“I remember my very first comic book was Tales of Suspense, a double issue featuring Iron Man and Captain America. I got it in Cleveland, Ohio. My dad was from Cleveland and we went back to see the folks. My grandma bought it for me at a drug store. That’s how tied into it I am. I remember when I got my first comic book. I remember looking at the comics and saying ‘Grandma, can I have one of those?’ and she saying ‘Yes, but just one.’

“Now I didn’t have a clue about them. I just picked out the most colorful one. When I opened those pages, they just transformed me. I became one of those kids who used to get those flower seed packets, sell them and use the money to buy comics. I’m a major martial arts student, too. I remember I literally stopped going to class one time because it was interfering with my Saturday morning cartoons.”

Phil Morris