• We all work together in one big office. I'll admit that it surprised me, too, when I visited Marvel and DC back in '71 and learned that mostly it was only production staff who actually worked in the offices of the various companies. Artists and writers were scattered everywhere.

• We're all pals and hang out together after work. A cousin to the above. And some do. But most don't. Geographical distance makes it impossible, even if clashing egos did not sometimes get in the way.

• The writer does the lettering. I suppose that's sort of logical, from an outsider viewpoint.

• Artists just draw what they're told. Even to this day there are lots of fans, never mind civilians, who do not understand the plot/pencils/script approach, sometimes called the Marvel Method.

• Coloring is done on the actual boards. Again, I suppose that's sort of logical for someone not in the know.

• The person(s) working on particular characters created the characters. Sometimes true. But when I moved into my old house there was some disappointment from kids on the block that I was not Stan Lee. After all, it had gone 'round that the "guy who created Spider-Man" was moving in. This based on a misapprehension on the part of the realtor who sold me the place. I still sometimes get people looking at me askance when I say I have done Batman or Superman. Surely I am not old enough. . .

• Royalties are paid on resale. Somehow there is an idea that when a second/third/fifteenth hand comic is resold at a comic shop, the creative team gets a piece of the sale.

• Comics are huge moneymakers. This is mostly in the wake of the hugely successful movie franchises. The assumption is that all that success crosses over to the comics themselves.

• Comics just sort of happen. They spring fully grown from Zeus' head or something. So many times I have met civilians who have given no thought at all to the creative process.

• The creators of Superman were targeted for particularly nasty treatment by the huge, faceless corporation. Can't count the number of times I have tried to dispel this one, with civilians and fans alike. People have trouble understanding that is was all just business as usual.

• The above happened because the Corporation saw the goldmine in Superman and wanted to squeeze his creators out of the game as quickly as possible. Nope. But try and convince people of that eighty years after the fact!

•••

Damn. I broke my own rule about not making lists, and immediately I am reminded why I have that rule in the first place.