HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY…GOTCHA ON MY MI-I-I-IND!
Today marks the 18th Anniversary of my Glass House Graphics agency/studio, which launched on March 11, 1993. That was the day I left Innovation Publishing, the company I’d started in late ‘88 and rose to #4 in market share by ‘91 with Lost in Space, Dark Shadows, Quantum Leap, Anne Rice titles and a host of other books. It was a scary first month, deciding to be an agent and talent manager. But the first job came in within three days — a Green Hornet series for Joe Bennett — and we just kept going. From a relative handful of artists, most of whom are still with me today, to a worldwide network of more than 125 talents working through offices in several countries.
The years! I can’t believe eighteen of them have passed. So many trips, so many adventures meeting and greeting and teaching people from all walks of life, molding and making careers for talents in the Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, and the USA.
The comics! That’s thousands of comic books, and tens of thousands of pages. Writing, drawing, inking, lettering, coloring, designing.
The projects! That’s hundreds of web designs, advertising jobs, brochures, catalogs, magazine and book designs, storyboards, package art, video game designs, toy designs, print brokering, animation jobs, and much more.
The characters! Oh, my gosh, the characters — Angel, Batman, Buffy, Bugs Bunny, Captain Kirk, Conan, Darth Vader, Doctor Doom, Flash, Green Hornet, Hulk, Indiana Jones, Iron Man, Lara Croft, Red Sonja, Ritchie Rich, Scooby-Doo, Spider-Man, Superman, Uncle Scrooge, Vampirella, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Zorro, and so many more. A rich, inviting cross-section of popular culture.
The clients! So many great opportunities and great people. Art Studio, Disney, DreamWorks, Harcourt Achieve, HarperCollins, Hasbro, Mattel, MStyle Marketing, New Line Cinema, Playboy, Penthouse, POW! Entertainment, Random House, Red Giant Media, Rittenhouse Archives, St. Martin’s Press, Sony, Toyota, Universal, the U.S. Postal Service. Ape, Arcana, Continuity, Dark Horse, DC, Dynamite, First, IDW, Image, Marvel, Now, Radical, TokyoPop…and so many others over the years.
The managers! Leonardo Ito, Caio Sadayuki, Michelle Principe`, Julia Laud, Andre` Siregar, Grace Dimaranan, James Quinlan, Mason Johnson, and my wife Meryl work tirelessly to coordinate graphics (and paperwork!) from every corner of our far-flung world into the hands of our clients, and I couldn’t be more proud to have each of them at the helm of our various divisions.
The artists! We’d be nowhere without great artists. I’ve had the singular pleasure of working with Mike Deodato, Joe Bennett, and Luke Ross since the Innovation days, over two decades ago before Glass House even launched, and today all three are with me. Will Conrad, Fabio Laguna, Cliff Richards, and Al Rio have been a part of GHG nearly as long. Wilson Tortosa, Bong Dazo, Anthony Tan, and many others have been with us for over a decade. We trust and are loyal to all of them, and they trust and share their loyalty in return. It is much appreciated.
And to all of you reading this: Thank you. You know why.
