As a kid, I dreamed of being a comic-book artist, of drawing the adventures of my favorite cape-clad heroes and heroines. Well, I never realized that dream, but this week I came awfully close. THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE, the weekly free paper for which I work, puts out an annual "Best of the city" issue, usually built around some theme. This year, we decided to go for a kind of "hometown heroes" approach, using super-hero iconography to celebrate the everyday heroes and heroines in town. (For what it's worth, we settled on the theme three months before the September 11 attacks.)

I was given the opportunity to come up with illustrations for the various categories we use for "Best of Austin" and I based all my work on Silver Age images and logos. I "created" my own heroes for the illustrations, but I swiped a number of compositions and poses of the figures from actual Silver Age covers. And every logo is a ripoff, er, *homage*, to the logo of a Silver Age (or older) Marvel or DC comic.

It was probably the most fun I've had doing a project for work in years. Response around the office has been positive, but as I was working on the pieces I thought the folks who would probably most appreciate these illos and what went into them would be the members of this list. In some ways, I thought of these pieces as a gift to all of you whose reviews and comments I enjoy.

I'm a fan of your weekly column. But how can you mention an unpublished John Byrne Fantastic Four and not go into more detail? Is Marvel crazy not to publish this?

I would also like to read your thoughts on the upcoming end to STARMAN. CBG devoted an issue to the character's 60th anniversary and I was hoping to see something by you. Should more creators have a say in ending a series like Sandman & Starman?

Three things. There's a comics story I want to write, but the research for it would be extensive and also involve a considerable amount of travel in the United States and Canada. A sabbatical would allow me to move this project forward.

There's a novel I want to write. It would be a bestseller and Hollywood would throw big stupid gobs of money at me for the movie rights. It also involves considerable research and travel, but it would be worth it knowing that my enemies would be so consumed by envy that they would spontaneously combust.

I could read the thousand-plus (and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) unread comics sitting in boxes all over my house and finally organize my collection. Then I would probably sell 75% of everything I own on eBay...to pay for the publication of the comics story and the novel.

I have information that ties in to your recent column about John Byrne in the 1970s. I am not sure if you are aware of this, but those Fantastic Four sample pages Byrne penciled in 1974 were published several years ago. In 1985, DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT'S COMICS INTERVIEW #25 ran an issue-long Byrne interview and, in the back of the mag, the samples were published, showing the Kirby influences and looking a lot like circa-1974 Rich Buckler pages. The art is somewhat crude but he was still a beginner. I think he was toiling at Charlton at the time. Still, it was nice to see this early work.

Feel free to share this information with your readers, but let them know that this magazine may be hard to locate; mine is the only copy I've ever seen.

I read with interest your comments on John Byrne's unpublished Fantastic Four story. I'm a huge Byrne fan. A Byrne comic was the first comic I ever remember reading and it was at that point that I became a life long comic book fan. I guess I can even blame Byrne for my 20,000+ comics collection.

The unpublished Fantastic Four story rung a bell with me as I had a vivid memory of seeing this story. While you may be aware of this, you did not mention it in your article and I thought your readers might be interested to know that this story did actually see print.

After checking my collection, I pulled out a comic magazine from 1985 called DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT'S COMICS INTERVIEW #25. The entire 114-page mag is devoted to an interview between Jim Salicrup and John Byrne. Included in the middle of the issue are the entire "30 pages of previously unpublished pencil art." It is fantastic work to look at and, even though there are no words, you can still follow the story fairly well. It's a definite must to track down for fans of Byrne and the FF.

In fact you're even mentioned in the opening as giving John his first Marvel work. You may even be mentioned in the interview itself but I have not read it in 15 years. (Note to self: re-read COMICS INTERVIEW #25.) Thanks for the great column and keep up the good work.

Howdy again. I just finished reading your latest CBG column, and while it's on my mind, I wanted to let you know that the only place where Byrne's FF pencils saw print in their entirety was in my COMICS INTERVIEW #25. I did some scratching around, and I have about ten copies left at $15 plus $5 p&h. Spread the word to your readers if you want. I think it's a pretty fair price; I've seen the issue sell on eBay for $25 and up.

I'm an avid reader of your column in the Comics Buyer's Guide, and I am also an anime and manga reader as well. Knowing you're a fan of good anime and manga and have covered your favorites in the past, and also that you enjoy going to conventions, I thought I'd alert you to a convention close to Medina

OHAYOCON, January 26-28, 2002, Independence, Ohio

http://www.ohayocon.com

While I realize you may already have prior engagements, and/or that your budget may not allow you to include an additional con, I thought that I would let you know about this event.

OHAYOCON is small, not more than 1,000 people at the previous cons, and as you might expect, run about the same as other cons, except with an anime/manga flavor. There are panels, a masquerade event, and a dealers room, offering goods from the US and imported from Japan. The material isn't limited to only what's available in the US. It also covers anime and manga only available in Japan, but which has garnered a fan following in the US. One example is INU-YASHA. The translated manga is available from Viz in the US, but it is also an animated TV series in Japan, and the US licence for this series has not been awarded as far as I know. Many anime conventions also fly in guests from Japan, and fans can hear from them and ask questions about their work.

One of the most striking differences you'll immediately notice is the number of fans who attend in costume, or "cosplay" (COStume PLAY). Cosplaying has become very popular in US anime fandom, and you'll find cosplayers range in age from little children to adults. Again, the subjects aren't confined to anime and manga available in the US, and just those only seen in Japan, but include video games (such as the Final Fantasy series) and, the more recent phenomena of JRock/Visual Kei...dressing up in the flamboyant costumes of Japanese male rock singers.

Another difference, though this can only be seen at a special event, is the anime music video contest. Fans take favorite pieces of music, such as pop songs, etc., and cut together scenes from anime to make a music video. Whilst I am not sure if this kind of thing is prevalent in SF fandom, in anime fandom it is extremely popular, and there are lots of wonderful, funny and striking music videos to be seen.

As you might expect, there is a lot of adult material at anime cons, but it's outnumbered by the sheer number of family friendly material to be seen. Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Digimon and other anime shown on television have attracted lots of young fans and their inquiring parents to conventions, and con organizers have made it one of their priorities to have their cons accessible to all ages and sensibilities. It is advisable though for parents to keep a watchful eye out for anything that might be sensitive.

I hope you decide to attend OHAYOCON, and hopefully raise your own enjoyment of the anime and manga is available there. If you're interested in seeing more about anime cons, you may want to visit the Fan's View [http://www.fansview.com] website. It's hosted by a fan who attends LOTS of conventions and posts his notes and his photos from them on the site.

Thanks for your time.