HOW IT ALL STARTED……
Let me tell you the story of when it all began. I won’t go all David Copperfield and start you off when I was 5. Let’s just get right to the juice. My big brother Rick got me into comics at age 15. He was obsessed with the X-Men and amassed an amazing collection over the years. We went to a comic book shop together for my first time and I immediately fell in love with Spider-man. The Charlie Brown of the Marvel world. Nothing ever went right for Peter, and we have all felt like “that guy” at some point and can relate. But Peter had an amazing power that he used to help the people that pushed him down. A message that can make all of us a better person.
I collected Amazing Spider-man for a few years. I fell in love with John Romita Sr and Romita Jr’s art. Was drawn in by the classics drawn by Ditko and The King Jack Kirby. Todd McFarlan blasting on the scene in the 90’s grabbed all of our attention. But as the years went on, my collecting of Amazing Spider-man dwindled to nothing. Life pulled me in a hundred different directions, as it does with so many.
I found my love for comics come rushing back when Robert Kirkman hit the scene with The Walking Dead. I was at the comic book store anticipating the arrival of each new issue. Zombie apocalypse!!! Count me in!!! I had no idea what had happened to my original collection of Amazing Spider-man (that contained a lot of key issues). But I soon had a BCW hard plastic short box, 2 ply mylar bags and boards and microchamber paper. I archive my comics, but not really a fan of slabbing. I like to preserve them and still be able to smell them. I know that isn’t odd, because I know a few collectors who do the same thing.
My brother Rick passed away in a motorcycle accident at the hands of a distracted driver recently. The pain of losing someone I had grown up with and was so close to, broke my heart. The ripple effects of that loss not only caused an enormous amount of pain, but left me feeling alone and shattered. I felt like my crutch in life was pulled away and I had nowhere to look for direction anymore. Walking blindly in the dark…
Rick was the kind of guy that would stand up for the little guy. He would put himself in harms way to protect someone or stand up for something he thought was right. He served in the Navy and raced motorcycles for years. Street, flat and dirt track. He had any two wheel racing covered and excelled at it. He was the best and safest rider I have ever known. When he passed away, the college that he worked at for years lowered the college flags to half staff in honor of him. I was in awe of the amount of lives he touched. The amount of people that came forward with stories of how they met or something Rick did for them was overwhelming. In his own way, Rick was a super hero. Hearing all of this made me want to be a better person. The only person lowering their flags to half staff when I die will be the corner liquor store when their quarterly sales of cigarettes plummets. To this day when I do something nice or selfless for someone else, I call it “working on my half staff”.
While my brothers wife was going through his things, she found his comic book collection. Because she knew the shared love of comics between Rick and I, plus I had been on the “comic addiction” rebound for a few years, she offered them to me. With tears in our eyes, she helped me load his collection of long boxes into my truck. Nothing feels more finite in life than having someone here today and gone tomorrow. Nothing compounds that feeling more than having to figure out what to do with their belongings.
When I was finally well enough to open his long boxes and start going through his books, I realized he was due for a rebagging party. I was going to have to go through each one and replace the bags and boards. While thumbing through his issues, I came across an entire section of MY old Amazing Spider-man comics. Not only did he save my collection, he had each one labeled with a sticker on the back with my name on it! He saved them for ME! He wasn’t keeping them for himself. It is as if he knew one day that they would be back in my hands. I miss you tons bro. You were always the best.
This lit something inside me. I could take something Rick and I both loved, and turn it into a career… I started writing stories that had been spinning around in my head for years. I turned those stories into scripts and started looking for artists. That is where we are today. My first comic book is only a few months away from being finished and I did it all because of the love of comics that I shared with my big brother. Every story I write has a little bit of Rick in it and I knew if he where here today, he would super excited, supportive and overly proud of me. Love you Rick. Ride on 219.
