One of the most rewarding aspects of working at Dark Horse is office decoration. When I returned to staff at DH a few years ago, I made a concerted effort to create a space that screamed "professional": neat as a pin, displaying nothing more fanciful than the books we publish.

That didnÂ’t last long.

Now, my office looks every bit the explosion of repressed childhood that it should. That’s right, should. What’s the point of being in an entertainment company if you can’t be surrounded by fun and imagination? I can’t fully express the kick I get when a tour comes through the DH offices and I see the faces of "civilians" as they stare in slack-jawed, goo-goo-eyed amazement at my work space, where statues, lunch boxes, and action figures vie for every available nook and cranny. The expressions are almost identical and clear as a bell: "This must be the most fun place on earth to work!" Well, it’s one of ‘em. Clearly, we ain’t in this for the money! And every office is different, each a theme-park attraction reflecting the screwy personality of its occupant. It’s Disneyland without the security guards.

To be honest, I donÂ’t think I could survive in a button-down office. Too often, our jobs are separated out from our "real" lives. Work becomes gasoline, a smelly, toxic fuel necessary to keep the motor running. We dread Monday morning. We count the minutes until 5:00 Friday. Nearly half our waking hours are spent working, getting ready for work, or travelling to and from work, a pretty hefty volume of precious time to relegate to the "exempt from real life" shelf. LifeÂ’s too short to be miserable eight hours a day.

That said, and as tough and frustrating as this job can get at times, I never forget how lucky I am to be seeing incredible art, reading amazing stories, and producing beautiful books under the watchful eye of some kinda messed-up robot gorilla monster sitting atop my happy little iMac. And sometimes the job dovetails perfectly with the fun, like editing Blast Off!, a book all about classic pre-Sputnik space toys. ItÂ’s a difficult project to manage, but I canÂ’t help but get regular ear-to-ear grins when I see pictures of some of the coolest toys ever made: the Buck Rogers XZ-31 Rocket Pistol, the Rex Mars Planet Patrol playset, the Yonezawa tin Diamond Planet Robot, the Archer Plastics Atomic Defense Truck. Sometimes I canÂ’t believe I get paid to do this!

I donÂ’t know whether he who dies with the most toys wins, but he who works with the most toys just might.

— Chris Warner, Senior Editor