I've reached a milestone this week: It was ten years ago that I quit my day job to plunge into the uneasy world of comic book freelancing! When Dave Johnson, then working on his second SuperPatriot miniseries for Image(SuperPatriot: Liberty & Justice), asked if I'd be his inking assistant, I was as ready as I'd ever be. It took some soul-searching along the way, but I couldn't pass this opportunity up. My parents, understandably, thought I was crazy.

   If you remember the intro on my home page, I thank them for never giving up on me. Well, ten years ago, if ever there was a time they had reason to question their faith in me, my leaving a job I hated was one of them. My parents didn't have much money growing up. They both dropped out of school before the ninth grade to work and support their families, because that's what you did back then. They were born at the onset of World War II, and the Great Depression had lingering effects that left an impression on everybody who lived back then. So my leaving a steady job to be a self-employed contractor with no investment capital was a hard pill for them to swallow. They were scared for me. Heck, I was scared for me. Karen was scared for me, but she knew the seriousness my ambition enough to support me, emotionally and financially, until I got well-established in the comics industry.

   You'd be surprised how much money you save by not eating out so much. I had a new respect for leftovers.I've covered some of this ground already in my blog titled "Chasing Davy", but there's room for expansion.

   As I stated previously, Dave let me know that he needed me to commit more time to him than just evenings and weekends. The only setback was that the work he fed me wasn't quite full-time either, as he had several projects going at once, and I was strictly hired for SuperPatriot. Dave would go over each page, and point out what I was to ink, and what I wasn't. Dave preferred inking all faces. Faces are the most personal images to an artist. He let me ink two full pages, faces and all, and although he didn't dislike the results, he preferred the control/comfort of inking his own faces. This way, he could tweak the faces in the ink stage if the mood suited him. By the third issue, Dave let it be known that as the miniseries would wrap up, he would recommend me to several DC and Marvel editors he knew.

   One Thursday in May of '95, I woke up to the phone ringing at the ungodly hour of 10:00 am (I kept very late nights back then). It was Dave, initially messing with me in one of his wacky fake voices. Once my head cleared and Dave let me in on the gag, he paused, then said: "How'd you like to ink Justice League?" "Uh, sure!" was my groggy retort. The comic Dave asked me about was not the current JLA incarnation that's been managing to stay in the Diamond Distributor's Top Twenty since the Morrison/Porter/Dell relaunch. This was late in the first relaunch, starting with the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire "Bwah-ha-ha" stories before changing creators, directions and JLA members several times over. Justice League beget Justice League International, which beget the spin-off title, Justice League Europe, necessitating JLI to become Justice League America. Got it?

   Dave was constantly in phone contact with Chuck Wojtkiewicz (not that's not a misspelling for an eyechart, it's pronounced Voy-KEV-ich). Chuck was having some recent misfortunes keeping regular inkers. He had an excellent one named Bob Dvorak, who, after working on the 100th issue, left for a higher calling, becoming a police officer (If my memory serves)! I must confess I can't relate. If he was a crappy inker, I could see changing vocations, but the funnybook deadline stresses must seems so small compared to the real problems in the world.

   In the wake of Dvorak's departure, several inkers helped grind out a few issues, often splitting issues between two inkers, leaving an uneven look. Chuck was unsatisfied, but was cautiously willing to give me a shot based on Dave's recommendation. But first, I had to get then-editor Brian Augustyn's blessing. Brian called me that day, Thursday, to request an overnight a package with my samples (on my dime, of course--I didn't have the gig yet). I spent the better part of Friday pacing a hole in the floor, biting my nails to the flesh. Late in the workday, Brian told me I was in, and that I should expect pages first thing Monday. That's how things work sometimes. A mid-to-lower selling title limping towards cancellation is the breeding ground for new talent.

   Now that I would be the 'regular' inker on Justice League America, a monthly comic, I wouldn't have time to finish the SuperPatriot series. Thankfully, Dave had another assistant in the batter's box waiting to finish. Dex had been a friend of Dave and Gaijin Studios and he was mean with a brush, and still is. I did the first half of #3, Dex the second, but it's hard to tell, as Dave's pencils are tight and Dex & I had similar styles at the time. My name didn't make the credits in #3, but Dave paid me for all my work, and I learned quickly that timely payment trumps credits any day.

   The main characters in this JLA were Metamorpho, Crimson Fox, Obsidian, Blue Devil, Fire & Ice, second stringers all. I was on the Justice League, right? I was just waiting for a leaguer I recognized to show up! Oh, there'd be teasers, a Batman panel here and there, Green Lantern and Hawkman doing some problem-solving in some far-off area like Egypt, to be viewed all-too-briefly on the JLA monitors by some wisecracking blue mini pterodactyl called The Yazz . What a tease. But, hey, it was the Big Time, working for DC Comics in New-York-City!

   I was still thrilled to be a full-time professional inker with all the trappings: Deadlines, phone calls with an editors and assistant editors, paychecks with Wonder Woman on them...

   Then I experienced my first professional hardship. After five issues, I was let go, but better things were in store. I will elaborate on this next week, as I've run out of time. But first---

   One last thing: This week is the last Captain America by Scot Eaton, myself, Rob Schwager and Robert Kirkman (#32). Do us all a favor and buy three copies, one to slab, and one to read, and one for a dear friend for which a Hallmark Card doesn't quite express how you feel about them.

   One other last thing: This week, Chris and I added another page full of commissioned work. There's more Wieringo, Sprouse and Bagley, plus Stuart Immonen, Sean Chen, Al Rio and Dick Ayers!