I assumed that the collaboration between the writer and artist would be fairly intimate, a lot of back and forth. But it's not like the old days when they were all together in New York, working out of the famed Marvel bullpen.

Until the 20th century it was generally assumed that a writer had said what he had to say in his works.

These things are important to me, these things I write. I recognize and embrace the notion of collaboration - and other people should, too.

portrait of the artist.

You go through a whole procedure before you can even pitch an idea. They would only talk to me very generally about stories and characters until I had signed a release that said Marvel is developing many story ideas in many arenas and even if a story later emerges that is very much like mine, it might have existed before and I will not under any circumstances sue them.

The truth is, because of where the technology is now, the artists are really spread out.