I also immediately went back and got as many back issues as I could find.  It was like a 20 or 30 block walk to the comic store and I could only afford the less popular issues or the issues with the covers missing sometimes, but I got as many as I could.  I discovered that, while Cockrum’s run was series-defining, it was your run that I loved the most.  Something about your style just really worked for me - the characters were so solid, so well-defined, so unique, and Austin’s inks were so clean, yet kept the exquisite details you put into your work.  The way you laid out a page, the action was so clear, so dynamic and kept me wanting to turn the page eagerly.  It definitely inspired me to try my own hand at drawing comics (I bought the “How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way”) and, while I never went into drawing professionally, you’re probably still the main influence on my drawing style.

I love that you’re doing this as a passion project and nothing more.  I know a lot of people here wish it to become an official project or series and, while that would be cool for US, I love that you’re doing this for YOU and choosing to share it with us. The fact that you’re doing it for your own enjoyment makes it so much more special.  You have total control over it and are doing what you’re personally inspired to do.  

As someone who has done creative projects both professionally and personally (I’ve drawn comics for myself - one was 135 pages and took me years to do, written a bunch of stories and made a bunch of short films and programmed a bunch of video games), I totally get what it feels like to do something just for the love of doing it.  Please don’t let people pressure you or put demands on you and make it feel like work.  I don’t get the sense that you’d let this happen, but I sincerely hope you don’t feel obligated to do this for anyone else but yourself.

Thank you again for the memories, inspiration and for sharing this with us.

Whenever I’m writing or drawing, I sometimes get to a scene that I feel is necessary for advancement of the plot, but which I’m not really feeling inspired to write/draw.  Does this ever happen to you?  How do you get past it?

I had this happen to me a few times in my 135 page comic personal project (the reason it took me years to do).  Though in that case (looking back on it now), I had started out just making it up as I went along, then at some point got really interested in the story and wrote out the rest of the script for the comic.  

That might have been where I went wrong - letting the script get so far ahead of the drawing - then the new scenes I was to draw didn’t seem “fresh” and inspiring, they felt like obligations.  Maybe I needed to not feel so constrained by the script I’d written...

Absolutely beautiful artwork.  I mean, this is stunning.  I always felt that the art from the original run couldn't be touched, but these pages are even better.