The Thing (ala Charlie Brown) by Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino

Carlos Pacheco and Jesus Merino drew this wonderful illustration of The Thing for me around 1999. They had wrapped up Avengers Forever and were working on The Fantastic Four. I asked Carlos for whatever he wanted to draw and he came up with this terrific fusion of The Thing and Charlie Brown. The bag of peanuts at The Thing's feet is a great touch!

This card design was especially appropriate for me at the time. In our letter writing group in the 1990's (before there was an internet), Bruce Lowry referred to me as a "minor art dealer" to bust my chops when we had differences in our opinions on certain artists! :)

This card artwork is a reminder of the truly fun days of comic art collecting and dealing for me. It is also a somber reminder of two friends who each passed away far too soon.