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I've worked in comics as a writer, penciller, inker, colorist and even lettered some. I've even shot negatives and helped make plates before doing a press check. My best-selling book was the first comic book to sport a Chromium cover--BLOODSHOT #1, kicking off a string of specialized printing of covers in the industry.

I'm probably best known in the comic book field as Executive Editor at Valiant Comics and the co-creator/writer of the Bloodshot series and the writer of the Flash Gordon Sunday Comic Strip.

I feel like rambling a little so.......

A word about mentors...

I have been fortunate to have a variety of mentors in my life. For me, a mentor is anyone in your life that you learn from simply by interacting. Some of the people that follow were actively teaching me. They knew they were passing on information and I knew I was learning. In some cases, however, it's more of a sense of osmosis. I simply absorbed skill and knowledge by watching them work or talking to them. Of course, this list is far from complete, but these are some of the people who I have learned from.

Roger McKenzie, Keith Pollard, David Campiti, Jim Shooter, Bob Layton, Barry Windsor-Smith, Fred Pierce and John Nee gave me insight into the world of comic books and business. John Van Vliet, Doug Beswick, Bill Arance and my friend Chadd Cole have all been mentors in Visual Effects. As a film-maker, I have learned from Harry Eisenstein (a friend from my Valiant Days who put up with my questions when I knew less than nothing about film-making), Matt Steinauer, Vince Di Meglio and Mike Feifer.

Then there are the mentors you never meet. You're interaction is passive; reading or watching their work in comics or film. Tony Robbins has been a friend and coach in the car or on a walkman off and on for years. Al Williamson, Paul Gulacy and Gene Day formed my sense of lighting and composition. Frank Miller taught me about rhythm and story. And the power of minimalism. In film, Ridley Scott, James Cameron, Peter Jackson as well as Lucas and Speilberg showed me that you can create believable new worlds. Robert Rodriguez showed me the fun and excitement of building a sequence through editing. Hitchcock is currently teaching me pacing and structure while Welles patiently tries to explain how he was able to create Citizen Kane at 26 years old. "Simply be brilliant and surround yourself with people who want to stretch and grow as much as you do." 

Easy for him to say.

John Hyde, the CEO of Film Roman, is one of my mentors now. It's a pleasure to work with someone who has been in the entertainment business as long as he has and still has an obvious love and passion for it. Fred Kuehnert who helped raise money for Frost has been an invaluable source of knowledge and friendship.

The beautiful thing about mentors is the fact that the knowledge flows both ways. You never know who's life you're touching, so touch with care. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of having dinner with several comic book retailers and a few other comic artists. Among them was then X-MEN artist Brandon Peterson who was enormously popular. At one point in the conversation, a retailer asked him how he learned to draw so well. Without missing a beat, Brandon explained that he'd worked very hard for years, studying anatomy and storytelling but --then he pointed to me-- it was a few hours sitting with me at a comic book convention that had led to a breakthrough in his work that took him to a new level. Now, I can't take much credit there. Brandon already drew far better than I did even then. But I had shown him a different way to think about his storytelling. If it hadn't been me, it would've been a movie, another artist, or even a dream that might have triggered this new revelation, but I'm proud to have been there.

Ironic image considering that Bloodshot and the gang ended up in Bongo Comics' Simpsons comic long before I joined
Film Roman--the company that animates the Simpsons--as Vice President and General Manager! That's Jim Shooter, Steve Massarsky, Jon Hartz and Bob Layton that is being referred to in the pic as Ninjak, Bloodshot, XO and Rai.

A brief word about Valiant Comics...

Occasionally, I'm asked what it was that was so special about Valiant Comics. Years after the titles were regularly published there is an active fan following with Internet sites and highly competitive auctions for memorabilia. For what it's worth, here are a few of my thoughts.

It's rare enough for magic to happen in any creative venture. It's rarer still for it to be sustained for any length of time. Because I started working in comic books when I was barely out of high school, I've seen a lot of companies come and go. Many had one or two memorable titles that were missed. In the early 80's, Pacific Comics gave us The Rocketeer. Capital City Comics, which chose to stick to the comic book distribution business, gave us Nexus and Badger. First Comics brought Jon Sable and Lone Wolf and Cub. Comico's Elementals and Innovation's Hero Alliance also come to mind. Indy publisher Caliber Press introduced us to The Crow.

But in all those years, I don't think any, "forgotten universe" (to borrow a term from a certain Newsarama writer) ever had such a strong following and tightly woven continuity as Valiant. Ask any comics fan who was actively reading a broad range of books in the 90's and you can bet you'll hear titles like X-O Manowar, Solar Man of the Atom, Magnus Robot Fighter and Bloodshot amongst the ones he read. One title, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter went on to be a video game bringing in millions of dollars.

The talent that came out of Valiant has gone on to shine in a variety of fields. The current Editor-in-Chief of Marvel is my friend Joe Quesada. He started out coloring Nintendo Comics for Valiant in '91 before blowing away the competition on Ninjak and
X-O Manowar. Jesse Berdinka, writer and editor, went on to be a movie producer working with Miramax/Dimension Films. Jeff Gomez, who wrote and edited a wide range of projects is known throughout the toy and marketing worlds as the guy who can build a universe for intellectual properties like Hot Wheels Highway 35. And there are those who simply continued to be the best in comics. Bob Layton, Tony Bedard, David Michelinie and more. Founder Jim Shooter continues to bring the strength of his wonderful vision to entertainment. Fred Pierce is the President of Wizard Entertainment.

I think the fact that Voyager Communications (Valiant's parent company) was funded to the tune of around 3 million dollars helped. Even though all of that was pretty much spent before the success of UNITY during the summer of '92, it helped the company hang on where smaller, less capitalized companies had to take smaller risks with smaller upsides. It's like a TV show that is given a string of chances to find its market. Remember, Star Trek was cancelled twice, long before becoming an international phenomenon.

Great marketing from Jon Hartz, real business sense from Fred Pierce and Steve Massarsky and a strong sense of popular tastes from Jim Shooter and later Bob Layton gave us a unique advantage in a comic book industry ruled by Marvel and DC. Significant advertising dollars brought in by Ad Guru Seymour Miles made sure that the books broke even despite early low sales.

OK, that wasn't all that brief. But it's hard to be concise about something that affected your life as much as those few years did mine. If you're not familiar with Valiant Comics go out and track some down. Most of the run can be gotten quite affordably.

I think you'll get hooked.

Best always,
Kevin VanHook
Hollywood, California
12-21-03










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