Way back in 1979, I received my first—and only!—art assignment from Marvel Comics. It was to draw the inside front cover of Marvel Super Special 15, featuring an adaptation of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the big-screen recreation of the famous TV series. It was a dream come true, even if it didn’t—SPOILER ALERT!—have a happy ending.
My latest Tales From My Spinner Rack video—Episode 33—chronicles the tale of “How I Got—and Lost—My Only Marvel Art Job!” It also tells of my many years as a member of the Pittsburgh Comix Club, a small group of comic book enthusiasts who met monthly at a local comics shop and held their own annual convention, called PittCon. I was a member of the club pretty much from the moment I stepped foot in Pittsburgh to go to school in 1974, until its demise in the 1980s. Along the way, I met comic book creators like Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Paul Levitz, Marie Severin, and Pittsburgh native, Jim Shooter, who offered me that very first assignment at Marvel, soon after he became editor-in-chief.
Despite the fact—SPOILER ALERT—that the Marvel/Star Trek job had a different ending than intended, my years with the Pittsburgh Comix Club were among the most formative of my young life, unexpectedly preparing me for my 20-year career to come with San Diego Comic-Con in the 2000s. In addition to my Marvel story, this video offers a look into comics fandom over 50 years ago, in a bygone era of fans and conventions, and a glimpse at one of the country’s oldest comic book shops, Eide’s Entertainment in Pittsburgh, PA.
You can watch Episode 33 right here, right now or click on the video below and see it in all its full-screen glory on the official Tales From My Spinner Rack channel on YouTube! Please subscribe on YouTube, where you’ll get my latest episodes a day earlier than here on my blog! And while you’re there, check out all of our other numbered episodes of Tales From My Spinner Rack, collected in the “Complete” playlist.
Tales From My Spinner Rack! Episode 33: How I Got—and Lost—My Only Marvel Art Job!
Click here for more than 30 Tales From My Spinner Rack! posts featuring nostalgic essays loaded with art and info about the comics I loved growing up in the 1960s and ‘70s!
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