Shooter stood two inches taller than the top of the volleyball net. He was a serious player, as he was a serious editor with eyes fixed on the cockpit at Marvel Comics. Jim Shooter was a serious player who came to help his team win the games. His height and determination dominated the game segments when the player rotation brought him into the front line by the net. On this cool summer day, he'd already spiked a few rocket volleyballs at the opposing team and had rotated again to the front line. Walter asked Jim to moderate his blows - concerned that someone might get hurt. Len agreed and Berni backed them up. Jim insisted that this couldn't happen and even if it did, anyone playing volleyball should be prepared for such a possibility. The rotation had also brought me to the front line of the opposing team, across from Jim, as the ball was served.

The ball volleyed back and forth several times and finally found its way to Jim, who was adamant about his playing method and intended to demonstrate his persistence. He positioned himself to take the pass, cocked his arm in anticipation and spiked a bullet straight into my forehead.

It was a tough hit but not fatal. Still, I couldn't help demonstrate the possible consequences of such aggressive play. Not having much time, I took a queue from a Chaplain routine and allowed myself to go limp, fell straight back on the grass and laid still for several moments without the slightest motion.

"My God, Mike! Are you alright?" Walter screamed from the other side of the court as everyone began converging around me.

"We warned you, dammit!" Len shouted at Jim, who stood frozen and perplexed at the bad turn of events.

Not wishing to overdo it, I opened my eyes and raised my head slightly to see Jim's face redden with the realization that I'd staged the fall. He then quickly turned around and walked off the court in a huff, not to return to the game. It was the last time Jim Shooter played volleyball with us during the summer of 77 on 45th and 9th in the Sheep Meadow of Central Park.

Two years later in the summer of 1979, I was penciling a Spider-Man/Nightcrawler team-up for Jim Shooter, by then captain in the cockpit at Marvel comics. Jim offered this story to me, in his unique graceful style, in spite of my two year departure from regular art assignments and eccentric reputation for pursuing an effort to bring an age of peace to the world through the comics. With only three pages left to pencil, Jim asked me to also produce the cover for the first issue of a new Marvel comic book, Rom the Robot.

"Rom is a fierce and scary robot" Jim said as he explained what he wanted on the cover. "He should be front and center, big and threatening as the villagers cower in fear all around him with lightning flashing in the ominous skies."

I had been back in New York from California for several months during that summer of '79, gravitating back to my mission in the comics. I had just finished penciling Shout of the Archangel, a revision of Whole Parts, which I made many copies of and distributed to churches and synagogues around the city. I was also spending time producing random drawings with no apparent purpose other than to draw things that came to me at a whim. That night, I sat to draw the Rom cover at Continuity. Feeling a need to change the tides of violent images which characterized most of the comics work I'd done, I explored an alternative to Jim's request. By the morning I had an inspiring depiction of Rom standing magnificently on a hilltop, glowing with goodness, as the villagers gazed in awe and reverence at their mechanical savior.

"That's not what I wanted" Jim said when he saw the cover art later that day. "It's not what the story's about. I can't use this, you have to re-draw it."

Although I didn't know what the story was about because there wasn't yet a story, Jim was right. It wasn't what he asked for and my attempt to explain that this cover would serve Marvel's new book well, fell on rejecting ears. I agreed to take it back and try to do what he asked for. That night at Continuity, I drew a Christopher Reeve-like Superman with a horse looming overhead, 15 years before the beloved actor fell off a horse in a tragic accident. Try as I may, though, I couldn't bring myself to draw Rom as Jim had wanted. I put the cover aside, intending to return it to him in the morning, as is.

At 8:00 in the morning, I made my way to Marvel and arrived there before Jim Shooter. Realizing there was no bridging the gap between us on this cover, I ripped the art into four pieces, placed it in the envelope and included the following note:

This was a worthy cover and shouldn't be changed for another depiction of senseless chaos and violence. You've rejected my good efforts for the last time and from me, you'll get no more work!

I slid the envelope under Jim's office door and spent that day in Central Park trying to unwind. By evening time I made my way back to Continuity where Neal and the crew were finishing a rushed storyboard commission.

"Did you rip up your cover art for Marvel?" Neal asked in astonishment as I walked into the studio. I could always count on such news getting around fast in the comics.

"It was a good cover" I said. "They didn't want to use it."

"Everybody here is tired and we need a few more storyboard frames by the morning" Neal offered. "Here, try to do these tonight and we'll talk about this later."

Neal was the last to leave the studio that night. Making sure everyone had left, he stopped by my desk on his way out.

"Listen Mike," Neal said sternly as he towered over me. "I allowed you to come back to Continuity this time on condition that you'll accept regular art assignments and make a living, like everyone else. I also made it clear that you can't work on your religion from the studio." He then leaned into me and raised his voice in anger.

"I've made you what you are today, Mike." He shouted. "Everything you dream of and aspire to do have been influenced by me. I've been your guide at every major step you've taken in your life and I expect you to consider what I'm saying about the situation you're getting yourself into."

"How do you expect anyone to give you any more work when you rip up the art they asked you to correct? Why do I see all of these drawings lying around the studio which no one is paying you to do? Why did you make hundreds of copies of your religion artwork, using the studio Xerox machine, when we agreed that you're not to work on it from here?"

"Listen to me, Michael" Neal suddenly softened. "I'm bending over backwards to help you but you have to listen to me. You have to get back on track with paying projects and you have to stop working on your religion. If not, I'll have to ask you to leave and you can't come back." Neal then turned around and left the studio.

It wasn't the first time I'd leave Continuity not to come back. The same thing had happened a year before and I was all too aware that my time there was running out now as well. I'd already invested two long years pursuing a vision for the comics industry and left behind many stories of rugged individualism in the face of overwhelming pressure to conform to my environment. As I drew the few storyboard frames Neal had asked for that evening, I pondered how I could leave behind one more grand tale for the comics community before moving on. One more story to inspire the comics creators with an adventure that would help break the illusion with which the chains of conformity had bound our thoughts, actions and yes...even many of the comics we produced.

At 3:30 am I locked the studio and headed out to the relative silence of the late night streets of New York. On Fifth Avenue, I hailed a cab and asked the driver to take me to La Guardia Airport. Upon arriving I stepped out of the cab and headed for the terminal. The driver burst out of the cab.

"Hey! Aren't you gonna pay for the ride?" He shouted.

"I don't have any money." I said, walking back towards him.

"You asked me to bring you here and you don't have any money?"

"You didn't ask for money when I asked you to bring me here." I explained.

It was late and he couldn't argue with the logic or the situation. The cab driver then calmed down and pulled out a business card.

"Here's my phone number" he said. "Call me when you have $12 to pay for the ride." I took the card, thanked the driver and entered the airport.

The terminal was silent and empty. Straight ahead was a hallway that led to the administrative offices. A rubber covered chain, such as the ones used in banks, hung between two chrome poles and blocked the entrance. The sign above said: "Authorized Personnel Only". Considering myself authorized, I stepped over the rope and made my way into a maze of administrative cubicles, closed offices and criss-crossed corridors. Several minutes later a light appeared at the end of a hall from one of the open doors in the distance and voices could be heard emanating from the lighted room. I made my way there and found the airport personnel cafeteria with a few night workers sipping coffee and discussing another Yankee defeat in a not too particularly good season.

Across the cafeteria was a door with an "Exit" sign above it. I crossed the cafeteria, straight for the door. No one said a word or appeared to notice the stranger prowling the airport hallways at 4:00 in the morning. Past the door, I found myself at the top of a metal staircase overlooking a hanger housing a parked airplane, several floors below. I walked down the stairway and headed for the giant open doors of the hanger, leading to the airport runways. Arriving at the door, I saw an airplane in a distant runway with its lights on and its tail service door down, forming a staircase leading into the plane from the rear. Heading straight for the airplane, I ascended the stairs and walked in.

The plane was being cleaned by a night worker who vacuumed the carpet midway through the isle. I headed straight towards him and climbed around his industrial vacuum cleaner, continuing to the front of the plane. The night worker didn't say a word and continued vacuuming. Arriving at the front of the plane, I thought about Jim Shooter for a moment, walked straight into the cockpit and sat in the pilot's seat. Half an hour later a man in a suit laid his hand on my shoulder.

"Would you like to come with me and have a couple of words with the airport manager?" He asked.

"Of course." I answered.

We stepped out of the plane and back into the airport and the corridor maze. Arriving at an open door guarded by two uniformed policemen, my escort ushered me into the office. Inside, the manager sat at his desk with a few assistants seated beside him in a tribunal formation. The manager greeted me and asked me to take the empty seat across from him in the center of the office. My escort stood by the door and listened to the deliberations.

"Why did you board the airplane?" The manager asked.

"I wanted to fly to Detroit." I answered.

"Why didn't you simply buy a ticket?"

"I don't have the funds right now."

"Did you think we'd fly you to Detroit free of charge?"

"You might have."

It was late and difficult to argue with the logic or the situation. The airport manager composed himself and continued his questioning.

"Why do you want to fly to Detroit?"

"I intend to gather together some friends who are comic book fans, build a camper bus and travel the comic book convention circuit across the country, raising the awareness of a new leadership coming to America from the comic book creators."

It took the airport manager a few more seconds to compose himself this time. His assistants looked on in bewilderment and waited for the questioning to continue.

"Why did you sit in the cockpit?"

"To study the cockpit controls in case something were to go wrong during the flight. I believed I could be of some help by doing so in such a situation."

You could hear a pin drop in the manager's office as eyes gazed in disbelief at what their ears had just heard. Suddenly the door opened and a man in a pilot's uniform burst in.

"Did you think I'd let YOU fly my plane?" He exploded with dismissing laughter. "You? Flying MY airplane?"

"You might have." I answered softly.

The interrogation was over and the airport manager had but one recourse.

"Would you mind accompanying the uniformed gentlemen outside? They'd like to ask you a few more questions."

"Not at all." I answered.

The manager handed one of the policemen the report that his assistant had written while he questioned me. The policemen then escorted me to the underground parking lot where an ambulance waited. We climbed into the back and arrived, twenty minutes later, at a large complex bearing a sign: "Elmhurst General Hospital". The ambulance deployed at the emergency dock and the two uniformed policemen escorted me inside. We made our way to the elevator and up to the 5th floor where the signage revealed that we were entering the psychiatric ward. Once inside, the uniformed policemen handed the airport manager's report to the head nurse and left the ward. The head nurse asked me to wait with the other patients until a doctor would become available to examine me.

For the next several hours, I mingled with the patients. It was a quiet morning but the ward was beginning to come to life as more patients were awakening and joining the group in the open area. Aside from some small talk about why everyone was there, I spent considerable time standing by a patient lying on a wheeled stretcher bed. Another patient had said that this one was a vegetable who wasn't aware of and didn't interact with anyone in the ward. I stood by him for more than half an hour gazing into his open eyes. At one point he began uttering voices and trying to move his hand in my direction. I took the patient's hand and held it firmly. He raised his voice and began to show strength and excitement at the stranger who stood by him. Other patients gathered around in wonder at how a vegetable had suddenly come to life. The head nurse broke it up as she called me to be examined by a doctor who'd just become available.

Her name was Dr. Seinfeld. A psychiatrist in mid-life who had an easy routine examination to evaluate a patient's level of cognizance.

"What day is it today?" She asked.

"People call it Wednesday."

"Do you know what city you're in?"

"Yes."

"Well?"

"New York."

"Who's the mayor?"

"Ed Koch."

"Alright." she said, looking over the report that the uniformed policemen brought.

"Where do you work?"

"Neal Adams' Continuity Studios."

"What's the phone number?"

"869-4170. Manhattan."

Dr. Seinfeld picked up the phone, called Continuity and asked for Neal Adams. After explaining to Neal what I'd done that night in the airport, she listened to him explain something about me. Dr. Seinfeld nodded and hummed as Neal went on for several minutes. She then thanked him and ended the call.

"You're free to go." She said. "I'm releasing you this time, but if you're brought here again, it may not be so easy for you."

"Thanks." I said, as I got up from my chair.

"One more thing, Michael." Dr. Seinfeld said as we stepped out of her office. "Forget this prophet messiah thing. It'll only get you in trouble."

By the early afternoon I walked into Continuity. Neal looked at me smiling in disbelief at the story he'd heard from Dr. Seinfeld.

"Everybody's talking about how you tried to hi-jack an airplane last night." He said.

"One more story can't do much harm." I answered.

"You know." Neal said. "There's this guy I know who has a great life story."

"He should only live to tell it one day." He added.

I nodded to Neal with a smile.

"I called your mother and told her what happened. She has a bus ticket to Detroit waiting for you at Greyhound. Take some time off and come back when you feel up to it."

"Fine." I said.

"Oh, by the way, Jim Shooter sent you a letter. I've put it up on the bulletin board."

I stood by the bulletin board for long moments pondering the letter.

Dear Michael,

I'm sorry about the misunderstanding and had no intention of belittling the great cover you drew for Rom the Robot #1.

You're always welcome to work with us again and you'll receive a $25/page rate increase for all future work you produce for Marvel.

Good luck with all your endeavors and please keep in touch.

Jim Shooter,

Editor in Chief, Marvel Comics

True grace in the unique Jim Shooter style.

Jim Shooter. Portraits of the Creators Sketchbook.

Permalink Posted: 9:49 PM EST 7 comments  

It's not a perfect setup for a professional workstation. I share it with my kids, their games, and whatever else bypasses the sometimes neglected anti-virus and firewall protection. It's a little more secure now, but still difficult to ignore the extent of the assault which dealt a fatal blow to some of the work produced here recently, including to back-up files.

We've lost some high-rez images from Portraits of the Creators Sketchbook. A-Z Superhero Poster was saved through some software acrobatics and the material for Heroes & Villains and Other Celebrities was fortunately almost untouched. The inbox was completely decimated as was my address book.

There are too many enterprises benefiting from the security holes in the Windows operating system for me to believe the pathetic staged incidents where Bill Gates' demo crashed to the eyes of the world on the evening news. Too many people, including Bill Gates himself, have much to gain from the present situation where one's private computer is open season for the most juvenile hacker. Open season for the merchant masters who invade our privacy and peddle their wares in the most personal strongholds. Bill Gates can stage as many systems crashes as he'd like, in trying to convince us that he's also a victim of systems technologies. It's not conceivable, however, that the greatest programmers in the world can't put together a more secure personal workstation.

I work on a Mac when I can, it's safer. Not because it's a more secure system but because Mac systems aren't widely enough used and it's not worthwhile to infect them with viruses. Not yet. There are other operating systems safer to work with but this leaves one with a very incompatible output and work mode. Like in so many other areas of life, the people have been sold out for the interests of the corporate and political powers. Sold out to the highest bidders on the auction block of economic supremacy.

So be it. Hack away, ye hordes of digital invaders. Take all the data you desire. Our souls remain uninfected with your malice.

Permalink Posted: 11:55 AM EST 7 comments  

Full image in production and advance order page here.

Permalink Posted: 11:35 AM EST 0 comments  

Geologists have long speculated that Earth's mountain ranges are the result of the continents crashing into each other in what they theorized to be part of the process of the Pangea continent formation breaking up into the present one we now have. Neal's science project calls the Pangea model into question, noting the improbability of the continents being able to plow through the ocean floor and lack of evidence for subduction in all the places we'd need to see it.

Neal Adams' new model for the phenomenon we see on the planet today suggests that the Earth has grown in size since it came into being, and continues to do so. The overwhelming evidence he notes for this is the age of the ocean floor, which is 2-4 billion years younger than the continental crust. As geologists continue to struggle with the house of cards they've built most of their theories on, Neal is pushing ahead with his science project and presenting compelling and sound answers to many of the questions about the Earth's origins, still puzzling the scientific community.

Mountain ranges, Neal notes in the new video, came into being as the planet grew and the curvature of the continental crust became more straight. This caused the "bunching up" of land masses at the edges of the continents while leaving open flatlands in the middle areas, as is evident today.

I was fortunate to have viewed a screening of Neal's science project video in production, during a Big Apple convention last fall. An awe inspiring project with much thought and effort behind the conceptual and technical breakthroughs it makes. Difficult as it is to sway public perception of this subject and to compel an acceptance of it in the scientific community, this video is destined to become a landmark achievement in our collective knowledge and understanding of our universe.