Back in the mid 1980s (1987?) I called on Gil Page Managing Editor at Fleetway in London. He was there with another editor -I cannot recall his name but tallish with a moustache.
I went through the usual artists portfolio (as I was then a creators agent) and a couple other items out of my bag. Gil's eye was caught by another folder in my bag "What's that then?" he asked. I told him it was just my notes, sketches and ideas for personal projects and his colleague asked to have a look see.
After about twenty minutes of chatting and talking through the material the moustached fella looked at Gil: "Where was he in the hey-day?" I was a bit confused until it was explained that out of the 30 or so projects in the folder they would both have taken at least 15 of them and had a couple others on standby. I was informed (a lot of good it did me in 1987) that when Fleetway was still big into publishing I would have been in full time employment.
I was asked how I got my ideas and I told them both that they sprung to mind. I told them even something mundane I could turn into a story so they tried me out and I came up with ideas. Then I was asked to come up with a story "some grass blowing in a breeze" I was told. I gave three ideas -one was sci fi, one horror and one action all beginning with a close up of wind blown grass.
Archie Goodwin who I met at a UK Comic Art Convention in London also had a look through my projects (I think he was editing Epic at the time(?). He told me "You have enough here to keep a medium sized comic publisher going for more than a year!" he told me. What happened? A clue: I had baked beans as a main meal today😂
One folder out of a box full of stuff. Camera old and crap and some of the ideas have been used. These are all notes and sketches I make quickly while awake at night and thinking of ideas. These are projects that, if I could afford to pay artists, Black Tower would be publishing for the next five years.
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