I was living in Colorado, married, and drawing in the spare bedroom of the condo. We didn't have home internet, so I would go to the local library to check things online. At first, I had to write any story I might want to post on the spot, into the reply field on the "new post" forms. And man, did the board move fast... We had on average 10 people checking the board every 5 minutes or so, and it played out closer to a chat than a regular message board sometimes.



Now I'm living in Maryland, divorced, and the art director of an entertainment company making movies and video games. I take forever to write my stories now, and can do it from the comfort of my home. (I recently got a laptop computer as well that I can use in the living room in front of my TV. I'm doing that now.


Hmmm... I'll have to check online to see what was going on in 1998...

I was still excited about the possibilities of Marvel's Avengers by Perez and Busiek... My favorite character from childhood, the Vision, had been rescued by Bob Harras from spoiled-milk retconning and was back on a team with Hawkeye and Wanda and Cap... Things were looking good! Shame how that one turned out.

Checking the movie rankings for that year, it wasn't a very good summer for flicks. No wonder I was heading to the library for entertainment.

I believe I was given a number of book recommendations that first fall from other posters, including "Bridge of Birds" from Shaper of Worlds and the Miles Vorkosigan novels from Dr. Moo. Both ended up being very good reads.



Now, sadly, I have very little free time to read novels. I miss reading quite a bit, and I'm quite sure my writing and overall intelligence has suffered for it.

Movie wise, we had a pretty good summer. "Blade" had just come out in '98... Comic book movies sure did make a come back in the intervening years.

As for comics, I've pretty much drifted away from them. I have mostly negative opinions about the Avengers run that I was looking forward to back then. While I think it was, overall, a solid series, I think it paved the way to the sorry state that the Vision ended up in today.


Lord only knows. I wouldn't have seen the changes coming in my personal life. I think working in the video game industry would have been a surprise as well, although it may have made a certain amount of sense. If anything, I probably would have hoped to have been in the comic industry, professionally.

I really would have hoped for flying cars by now.



I'm still driving the same car I was then, so that answers that one.

I think things were more optimistic then... We were coming to the end of the Clinton years, and we'd known little but peace and prosperity the majority of the time. Our big political debates were about funding for the arts or interns under desks. We were getting along pretty well with the majority of the world. I really don't think I could have predicted where we'd be just ten years later, nationally or internationally.


Just one? Maybe to invest in something called "Google". Or to go ahead and buy up that Marvel stock was it was dirt cheap. Or to not expect much from the big conspiracy on "The X-Files". Really, there's a lot to choose from.



Know any good stocks?

Actually, I'd want to know about the important people in my life.



Characters? There was pretty much just Visionary, having recently taken up residence at Baron Zemo's Lair in order to join the fun. He was still looking to find his niche in the big scheme of things, and trying to decide if he should be a villain or not, with the guidance of his patient, off-screen wife.

Before the year was out, he would be a regular character in the Parodyverse, and eventually on Jarvis' newly renamed "Lair Legion". Hallie had been introduced as Baron Zemo's computer, and had moved out on her own. And Cheryl had become introduced as Visionary's wife and ended up taking a job as the Legion's Public Relations specialist.

Wangmundo, though not yet created until 1999... or was it 2000?... was likely hiding in the local Library happily reading books.

Masamune had just been introduced as a supporting player in "International Incident". We knew she was in organized crime and owned a nightclub.

Zebulon and Rabito were introduced right at the end of the year, in the first Christmas story.

I'm not really sure who else is worth a mention.




Visionary is now single, with two children by an alien former sex-slave, and about to take a new position (hopefully in a story to be penned during the anniversary week.)

Hallie is now the Legion's computer sentience, and has evolved a great deal. She also incubated Vizh's kids, helping bring them all the way to term, making her one of their two moms.

Cheryl left the Parodyverse forever in a moment of self-sacrifice. She is happy and healthy in her new life in a different universe.

Wangmundo is... well, I'm not really sure.

Masamune has been refined from being the only organized crime figure in the Parodyverse to one of many as new mob bosses have been created, leading to a further redefining of her niche.

Zebulon is appearing in last years still-to-be-finished Christmas story, starring Visionary's kids Maggie and Griffin. Rabito has been scarce in recent years.