This right here is the number one reason I wanted to set up ArtValt. There are lots of things from my personal archives nobody else saw until I shared them here, but this one is exceptional: the climax and finale of my first original comic book title. It was shocking and thrilling to feel it rush through me onto the page. It was the reward for my dedication.

Though his capabilities have been elevated, Aaron Broid still can't make a decisive move even with his enemy finally in sight. But in a moment of weakness, he gives in to his impulses. This decision puts him on a collision course with his own lost past. That collision is the shatterpoint that the entire story has been building toward. Nothing will be the same afterward.

We begin this issue with a changing of the guard on the enemy side. When the effect of this hits our rebel group head on, help comes from an unexpected source and a major step forward is taken on the path to the shatterpoint. In the real world, it was June 1990 and my first few comics were in stores, so I should have been flying high. Instead, I was working harder than ever.

Revolution! This is the halfway point in the story, in which a major event pivots Broid's rebel group into a new paradigm. And it wasn't even one they planned. All it took was one oversight on the enemy side to shift the ground under everyone's feet.

When we last checked in on Aaron Broid and his gang of human trash, they had just secured a valuable alliance and taken custody of an enemy hell-bent on destroying them all. And he'd do it, too, if not for that amnesia standing in the way. Thanks to the new intel that has landed in Broid's lap, he now has the initiative to take a bigger step forward. And with that step comes bigger risk.

I wish every one of my comics had gone as well as this one. The editor agreed to it right away, I got to write and draw all of it without interference, every issue got published, and - amazingly - I got one of the best inkers I could ever ask for. It's rare, but once in a while, things line up just right. See all five issues and some extras.

In every sense that matters, Lensman: Secret of the Lens #1 was my launch pad as a professional comic book artist. Like all the most important things in life, it was a right time/right place situation. It was an unbelievable opportunity composed of lucky breaks, valuable lessons, and unexpected drama. Here's all six issues and the story behind them.

I entered the comics industry exactly the same way I entered the animation industry. I showed up with a project to pitch and someone said, "Your thing is pretty cool. Now come over here and work on my thing." In this case, that project was the continuation of one of Dark Horse's early success stories: an anime-inspired series called MECHA.

Aaron Broid leads his team into another city to look for potential allies. Their enemy isn't just an oppressive system, it is the indifference of those being oppressed. The masses have never known another way of life and lack the imagination to build one. It will take someone from outside the bubble to ignite them. And he can't do it alone. Meanwhile, in the real world, the comic book industry broke my heart for the first time.

In this chapter of the story, the heroes (if we can call them that) have just taken their first lumps, and Broid himself is beginning to see what an impossible task it is to upend a system of government. I wanted to demonstrate how arrogant he could be, wielding his intellect like a cudgel against Sef just as the younger man is beginning to invest in their crusade.

BROID #2 was only half the length of #1, but it was a lot denser with more characters and a busy city environment. Drawing the second issue of a series is when you realize that your hobby has become your job, and the calendar now rules your life. So you better REALLY love drawing comics, or you're not gonna last. Fortunately, I did (both).

A lone man awakens in a dark future of dust and smoke that make it very difficult to tell friend from foe. Life is hell at the end of the world. Only the best survive. Here is the first issue of the my first original, for-real comic book series from cover to cover, a post-apocalyptic SF action epic inspired by some of my favorite stories. Every finished page is accompanied by its corresponding rough and pencilled version.