ME AND MY PAL JOE part two

If you haven’t read Part One, here’s a recap: the G.I. Joe bug bit me in 1982, and it was love at first sight. I was a die-hard fan for 7 years, totally immersed in the toys, the cartoon series and the comic books…

…and then came the girls.

The toys had to be boxed up and given away to the Mormon kids next door. It was the only way to ensure that my social status would be free from scrutiny! The deed was done and I moved on with my life. I had absolutely no idea that I would come full circle in the years to come.

I promised a revelation, so here it is:

We cut ahead to mid-2000. My wife and I have been married less than two years and we’re living in Longview, Washington. Our son’s first birthday is fast approaching, and I’ve abandoned my morning DJ gig to play sales manager at a print advertising company. Upstart company Devil’s Due Publishing has not yet announced that they will be publishing new G.I. Joe comics in 2001, so the field of imagination is wide open.

A few weeks after breaking the company’s sales record (nearly doubling the previous record with half the number of sales reps), I return from a day off to find the “heavies” in my office. I know what this means.

I am promptly discharged from my duties, offered a decent severance package and sent on my way. I’m told that I’m simply not focused on my responsibilities; I argue this point, but the heavies present me with a large yellow tablet that contains page after page of my own handwriting.

I know what this means, too: they were using my creative musings against me. Mind you, I filled this tablet during my breaks and in the hours that I spent waiting for late-calling sales reps (not during work time), but there was no convincing them of that.

Here’s where I drop the revelation of exactly what I was scribbling on this large yellow pad; if it doesn’t make you believe in fate and destiny, then I’m afraid I can’t help you.

I was making notes for a new G.I. Joe comic.

There were so many ideas: story arcs, character designs, over-arcing plotlines. I was basing my plan on a continuation of the Marvel run (sound familiar?) and had – easily – five or six years worth of stories planned out.

Mind you, I had no clue that a new Joe comic was coming. I was also convinced that I had given up my last creative job (on the radio) to settle down and raise a family. These ideas were locked deep inside my mind and I had to let them out, but I was in no position to pursue them...

…especially since I was now unemployed.

It didn’t help that the heavies kept the note pad. It was company property, after all. I watched that yellow pad leave under the arm of a man in his fifties whose sole job at this company was to crush dreams. I figured that was pretty much the end of that.

My creativity was drained from me. I stopped dreaming for a while, absolutely certain that I was on the path of office drudgery for the rest of days. It’s what you do, especially in a small town – you swallow those aspirations and you try not to choke as they’re going down. Scared of not being able to provide for my family, I took a job offered by a friend, working for minimum wage in a screen-printing shop.

Less than a year later, I would find myself living in Portland, Oregon. It was in that city that I would finally find my path in life…a path that would lead me right back into the world of G.I. Joe.

LOOK FOR PART THREE IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF CWR!

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