January 18, 2005
Workin' for The Man

   This week, we Floridians have been treated with a decent cold snap, which is nowhere near as cold as, say, the Carolinas, let alone Minnesota. Any excuse to wear my leather jacket down here is a treat for me. It's nice walking weather. Before you know it'll be 80 degrees with 100% humidity.

   Here we go again, dippin' into the mailbag (I've considered renting one of those giant pods used for moving just to hold all the mail)! Willie Lumpkin, we have need of you! Shine the Lump-signal!

   Drew,
   If you weren't involved in comics as a career, the job you most would like to have held would be --?

   1) Well, playing in a rock band would be the ultimate 'career', because I appreciate musical talent (of which I have none), plus all the 'fringe benefits'. I'd want to kick ass for a few years, make money, then disappear, because a healthy person would eventually outgrow that lifestyle. I didn't quite have the ambition to be the fifth Beatle, but I'd have gladly taken on the mantle of the fifth Monkee!

   I'm mostly a self-taught artist/inker, so it stands to reason I could've focused those energies and disciplines to learning a musical instrument to some degree. I know a lot of comic book creators who tinker around with musical projects. On the flipside, many of the biggest rock stars during the British Invasion were art students at one time.

   But that was as crazy an ambition as being a comic book artist! That aside, I used to muse about what I think I'd have liked to do for a 'real' job. Such as...

   2) A radio disc jockey. Unfortunately, that's a gig that's even less secure than working in comics. Many moons ago, commercial FM radio used to play lots of great 'album cuts' and even programmed 'rockumentaries' that included interviews. Nowadays, airplay for big hit songs is dictated months in advance, with no musical input from DJs. The modern DJ role is strictly that of a drive-time chattering on-air personality. There's always the option of working for a college radio station or an internet station, but try making a living at that! All through my teens, I'd spend a lot of time making my own mix tapes. You can ask my parents, they remember having to repeatedly holler upstairs to get me to reluctantly shuffle out of my room. Hey, my room rocked! I had my comics and music, what else did I need then?

   Even though I'm bemoaning the homogenization of what's becoming increasingly termed as 'Terrestrial Radio', I'm grateful we now have many options, such as burning custom CDs and Satellite Radio, which I think will be the equivalent of Cable's impact on network television. Both will survive, but both will be common household alternatives.

   Another career path I seriously considered when I graduated high school (brace yourself):

   3) An interstate truck driver - I used to love long road trips, and I did a lot of hauling for my parents' candy store as a teen. I'd fill the Chevy van to the roof with many 50 lb. boxes of chocolate from the local distributor, which would weigh down the van so much, the tires would sink, then slide a bit when I made turns (picture laying on a beach ball, the ball wobbling under your applied weight-that's what the tires became like). Hauling the boxes was great exercise. I felt a simple clarity of purpose then...

   ...unlike the corporate office work I'd later experience where responsibilities are purposely malleable, seemingly designed to shift blame rather than problem-solving, and consequences subjective. Don't call me a cynic, because someone's already beaten you to it! Namely, me!

   My grandfather on my dad's side (we called him Pop Pop) was a truck driver. He was a tall, dark Sicilian who was thin and wiry, but strong as an ox. His arms were taut like piano wire and he was tough. Frankly, he scared the $#&% out of me as a kid! One of my favorite stories about him: He was delivering furniture and given cash to hire some extra hands. He pocketed the money and hauled everything by himself, including a couch on his back up several flights of stairs! I think he might've been a Sherpa in a previous life!

   One last note: Check out the new addition to the Pencil-to-Ink Study. It's the much-delayed faux Tales To Astonish #79 cover I've been promoting on the home page. Chris and I will soon be retooling the Pencil-to-Ink Study section to be more streamlined and consistent with the rest of the site. When we started all this, I basically tossed a batch of art and copy at him with few instructions, and he's built it up to something way cooler than I imagined. Next week, I hope to have a new project announcement, but in the meantime, I've got plenty of commissions to keep me occupied from the likes of Pop Mahn, Doug Rice, Don Kramer, Ron Frenz, Paul Ryan plus a JLA jam by Perez, Deodato Jr. & Doug Mahnke! The fun never stops at the Fun Factory...
 
To be continued...
 
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