I was born in New York Mills, Minnesota (not to be confused with New York CITY). I blame my "drawing ability" on my dad. Not because he could draw, but because he couldn't. At about age five, I came up to my dad and asked him to draw me a person, so he drew me a stick person, and I said, "No, a REAL person." He replied, "I can't draw that, you draw it." So, ever since then, I've been drawing. In elementary school I was called "Dinosaur Doug" because all I would draw were dinosaurs.

I drew cartoons and especially loved comic books. I never had much for money to buy them, but I had an aunt, or cousin, or somebody who would bring us these HUGE bags of comics! Oh, I read them over and over and over again. I just loved them. The biggest influences were Captain America comics (especially the Jack Kirby ones---oh, if only I had the foresight to take care of those!), and Batman, and Superman, Hulk, and all of the staples of the superhero comic world. And there were horror comics, and even the "oddball" superhero comics like Captain Atom (at least it was oddball to me because I could never find them on the shelves).

So, I created my own superheroes, and folded paper together to create my own comic books. I had comic characters like the "Incredible Bulk"---haha!! Yes, so original. I found friends who were also fans of comics, and they helped me create my first Superhero Group, filled with characters created by friends. There was Pantherman, and Hades (a version of The Human Torch), and Eagleman, and Overman. And I also drew science fiction comics, especially after the advent of Star Wars (a MAJOR influence). In fact, I made a sort-of-spoof of my favorite movie called "Steer Wars." That's what I get for being a farmer's son (many of my best ideas came to me while cutting hay or milking cows).