One of the best... no, strike that, the very best thing about my job is that I get to help some incredibly talented writers and artists get their start in comics -- or at least get their work widely seen. Please understand, I'm not claiming that I have anything to do with their talent or developing it. I'm just a facilitator. But it's great, vicarious fun to see these creators take their first steps in comics and eventually make the medium their own.

Not that it always works out the way I hope. Sometimes the sheer amount of work that's required to produce a comics story proves too daunting for the newcomer. Other times they're off chasing "greener pastures" at other companies before I can ever arrange for them the kind of job they're suited for. But, occasionally, they turn out to be a Paul Chadwick, or a Doug Mahnke, or a Geof Darrow, or a ... Francisco Ruiz Velasco.

At the beginning of 2000, I had the chance to introduce Francisco's astounding art to the American comics market in a couple of issues of Ghost and, a few months later, in his Battle Gods series. Less than a year later, I had the extreme pleasure of seeing one of my own Star Wars short stories drawn by Francisco ("Paco" to his friends). Now Paco has taken on the task of bringing Blizzard Entertainment's game Diablo to life in comics. Over the course of fifty pages, he (along with writers Dave Land and Philip Amara) delivers three tales, presented in a range of styles that would require a number of separate lesser artists. He's even taken to coloring much of his own work.

It's not easy being a one-man show, but Paco makes it look that way. In all my years in comics, I've never seen anybody work more diligently -- or retain such enthusiasm for the work. And, if he gets in a deadline jam (not that that's happened yet!), he can count on coloring assistance his studio mates, Edgar Delgado, Raul Trevino, and Salvador Vasquez (and, as I've discovered, for colorists, Edgar and Raul are better pencillers than many pencillers -- but that's a subject for another column!).

I believe that the best is yet to come from Paco, er, Francisco. On the horizon is another Star Wars short (written by Mike Kennedy), another original series called Culebra ("The Snake"), possibly another longer Star Wars saga, another as yet unnamed series, and possibly a sequel to Battle Gods. And those are just the projects currently in discussion!

Lucky me, I got to be there when Francisco started down this road. Lucky you, you get to be along for the ride.

Randy Stradley,
the luckiest boy in the world