Inspiration... and where it comes from.

Back in 2009, I read an article about a 7 year old boy that had gotten cancer. He was going through the treatments and his mom created a hero "The Dominator" to help him get through this.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,562240,00.html

Dominic passed away in 2009 from brain cancer.

http://www.goldcoastchronicle.com/feature/hero-of-the-week-dominic-osorio/

Inspiring. A boy having cancer at such a young age disgusts me. To be 5 years old and having to go through all of those treatments is just heart breaking. I am glad that his mom came up with a positive way to cope with his treatments. I think that not telling him that he had cancer was smart. I was diagnosed with kidney cancer at at 33 and and again at 36, it really messed me up. I realize that was a little young to understand the scope of what cancer means. But does a child of 5 or even 7 years old have to know?

In my opinion, no.

This isn't about me, but a part of me wishes that my doctor told me I had some other kidney issue that required surgery. I would have coped much better. Cancer is a death sentence to so many people that just the word sent me into a freefall of terror that I still experience every 12 months when I go for my scans to see if there is a reoccurance. Cancer was a big motivator(Along with family and friends) for me finishing my comics and getting them out. The first Ripperman actually came out on October 20th 2004, the day of my first cancer surgery and the first issue of Shadowflame came out February 2007, the month of my second cancer surgery. Maybe I should have just let Shadowflame or Ripperman get the cancer and I could have stayed clean. But even that way of thinking bothers me and shows the negative stigma of cancer. I have been "clean" of cancer since 2007. Like I was dirty before.

Now, after a few years and a few scars, I am working on a new story. This scares me more than you could know. Each time I put a book out, It was tied into cancer. This time, I am bringing the cancer to the book! Titan is a character that I created back in 2004 when I was recovering from my first cancer surgery.  Don't worry. There is still plenty of Superhero action, Giant Mechas, Mythologocal creatures and vile villains to whet even the most fanatical comic reader's appetite.

I have to say that I was and am really proud of this little guy and the struggle that he went through. I am not a praying man but I sent my hopes to this boy that he made a full recovery and he didn't have to deal with this type of thing again for the rest of his hopefully long life. Unfortunelty, he didn't win the fight. He wasn't able to defeat this enemy and the world is a little less bright without his light in it.

I am sure if there is a heaven, that Domenic is up there and he is fighting with the Dominator against the evil villany of the Megazoid!

Check out my new creation The Mighty Titan that takes my cancer(and other) experiences and wraps them in a superhero shell.

http://www.facebook.com/themightytitan

Joe