It was a great time, with Steranko experimenting with cinema- and surrealism-inspired imagery, Joe Sinnott and Jack Kirby producing steriod laced artwork, John Buscema flexing his muscles and his ability to draw the human form, and Gene Colan's work on Daredevil.

I can still remember how stunned I was when Neal Adams took over the X-Men for a short run in the 1960's. All of a sudden, a book that I had been buying on and off and was never that interesting, became a must buy! It was just another notch in Marvel's belt to have gotten such a great artist to breathe life into a struggleing title.

Buying, collecting and rereading those wonderful books affected me so strongly that I eventually became a professional illustrator. I've never felt I was naturally talented (or fast) enough to churn out comic book pencils, but over the years I've worked the silver age imagery mine to produce magazine and advertising illustration, and it's been very satisfying. I can honestly say that if it wasn't for the Marvel Age, I might easily have been working another trade.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to walk to the candystore and pick through late sixties Marvels fresh from the distributor. Those memories will stay with me. That's why my 51 year old heart still quickens when I see those covers, no matter how many times I spot them.

Red