Over at Diversions of the Groovy Kind, The Groovy Agent posted an eight-page photo feature from the 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention program book. Included on those pages were 71 photos of Bullpenners, including two who are particularly near and dear to my heart.

One is me. The other is Irene, my wife of nearly 34 years.

As I study those faces, my heart grows heavy. About one-third of these old friends are gone now, absent forever.

But … as I study those faces, my heart also sings. Because working there, surrounded by such people, was magical.

If my younger self, ensorceled by Stan Lee and standing with 12 cents in his palm trying to decide between Avengers #1 and X-Men #1 (as they both hit newsstands the same day), could have looked ahead to my slightly-less-young younger self, he would have thought, Scott, you’ve made it to Heaven.

And so I had.