Well where do I start? I guess I'll just write about what the comic book fans want to hear about and leave the "growing up hardships" for my biography..lol.

So, Ok the 1st comic books I remember reading were CREEPY and HEAVY METAL at the age of 7. Now I know these are mature titles, but my mom didn't know that these comic magazines had rated R themes, she just had the misconception that comics, ALL comics are for kids...how wrong she was. So at age 7, I was drawing nude girls and superheroes. my entire childhood was just me in an imaginary world, watching BATTLE of the PLANETS and GODZILLA and if I could stay up late enough, the occasional black and white horror movie. By the time I was 10-11 y/o in the summer I would stay at my Grandmas and my babysitter would be the local movie theater, called STATE THEATER, in Newton, NC. I would go to the 1st show and watch the same movie over and over until the last showing. Lots of movies burned into my mind forever!
by the time I was 15, I was buying X-men, Wolverine and playing Defender with the money I made from washing grandma's car. School was merely a place for me to show off my drawing skills and trade comic books. As long as i drew some cool shit in Art class, my 9th grade teacher would give me an "A" The rest of the class was drawing apples, while I was drawing a demonic beast destroying a planet. when I turned 17, I had a handful of samples to show some professionals at a comicbook convention. Heroes convention in Charlotte, NC was the place I could go and meet artists, buy comics and show my own stuff...well the 1st time I showed my samples was the last time...so guy, that I had never heard of, just ripped me a new asshole. he said my stuff sucked and had me to the point of tears. I left the convention heart broken, comic book dreams shattered, like glass. i put down the pencil and gave up on my comic book dreams. A few years go by,with my life as a factory worker was in full swing. My entire family worked in factories, so I guess that was my destiny. Then I was hit with a bolt of lightening, I just had my 1st child,Alexis and I didn't want her life to end up the same as mine, but I can't preach "a better life" if I don't try it out myself. Life is about battles, the ones you lose can only make you stronger. if you allow the losing battles to kill you, then your life is over. I wasn't about to give up anymore. I lost my sister at the age of 15 so I know that life can be over with the snap of a finger. Having my 1st daughter, was the lightening bolt I needed to get my ass in gear and go for it ALL!

I persued a few drawing gigs for PERSONALITY COMICS and at the time, I was working with KIRK (Vamperotica) LINDO. I was making a whole $200 per book.whoopppeee!! That was cool for me, I was actually a paid artist, then I met Jack(Midnight Screams) Slattery at a comic convention. He hired me to do a story called NEVERWHERE in issue #2. I told him I had this idea from a cartoon I seen on MTV, called AEON FLUX...I said I wanted to draw a comic book where the lead character was a tough ass female. He told me it wouldn't sell, but he did give it a shot. RAZOR #0 MYSTERY EDITION came out in SEPT. 1991, I sold 1500 copies and would later move 1500 more copies. By far it was the best selling book his company had ever published. So the great sells were bitter sweet, I had to find another publisher. Tim Tyler owner of FATHOM press, offered to publish RAZOR, so I drew a new book RAZOR #1 and reprinted RAZOR #0. Tim warned me that he had only sold as many as 3000 copies of his previous books, so I was expecting that. Then AUG 2002 RAZOR #1 sold 7,000 copies and RAZOR #0 Fathom printing sold 5,000 copies. That was huge for Fathom press, Tim knew that RAZOR was something special and suggested that I self publish the book, this was going to be something the underground comic industry was going to make into a cult following. It become just that, so for the next 4 issues I planned it out perfectly to choose my favorite artists to do a cover for RAZOR #2 cover by JAMES(THE CROW) O'BARR sold 16,000 copies, RAZOR #3 cover by JIM(TAROT)BALENT sold 17,000 copies RAZOR #4 cover by TIM(FAUST) VIGIL sold 17,500 copies and the RAZOR #5 cover by JOE (DAWN) LINSNER sold 25,000 copies. I was making more money than I could've ever imagined and if I never did another issue, I would've been thrust into comic lore for just the accomplishment of the first 5 issue of RAZOR. So I did struggle with going on. I thought it would be too much to have her story go on any further, but after looking at the money that had been brought in to help my family and friends, I decided to keep going and giving new artist the chance and encouragment that I tried to find in my early quest. There was no way I was going to turn my back on a artist that needed a shot in the industry, LONDON NIGHT STUDIOS, soon become the premier indie publisher that would give a new guy his 1st shot in the game. Some guys that got their shot with LNS, Billy (SHI) Tucci, 1st published art/ 1st app. of SHI, Razor Annual #1...Ed(SUPERMAN) McGuiness, 1st art London Night's Tour of Fear '93, David (KABUKI) MACK 1st art/1st app. of Kabuki was the London Night Kabuki one-shot and back up story in RAZOR/SHI crossover...So regardless is trade mags care to acknowledge it or not. LNS launched hit characters as well as hit artists.

As the comics boom of the mid-90's continued, I continued to create and build more and more to the Hartsoe stable of characters, such as MORBID ANGEL, LETHAL STRYKE, POIZON and many more, but none could compare to the success I had with RAZOR.

In 1998, the comic industry imploded and distributors went under and many of us indie publishers had to fold up also. So I took off and traveled the country for the next 3 years, doing odd jobs, getting into the internet game for some money and now, I'm back 6 years later with a renewed since of story telling and a passion to deliver once again, RAZOR! I have no idea which way this new road will take me, but I hope you'll be there for the ride!

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