Fast forward a few years in time, and I was now 13 years old ....it was January or February 1971.
I had an idea. What if I bought a sketch pad, and colored markers, and wrote and drew my own comic books?
My mom got me a Morilla sketch pad..it had 30 pages or so, and the pages were big! I used both sides of the sketch pad, which meant each issue could be a sixty page "special ", as comic books were called in those days.
I had to buy the colored markers myself.
I had by this time added my own version of the fantastic four to my group, which was now called " The Mighty Heroes", after the cartoon which featured Rope Man, Cuckoo Man, Diaper Man, Strong Man, and Tornado Man.
The line up of The Mighty Heroes in 1971:
Mr. Fantastic - Super stretching powers.
Athleto - was several times as strong, as agile, and as fast as a normal man. Lame name, though!
Invisible Girl - Could turn invisible and create invisible force fields. Surprise!
Powerman - Super strength.
Energy Kid - Possessed energy powers.
The Human Torch - Flame powers.
Laser Girl - Laser powers.
Electric Girl - Electric powers.
Robot Man - Powers similar to Iron Man, except he was a robot.
Anti Grav Kid - He could fly. That's all he could do.
Supergiant Guy - Could become a giant or shrink to ant size.
Tiny Girl - you guessed it! She could shrink to microscopic size.
I copied comics I was reading, except I threw in some things from my imagination. The art was good for a 13 year old kid, but the writing..was terrible!
I wrote lines like: " Must help the others!", " Got to use all my power now!", and, " You'll never get away with this!"
Ugh.
I never seemed to be able to finish a story. I was good at starting them, I just seemed to be unable to make up my mind on how to end them!
As I had to pay for the colored markers out of my own allowance, that ended quickly, as the markers proved to be a big expense. They ran out of color very quickly.
I did continue my home made comics into my mid teens, quitting by age 16.
There was one other character I have not discussed. He was not a member of the group. He was their mysterious
wealthy benefactor. You never saw him, but he was mentioned. He paid the bills for The Mighty Heroes' head quarters, their jets, weapons, salary, etc. He would play a big part in the group several years later.
Move ahead to 1977. It was my third and final year of college. I began drawing my own heroes again. This time, for the next 2 - 3 years, all I did was make my own versions of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and "The Empire Strikes Back", using my own heroes. I had added Mr. Spock and The Bionic Woman to my group. Hey, it was the 70's! I even killed Mr Spock in the summer 1980. He had to go aboard an alien space ship and sabotage the engines. He died saving the Bionic Woman, Lasergirl, and Athleto, who got away in the Millenium Falcon. I never did bring Spock back. Lucky thing they did that in " Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock."
Fast forward again to 1980. I turned 23 that summer. I once again picked up my comic book drawing.
This time, however, I did not use my own characters.
I began drawing my own Legion Of Super Heroes comics. Some stray pages survived; I might post them sometime.
I added Lasergirl to the Legion. She was the only one of my original characters who somehow found herself in the 30 th century.
My writing began to improve by this time. The stories and dialogue were no longer laughable. The art was steadily improving, too.
I moved the Legion in my own direction. They fought giant super robots, living planets, and advanced alien races.
I got bored with that, though. I wanted to draw and write my own characters and stories again.
I just needed a little inspiration.....
Continued soon.
