Greg Orzech | Forum Moderator and Assembly Director

When not patrolling the rooftops as the Masked Avenger, Greg is a technical and professional writer living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His motto is, "I'll write anything and everything!" Greg is best known for his level three super strength, acrobatics, and sixth sense, juggling more than ten writing projects at a time. Greg also enjoys photography, home improvement, all kinds of music, and spending time with his incredibly wonderful wife, Cindy, as well as family and friends. Greg plans on trying his hand at comic book writing next. He also volunteers his time as an Avengers Forever Moderator and writes and hosts our regular Avengers Forever feature, the Assembly, which takes a deeper look at back issues from throughout Avengers history each month.

It is not known exactly when Greg developed his love of comics, since Greg was pulling them off the newsstand racks and goading his father and grandmother into buying them for him as soon as he could walk. However, Greg does trace his devotion of the Avengers back to 1972. Greg says, "When I saw that double-sized copy of Avengers #93 calling to me from the newsstand racks, I knew something was special—the FF and the Justice League lost the war right then and there." Today, Greg is a huge fan of Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, and Mike Perkin's Captain America saga, counting the Winter Soldier as one of his favorite Marvel characters and potentially great future Avengers stars. Greg cites the Kree/Skrull War, Korvac Saga, Avengers Forever, and Kang Dynasty among his favorite Avengers moments and Jim Starlin and Joe Rubenstein's Avengers Annual #7/Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2, "The Final Threat," remains Greg's single all-time favorite Avengers story.

John B. Pyka | Forum Moderator

John B. Pyka is an award-winning professional entertainer who credits The Avengers and Star Wars for making him who he is today.

John remebers buying his first issue of The Avengers, #222, at Dairy Mart in North Canton, Ohio. That Dairy Mart is no longer there, and comics aren't even distributed to drug stores and convenience stores anymore, but John's love for the Avengers has never faltered.

John began buying back issues and throughout his middle school and highschool years collected every issue since #52, as well as the complete run of West Coast Avengers and Solo Avengers/Avengers Spotlight.

His favorite runs include the runs by Roger Stern and Bob Harras, and his absolute favorite Avengers artist is John Byrne. "I loved Byrne's style and would love to see his art on the Avengers again. His run of WCA is among my favorite comics of all time!" He is also digging Bendis' work in a big way!

John holds steadfast to the theory that Tony Stark will eventually become Kang and that he is really behind the creation of Ultron, and that Hank Pym is really Effigy from Lost Generation. He also believes that Doctor Druid, Gilgamesh, and Silverclaw could be the foundation of a spectacular team of Avengers.

John is a published author, having just released "Theatrical Magic" from Leaping Lizards Magic. He is currently working on his first juvenile superhero adventure novel, "Zack Masters and The Gaurdians of Justice."

Matt Lehn | Back Issue Comic Book Reviews

Matt Lehn began his obsession with the Marvel Universe (and the Avengers in particular) in 1985. Now, 22 years later, Matt has amassed a considerable majority of Earth’s Mightiest exploits, having his great passion for the team rekindled (ironically enough) by the events of the “Disassembled” storyline and the formation of the New Avengers. These days, he healthily shares his “fanboy mania” with his wife, Kate, and two young sons, Eli and Gideon, balancing his appreciation for “those long underwear types” with his other life as a musician. Recently concluding a five-year stint as bassist/vocalist and songwriter in indie rock band New York Dirge (he plans on writing a dishy tell-all book on their exploits one day…), Matt and family have just made the move from their native Long Island to Portland, Oregon in search of bold new adventures.

Seth Offenberger

As a young boy Sundays were Seth's favorite day of the week. He was sympathetic to the popularity of Saturdays, what with Looney Tunes and the Laff-a-lympics, but Sunday was the payoff. When his family picked up his grandma for church she always presented him with a freshly minted dollar bill and a new Archie or Disney comic book. When he was 9 years old and visiting relatives out of town he met a boy and soon their lives would forever change. The boy told him of his prized possession, a box of superhero comics. He invited Seth over to peruse them. The boy's father noticed them and insisted that they give some, no ALL of the comics to Seth. Seth was impressed with the clear genius of this man, and the boy(stunned) was powerless to stop the transaction. In that box was a Captain America comic which was instantly Seth's favorite. The next time he saw a spinner rack he searched for that costume only to find him with a team of heroes on the cover of Avengers #217.

The stars having aligned, Seth has went on to lead a full life. Spending time with his beautiful wife and donating his energies as an active boy scout leader in an effort to spend as much time with his son as possible. "The Boy Who was Stripped of his Comics", as the legend refers to him, was never heard from again. At least not by Seth, although technically they didn't exchange phone numbers and lived in different states, but still...eerie.

While Seth still claims to love his grandma, he was recently overheard saying "Sundays are for suckas" and more importantly "Wednesdays are the shizzle"(my nizzle).

Dean Munday

Dean (aka StellarX for those of you who frequent the HCRealms message boards), is a lifetime Marvel 'zombie' despite dabbling in DC. At the ripe old age of 42, was lucky enough to grow up during Marvel's 'Golden Era', resulting in an encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe - though he really should get our more. Also lucky enough to 'be there' when Uncanny X-Men broke the mold in the mid-70s, but despite an addiction to the mutant soap-opera is first and foremost an Avengers nut. Favorite issue of any comic, ever, is DEFENDERS #50. If you need to ask why, then you need to buy and read it.

Graduated from college in '88 (second time around) and worked in I.T. ever since - but don't hold that against him. Married to the gorgeous Carrie, with two fabulous step-daughters (Meghan & Olivia). Liverpool FC through and through, since the early 1970s. Lives in Neston, England. Into just about "everything" - too much to list - but if you want and idea, visit his site. Also runs the HUGELY talented John Watson's site - check it out - John's a "diamond geezer". And yes, that's Olivia appearing as 'Luna' on the "Son Of M" and "Silent War" covers.

Ambition: To create Marvel RPG-style card-characters of every version of every character Marvel has ever produced. The long winter nights simply fly by.

Al Sahvauge

In his youth reaperradio (also known as Al) read the Defenders, Avengers, Marvel Spotlight, Ghost Rider and Deathlok the Demolisher to name a few, mainly giving comics up due to the fact many of his favorite titles had ended up being cancelled.

With the premiere of Avengers #1 (volume 3) Al decided to give the title another look and was glad he did, as it was like reuniting with some lost friends.

Since then reaperradio has been trying to collect the various back issues that he used to read in the 70's with some success, having managed to acquire about 90% of what he set out to find. Between the back issues and his current subs reaperradio's stockroom is getting a bit crowded however. This has made it necessary for him to consider buying some more stacking containers.

A later in life college graduate, with a BA in History, reaperradio spent some pleasant time (including 2 years after graduation by popular student demand) as a college dj. Hence the name 'reaperradio.' The show got the name due to the sign-off song 'Don't Fear The Reaper.' The name stuck during the entire run of the show but always with a case "r" at the beginning. Some fellow alums have told Al that the show was one of their fondest memories of college life, something which pleases him as he was glad he could bring them some enjoyment.

Other than comic book collecting, reaperradio's hobbies include computers and web surfing, along with music and art. During the spring and summer months he may be found in his garden or working on his lawnmower or one of his yard work tools.

Mike Coupland

In grade five Mike Coupland and his best friend would make the short walk to the local big box store to stare wide-eyed at the racks of Spider-man and X-men action figures, drool dripping every so slightly down his chin. Those toys, combined with the Fox cartoons of Spidey and the world famous mutants lit the fuse for his passion for super heroes. When he was a teenager a family friend passed on her box of comics to Mike, and though he began frequenting his local comic shop every now and then he did not take up the hobby of comic collecting until his early twenties. A trade paper back of Ultimate Spider-man was Mike's official introduction to the paneled world of Marvel and since then the obsession has grown. Spidey will always be Mike's favorite - guess he has webs in his blood - but the Avengers are his favorite team, with or without the web slinger. He loves The Ultimates and has been reading the regular Avengers ever since Bendis began tearing them apart, but also picks up the odd back issue or collection to see what all you veteran fans are talking about. It continues to be a toss up as to whether Mike likes the 616 or Ultimate universe more, but he's a Marvel man through and through.

Mike graduated from university with a degree in English, no doubt due to the love for reading he has been afflicted with ever since he could first open a book. Immediately following graduation Mike picked up and left his home country of Canada for the first time and traveled to the land of the rising sun to teach English . . . in Japan in case you couldn't figure it out. He likes to see the incredibly diverse aspects of Earth, but plans on returning home one day to teach elementary school and keep kids cracking open books instead of computer game boxes. Keep fighting heroes! Once an Avenger always an Avenger.

Nick Marino

Nick has been reading, drawing, writing, and writing about comics for the majority of his natural life. Most people assumed this was simply because he had been dropped on his head (hard) at a very young age. However, Nick knew he was onto something.

And now look – Superhero movies? Hot. Indie Comic Book movies? Hot. Graphic Novels? Hot. Comic books? Okay, we’re still working on that one (but the New York Times and Entertainment Weekly says they’re hot . . . wait, that does count for something, right?)

The point is: The Avengers? They’re the hottest. They embody the spirit of collaboration and exchange, in everything from the comic book creation process to the actual character teamwork to the formation of reader communities (ahem, you’re visiting one right now).

So yeah, writing comic book reviews isn’t quite like wielding Mjolnir or assuming the mantle of the Panther god. And yes, it’s not as time consuming as creating new galaxies and illustrating gods and monsters as they battle for the very existence of Earth. But it is collaboration and exchange in honor of the world’s greatest heroes, The Avengers.

Butch Syyap

How many people can honestly say that they got their comic book reading passion from their grandma? Butch did. At a tender young age, he remembers his grandmother coming home in the mornings – fresh from her work in the casino, carrying a bundle of comic books which she’d read and naturally, let Butch read afterwards. And the passion fro reading grew.

This later became a passion for collecting when he stumbled across some serious collectors in High School, and his debating skills were likewise honed in countless discussions as to who’re the better heroes – Marvel’s or DC’s. (Butch, by the way, was a Marvel supporter)

As a young teen, Butch would study the drawings and try his hand at coming up with great poses – many of these drawings were (ahem) done during less interesting school lectures. Unfortunately, he did not pursue the path, since peer pressure then said that artists hardly made it big as a profession. (how things have changed)

It was after college that Butch found the knack for another passion connected to comics . . . story telling via role playing games. Butch was invited to join a Marvel game RPG and found that he adjusted into the game like a fish to water – later, he tried the role of game master (a.k.a. Watcher) and crafted many games that tend to be the topic of reminiscing with friends during reunions. It was during these session that Butch got to appreciate the less visible – but highly important tasks of plotting, pacing and preparing for any eventuality.

Butch’s passion for reading and collecting comics continue to this day – though he has mellowed down from his Marvel purist stance - thanks to Wolfman and Perez’s wonderful run in the Teen Titans during the 80s - a run he’d always insist ‘Marvelized’ the DC universe.

Nabeel Arshad

Nabeel has been reading comics since a young age growing up in Iowa. His first exposure to Avenger was unfortunately the cartoon series of the 90s. He somehow stumbled across the comics and found out what he had been missing. Only recently a regular reader of the main title he considers Young Avengers, She-Hulk, JLA/Avengers, and The Ultimates show what is so great about super heroes and comics. Nabeel wants to make the chat sessions as enjoyable as possible and invites everyone to join in He also hopes to one-day break in to the comic book industry as a writer and maybe even write the Avengers. On the side Nabeel runs the site Fancomics. Other interests include Animation, Basketball, and Politics.

George Young

George's collecting bug bit him when he was 12 years old. After a little league baseball game, his Dad took him and his two brothers to the grocery store, where he picked up a copy of Avengers #246 off the spinning wire-rack. Over the following 22 years, George has managed to complete entire runs of all volumes of the Avengers series, with the final holes (Volume 1 issues 1,2 and 4) being filled by his twin brother Bill as a Christmas present in 2001.

George has been in the food service industry where he operates his own restaurant for 17 years. He has been happily married since 1998 to a woman who deals with his collection obsession and loves him anyway, and together they have a wonderful son, Logan, who counts among his favorite super-heroes Spider-Man and Wolverine.

George's favorite Avengers moments include Under Siege, the Kree/Skrull War and pretty much any story involving Kang.

Scott Tipton

In the Christmas of 1976, Scott Tipton's parents bought him Mego Spider-Man and Batman action figures and, well, the rest is history. A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Tipton is the Associate Editor of the entertainment and pop-culture Web site Movie Poop Shoot.com, and writer of its most popular feature, the weekly comics history column COMICS 101. Tipton is also communications director and design consultant for Toynami, a manufacturer of action figures and collectibles based on a variety of popular animated series and films. A lifelong comic and toy collector and self-styled comic-book historian, Tipton takes great pride in continuing to find new ways to profit from a wasted youth.

Raquel Juliette Aguilar

The only daughter of an Ecuadorian father and an American mother, Raquel was born in Philadelphia and raised in Ecuador. She was writing and drawing from the moment she could pick up a pencil. As her childhood progressed, her tastes changed from funny animals to fairy tales to action adventure fantasy. In her early teens, she watched nearly every action, science fiction, and sword & sorcery cartoon ever made. When she was in her mid-teens, Raquel and her parents moved back to the U.S., settling in Florida.

Shortly before graduating high school, she read Les Daniels' hardcover book "Marvel: Fifty Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics." This, combined with the greater availability of comic books in the States, led to her to super heroes, and particularly The Avengers, which at the time was in the middle of the dynamic but controversial run by Bob Harras, Steve Epting, and Tom Palmer, a run which, years later, is gaining more positive attention than it did at the time. Raquel particularly appreciated Harras's talent for writing strong female characters - such as Crystal, Sersi, Black Widow, Deathcry, and Magdalene - as well as Epting and Palmer's classy artwork. Thanks to back issues, TPBs, and cheap reprints, she went on to discover the rich three-decade history of The Avengers; this solidified its status as her favorite superhero book of all time.

For a few years, Raquel dreamed of becoming the next Colleen Doran or Amanda Conner, but she eventually had to accept that her artistic abilities were too limited. In the late 90s, she went on hiatus from comics and got a Real Job as a librarian.

At the end of 2004, Raquel became an ex-librarian with a renewed interest in comics. She is looking to start a new life away from Florida, and is actively developing her skills as a writer, in the hopes of one day being able to do it for a living. Her non-comics obsessions include the original Transformers TV cartoon, British cult singer Julian Cope, and the TV show Alias.

Brian Habing

Brian has been a fan of the Avengers since the 6th grade when he purchased his first super hero comic ­- Avengers #214 ­- from Toad Hall in Rockford, IL. He is currently an Associate Professor of Statistics in South Carolina where he lives with his wife and three parrots.

In addition to teaching Statistics and researching Psychometrics, Brian enjoys: maintaining www.potw.org, collecting original comic book art, and playing RPGs. A few things he would rate as five-stars out of five are: Mary Poppins, the Wizard of Oz, U2, Watchmen, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ironically, he wrote in the “Introduce Yourself Forum” that he “Might not be posting much.”

Larry Turner

Larry Turner has lived a colorful life as a soldier, cook, manager, husband and father. He has been an Avengers fan since the late 70's and still feels the pull of nostalgia for the classic characters, but has stuck with the book through good times and bad.

Larry is currently the manager of a major full service restaurant chain, where he is considered the "easy guy", but still has time to churn out fan fiction with the help of his Jedi Master, Mo Rhyo (without whom, the grammar would be a mess). He is new at it but has no plans of stopping with the completion of "Avengers Assemble".

One of his proudest moments would be when his son Joey at age 8 landed a job in the movie The Big Fish. His oldest son Corey (then 11) was picked to play Danny DeVito's stand in in the heart warming scene when son carries father into the river and Devito's character is waving with all his old friends from the river bank and Joey was in the Circus scene. They both spent the day with the likes of Tim Burton and Jessica Lang.

Larry is most known for his positive outlook and bent sense of humor. He is quick with a movie, song, comic or Monty Python reference and if you catch him on the right day his eyes have the mist from the smoke of a distant fire.

Don Harper

Don Harper has been in and out of comics almost as long as Stan Lee himself. Regained interest in 2001, right after the 9/11 event that shocked the world.

In his spare time Don Harper likes to play his drums, follow George Clinton up and down the Mid-Atlantic states to sing in the band. Draw, write comics/comic strips, and read from his vast library of comics, sports magazine, and self-improvement books. In his evasive moments of peace and tranquility, Don Harper likes to do tax work. Yep . . . taxes. Don Harper's wife thinks that he is a little strange, but Don Harper still loves her for thinking he is strange. When not doing taxes, running the other businesses, Don Harper likes to work in his yard and lift weights. Hey, Don Harper has to stay in shape just in case The Masters of Evil attack his yard or something like that.

Other things Don Harper likes to do is watch comedy acts, funny movies, Sci-Fi, and movies that makes him think like; In Living Color, Martin, Silence of the Lambs, Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, and other classics like The Twilight Zone. One day Don plans to write a Hercules mini with Hercules doing taxes for President Bush! Stay tuned!

Bob Whitely

By the time Bob got hooked on comics, the price had jumped to 20 cents a piece. Captivated by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's early Fantastic Four books, Captain America, Thor and the Avengers, then Starlin's intense Warlock and Thanos stories, it wasn't long before he dreamed of becoming a professional comic book artist and writer. Although he co-wrote and illustrated a still unpublished comic book called, Infinity Factor, he soon realized his path was heading in a different direction, and found himself designing board games, doing conceptual design for a small computer game company and graphic design.

Getting to meet Jack Kirby a few years before "The King" passed away was one of his most precious comic book memories. He's still kicking himself for accidentally leaving a stack of his old Fantastic Four and X-men comics on a bus in the 6th grade.

A playwright, amateur director and actor, he's currently working on a play about an aging superhero looking for a sidekick to run errands, wash his costume, and make him look good in public. During the day, Bob spends his time in graphic design, but at night he bends the time continuum to write and digitally paint a children's book, tinker on the second draft of a novel, develop game board and role playing designs. One day he'll actually update his website, devoted to art, games and acting.

Mo Soar

Mo Soar (aka Rhyo) began reading comics when she was eight, which was before printing presses were invented and comics had to be chiseled directly onto stone tablets. The first comics she read were given to her by a neighbor and happened to be the Silver Surfer-Fantastic Four arc that introduced Galactus. The comics were a couple years old and not in the best of shape, but that didn't matter. She is still inordinately fond of noble bald silver guys as a result, though has always been dubious of surfboards. From there it was a quick trip into Avengers territory, probably with issue 58 ("Even An Android Can Cry!"). Although she gave up reading comics around junior high for reasons she can no longer remember, she was recently delighted to discover that comics still existed and that she had missed a whole lotta good stuff in the previous several decades. Except for the fact that first modern comic book she picked up again featured the death of a certain character in purple whom she had been in love with since 1968, a fact which makes her cranky.

She is, however, otherwise capable of rational thought and reasonable conversation. Currently living in the Pacific Northwest and married to an extremely tolerant man whose hobbies are such that he can't complain about hers, they have a son recently embarked on a college career. She writes short stories (original and fanfic), edits for two writers who might actually have books published by major publishing houses soon, edits for her buddy Larry here on AF, travels when the whim takes her and is capable of writing about herself in the third person.

Steve Wilson

Steve Wilson was just discovering comics when, at the 4th grade book fair, he stumbled across a picture of the Avengers in the 1975 Make Mine Marvel Calendar. Proving the importance of the visual in comics, he ran right out and bought an issue to find out who these cool-looking people were. From issue 130, he was hooked. A lifelong interest in comics led him to participate in DC's Bonus Book program for new talent in 1987. He wrote an issue of Warlord, penciled by a young unknown named Rob Liefeld. Steve went on to become a multi-millionaire comics writer, and Liefeld was never heard from again . . . Strike that. Reverse it.

In addition to contributing the occasional fill-in issue for DC's Star Trek, Steve founded the Baltimore SF Media convention Farpoint, now in its twelfth year. More recently, he founded Prometheus Radio Theatre, which produces (among other things) his original SF audio series, The Arbiter Chronicles. When he tires of being a big, ole uber-Geek, Steve assumes an ordinary mortal identity and poses as a civilian IT Manager for Howard County (Maryland) Fire & Rescue, and as a consultant to the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. Most importantly, he's the father of two rabid Avengers fans, Ethan and Christian, and the husband of a beautiful and tolerant lady named Renee.

Matt Cranston

Matt Cranston is a student at a local middle school, when he gets up to collage he hopes to study archaeology or industrial engineering. Archeology being his minor and industrial engineering as his major. These have been his dreams, since he was a wee tyke sitting on his dad's lap. He hopes to follow through with them.

Matt's comic interest first started after his friend dragged him to the X-Men 2 movie. After seeing this movie he thought that the world of comics most awesome and soon afterwards he began collecting the Marvel Legends line of figures. It was at this point he was introduced to his first Avengers comic that had came along with the Goliath figure. Needless to say he loved it and Matt has been reading more and more Avengers comics ever since.

Robert Bradley

Robert Bradley is the founder and president of the Association for Professional Basketball Research, an Internet-based historical society of over 500 members. Robert has worked for the Phoenix Public Library since 1980 and is a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association and the Hockey Research Association.

Robert's comic book interest are generally Marvel-centric. His first memories of marvel center around late 1974 when he became a fan of Spider-man, Iron Man, Captain America the Fantastic Four and the title which quickly became his favorite - the Avengers. Introduced to the Avengers with issue #129 and Giant-Size Avengers #2, and following the older stories reprinted in Marvel Triple Action and the Avenger's Marvel Treasury Edition, Robert's favorite stories remain the old Roy Thomas - John Buscema and Steve Englehart - Bob Brown/Sal Buscema/George Perez issues, along with the Kurt Busiek - George Perez stories, but he also enjoys the contributions of Neal Adams, John Byrne, Jim Shooter, Roger Stern, Don Heck, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and many, many others.

William Carr

Billy has been reading comic books since he could read at all (and had them read to him before that), and boasts a collection of well over 2,000 issues. (Or, more than most people would find sane.) He has loved the Avengers since the day his father brought him home an Avengers trade paperback. (Though it has been so long he has forgotten what it was called.) Billy is an aspiring comic book writer, and hopes that his work posted on-line will aid him in getting a job there. In his mild-mannered alter ego, Billy is a 16 year old boy, who tries to pass himself off as an average high school student, though he is truly a Skrull in disguise.

Glenn Walker | Comic Book Reviews, Chat Room Host, Articles and Inspiration

Glenn Walker has been an Avengers fan since the early 1970's when their current adventures were chronicled by Steve Englehart and their early exploits by Stan Lee in classic reprints featured in Marvel Triple Action. He has persevered through many incarnations of the team from Cap's Kooky Quartet to the Ultimates and loves the Avengers to this day. Glenn reviews movies and comics online and is currently working on a novel. You can see his comics and other media reviews at Comic Widows and or contact him directly.

Ian Watson | Articles

Ian Watson is a British comics reader of long standing, a regular correspondent with a number of comics creators and fans, and a prolific fiction writer. His love for the Avengers began with volume I, #4 and the rest, as they say, is history. In real life, Ian is Chief Executive of a mental health charity, a consultant on European Union Regeneration Funds, and an occasional local newspaper columnist.

Cornelius Stone | Fan Fiction

Cornelius Stone was born 11th October, 1962 in Auckland, New Zealand and grew up reading, you-know-what, comics. The first funny book he ever read was a 12 cent Casper the Friendly Ghost.

His favorite Avengers writers: A tie between Kurt Busiek and Steve Englehart, followed by Jim Shooter for the first half (non Korvac Saga) of his first tenure, followed by David Michelenie. All time favorite cartoonists: Charles Schulz, Robert Crumb and Walt Simonson. Favorite authors: George Orwell and William Burroughs. Favorite painters: Edward Munch, Colin McCahon and Phillip Clairmont.

All-time favorite Marvel comic: Why, Avengers, of course.

John Burns | Web Development and Consulting
(better known as Oz . . . courtesy of Jazzie B)

John has been a 'function type' from about the time he could walk (9 months) . . . When the "normal kid" was learning to talk, John took apart his wind-up toy boats to see how they worked; moving to the more 'greasy-guts' of lawnmowers at 9 years old, mini-bikes before the age of 12, and winning industrial arts & audio-visual awards in high school. Diesels were next, while in the Navy. It was during high school and his time in the Navy (lots of time to read –at sea) that John became very familiar with comics. Besides spending paper route money on comics, it was also the hey-day of early sci-fi and John devoured all the local libraries had available. While reading or viewing movies, John seeks to understand how effects or powers could actually work.

A bit more than 16 years ago, while in the middle of a Mechanical Engineering-Design degree program, John "found" computers –resulting in a huge right-turn in his life. A loan to purchase a $3000 clone 286 w/math co-processor and John was enveloped by the world of computers. Programming became a natural extension of John's curiosity to see how things worked and this has led to many fun and interesting challenges in the virtual world, including LAN & Web server management, web development and even writing.

Oh, and if you are wondering why the nickname: Oz . . . Well think about the line "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" . . . functionally speaking - it fits! You can reach John via his Web Site.