Making Heroes

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Frank Miller; well respected names of the comic industry and creators of heroes and villains alike. If it weren't for them, the industry wouldn't be what it is today. You wouldn't have Spiderman for one. Their work has inspired countless artists and writers in comics, movies and of course, the gaming industry.

So when I read that Giant Sized X-men for Heroclix has sold out at manufacturing level world wide, I took it as one more part of the legacy started way back then. I don't mean to take kudos away from the marketing team behind Heroclix, by the way.

Making heroes has inspired me too, more than I may be able to explain. I really have a great deal of respect for the industry and there's good reason I'm so opinionated on the subject and its variations.

My first comic book was an issue of Spiderman against a silver dragon and I was five or six years old. Not long after that I went through some serious changes in life and hard times ensued well into my teens. I grew up with undiagnosed autism (Asperger's Syndrome)and survived an abusive step parent and, well, my escape became the heroes. Finally it came to creating my own. Yes, I created my own universe of characters.

I wrote a role playing game and documented histories of over 200 alien races and 400 characters. I've done a hundred illustrations and now I work on novels with my own hopes of publishing. My heroes were my escape and I got to know every trivial things about them for the times I grew up in. I was a comic book junkie in the truest sense of the word.

So, I'm pretty opinionated on the making and stats of those favorite characters and even a few others. I like to believe I have a solid understanding of character development and powers.

I'm currently considering creating a Facebook page to share my universe with my friends and who knows, maybe more will come of it. I've even done custom heroclix of over 70 of my characters. So, I may be sharing my passion and universe upcoming, who knows, but until then, I'll be waiting to get my hands on a case of X-men!

I do want to add that I have great, great appreciation for the work that they've done with heroclix. There are good people working in the company and I can thank them a lot for all they've done. Not only for the great characters that have done so much for me, but also:

My godson, Zach, in Lincoln, Nebraska was on his way to a tournament in late 2007 (or was it early 2008?- hard to remember clearly) when he was in a car accident. He was 19 and a great kid. He was a hardcore player too. My playing group contacted Wizkids and told them of the loss of a great player, who was gone before he could finish his last collection from the set out at the time. Do you know what they did for him? They sent his mother an entire factory set. So know this, Wizkids and all working with them... you're okay in my book.

Now my son's 9th birthday is the 15th... guess what he's getting for his birthday? Ha ha, that's right. X-men here we come. Hope this one wasn't too heavy for any of you. Hope your draws are awesome! Keep clixing!