JIM STARLIN

As time went on, Thanos just sort of grew organically on his own.

Vietnam affected everything in life while it went on. My time in the service made it clear to me that what we were being told in our newspapers and newscasts, back in the States, wasn't half the story of what was really going on.

I was just as crazy as everybody else post-Watergate, post-Vietnam.

I'd grown up very Catholic, parochial school, and Warlock was a way of working a lot of things out.

Most times, life or death is the highest stake a person can play for.

My father worked in Chrysler's drafting department and used to bring home tracing paper, No. 2 pencils, and masking tape from the office. With these, I used to trace off drawings from the 'Superman' and 'Batman' comics and put them up on my bedroom walls.

I didn't like characters that were one- or two-dimensional. I liked a guy to have a lot of different levels to him and layers, and I think I pretty well succeeded with Thanos.

Very little other than Elmore Leonard's crime writing inspiring me on my Batman run.

There's a character, Eon, I did back in the 'Captain Marvel' story. Eon came from a greasy smudge on a paper bag inside my kitchen being used for garbage. I went and got a paper and pencil, drew it up, and he became a character in that story. Things come from everywhere.

I never imagined people like Thanos and Warlock would be drawn into films. They're weird characters in weird stories. Luckily, the twisted kids who read those weird stories are now the twisted adults who are making movies.

Not exactly sure there can be a final chapter to Thanos, considering what he is and his relationship with Mistress Death. Might just be that as long as there is a Marvel, there will be a Thanos to plague that universe's heroes.

When I started writing 'Batman,' I lobbied heavily to get rid of Robin - or at least not use him in the stories I wrote. Fighting crime with a teenager dressed in primary colors while you're sporting a gray-and-black outfit always struck me as child endangerment, if not abuse.

My well-meaning parents decided to send me to a Catholic grade school to get a better education than I probably would have received at the local public school. They had no way of knowing that the school nuns, who were the majority of the teachers at this particular parochial school, were right-wing, card-carrying John Birch Society members.

Thanos came to me while I was taking a psychology class in college after coming out of the service; the ol' Thanos/Eros concept.

Life itself is inspiration.

It's hard to say, but I think Warlock is the closest thing Thanos has to a friend.

I've been influenced by so many different writers along the way - from Charles Dickens, Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock, John D. McDonald, and so many others - that it would take a page or two to list them all.

You don't have to be a religious person to be affected by religion or a religious movement.

I consider 'Dreadstar' to be an extension of my family, so it took me a while to feel comfortable letting anyone else take care of this project.

If I hadn't had the outlet of writing and drawing comics, I guess there's a good chance I wouldn't be around today.

My only surprise when I saw Thanos up on the screen was how violet he was. I always saw his exposed hide as being more grayish violet.

The founding fathers of the U.S. were right when they erected that wall between church and state.

Yes, Marvel Entertainment has treated me very well and generously. Them, I like.

Back in my high school years, the Hulk was my favorite Marvel character, and I always enjoy drawing him.

It's nice to see my work recognized as being worth something beyond the printed page, and it was very cool seeing Thanos up on the big screen.