“Back in the 1980s, when independent publishing was in its infancy, Bob and I were contacted by a gentleman in Michigan with a request to write and draw a graphic novel which this fellow would then publish. Bob had had an idea about a Native American shaman who used real magic to fight crime, a character he called ‘Seneca Blackstone.’ So we fleshed out the character, changed his name to ‘Seneca St. Synn,’ and came up with a plot for a graphic novel we called Sorcerer,” writer and Future Comics co-founder David Michelinie said.

“The story was penciled and scripted, but then delays and complications arose and we ended up parting ways with the original publisher. Years later, we offered the project to Marvel, who accepted it but wanted us to add another 10 pages or so to reach their minimum length for a graphic novel,” he said.

“Once again, plotting, pencils and script were done but, for whatever reasons, the book was never published. So, after many more years Bob suggested we publish the story ourselves as a one-shot or two-part comic, selling it over the Internet. I agreed. But then Bob went to Orlando Megacon and got so much enthusiastic response from fans that he came home having decided that we would publish four monthly comics instead! And thus, with the addition of Dick Giordano to the administrative team, Future Comics was born,” he said.

“By then, Marvel had introduced their own character called ‘The Sorcerer,’ and another indie project had come along called (I believe) Saint Sinner, so our guy underwent more changes and saw print as Jacob Nakai, ‘Deathmask,’” he said.

Read more about titles like Deathmask by ordering a copy of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes from gemstonepub.com.