It’s always kind of in retrospect that you look back and think, “That was a really big deal.” But looking back, it was my dad and my brother who inspired me. My father has no fear. We don’t have to worry about things like stopping meteors from hitting the Earth. We’re not super. The things we worry about are every day social situations where something might be awkward or out of our control. My dad has never wanted to feel uncomfortable or awkward. He kind of says it like it is. If you’re comfortable enough to do that thing, he’s going to be comfortable enough to comment on it quite honestly. He always sort of controls every situation like that. He’ll just say. “You’re kind of a jerk, aren’t you?” He’s that kind of heroic guy.

My brother has those same qualities, but he’s more diplomatic about it. He’s more of a gentle giant. His leadership style, he says, is the velvet glove over the top of an iron fist. You get the soft velvet, but if you push against the glove, you get the iron fist.

What are your first memories of comics?

We had the Wee Book Inn, a second-hand bookstore (in Edmonton). You came in with a stack of comic books, and they’d kind of leaf through them for their value, and then say, “Alright, from these 60 comics, you can have 35 from our used copies,” and then my dad would fork over another 10 bucks or so we could have our full stack of 60 comics. Every few months we’d go back to the store and get a fresh influx of comics. We’d only keep the ones we really, really liked. And my dad knew somebody who owned a proper comic book shop – which kind of went the way of Dungeons and Dragons and eventually closed. I think if they’d stuck with comics, they’d have still been around. So I was really into comics. My brother and I would take turns with who got to have that comic book rack in their room. We’d go back and forth. Then eventually my brother got a little older, and then I started collecting and getting cardboard backs and plastic covers. Proper collecting. And then you’ve got to say, “Okay, what am I going to do, spend all my money on comics?” Because it got a little expensive. So … comics or girls? Comics or girls? Hmmm …

And now rather than just collecting comics, you’re in them. How does that strike you?

I’m a fan. I am very fortunate in that now I have a piece. Forever I will have this piece of Green Lantern. “Ah yes, he voiced Green Lantern back in the day … when they were still doing it on TVs and not holograms.” I’ll always have a chunk. It’s nice to be a fan and own a piece.