There were a few other kids I met on the way through grade school who were into comics and cartooning, and we'd get together on the weekends or after school and draw pictures and make up stories for hours.  It was all just for fun in those days, but it was a great training ground.

   As a teenager I began collecting comics in ernest! Mostly Marvel and DC comics, but I also enjoyed Harvey, Charlton and Dell titles. In the late 60's and early 70's I discovered comics fandom through such publications as the COMICS BUYERS GUIDE and the ROCKETS BLAST COMIC COLLECTOR. Soon I was contributing illustrations and strips to what were then called "fanzines", and I plugged into a network of other youngsters who were making homemade comics.

   By the late 70's I had self-published a number of titles and distributed them through the mail with other enthusiasts and artists. It was the beginning of the Independent Comics revolution that would sweep through the industry in the 1980's, and it turned out I played a somewhat pivitol role in that.

   During the 80's I published a magazine called SMALL PRESS COMICS EXPLOSION.  The purpose of SPCE was to provide a central point where people making and marketing their own comics could get together, meet each other, and buy, sell or trade their publications. SPCE was nationally distributed through the Direct Market system and peeked with a subscription base of about 500 people. SPCE launched a whole generation of creators into the world of self-publishing, and many of those individuals went on to make a significant mark in the industry.

    I published a number of titles under my NEW VOICE MEDIA label including KIWANNI, FINAL MAN, and the character for which I am best known - MIGHTYGUY, which I am still publishing to this day.

   Also during the 80's I launched a freelance career and sold hundreds of 1-panel and multi-panel gags to various trade magazine.

   I also started a family!

   Through the 90's I continued to publish MIGHTYGUY stories both on my own and through the pages of various Independent comics. I did writing, inking and lettering on other people's strips, wrote a column for the COMICS BUYERS GUIDE   about small press comics, and did a series of cartoons for them called COMICS COMICS  which gently poked fun at the industry.

   Finally in the new century I was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the independent comics industry at the annual SMALL PRESS AND ALTERNATIVE COMICS EXPO (S.P.A.C.E.)  in Columbus, Ohio, largely for my work with SMALL PRESS COMICS EXPLOSION  during the 80's. Many of the people who were united through the pages of SPCE were now working in the industry and publishing alternative comics on a regular basis. To show their appreciation they gave me a plaque and forced me to stumble my way through a speech in front of a few hundred people! It was both the proudest and most embarrassing moment of my life.

   So the plaque hangs on my wall, as does the illustration I used for the masthead for this column, which was given to me by Dave Sim. I continue to write and illustrate MIGHTYGUY  stories and several collections are available (click OTHER COMICS), and continue to publish them under my own title, TIM CORRIGAN'S COMICS & STORIES.   And I have just recently launched ALLEGHENY MAN.

    It's been a long road from ELASTICWORM  to where I find myself today, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I've produced a mountain of work, and my involvement in comics has allowed me to rub shoulders with some of the most creative folks in America.

   I have two sons, Nathan and Matthew, who are also cartoonists. They have both won numerous awards on their way through school, and I couldn't be any prouder of them.

   Looking back on it all for the purpose of writing this profile,it seems I have had a wonderful life, and there's still a lot more ahead of me! Ya-hoo! I can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will bring!

                                                 Tim Corrigan November 1, 2007