There's something about dealing with government agencies that makes you feel like a criminal.

Teaching is like flying a plane. You leave school one day feeling like you're spiraling down toward the trees, expecting that the next day the crash will come. You brace yourself for the impact, only to find that things have leveled out at treetop height, and you climb and enjoy the remainder of the flight.

In 1996, after 29 years as an artist for Marvel Comics, I got fired - 56 years old, two children still in college, and no job.

I'm an old-timer in the business from the sense that when you do something that you feel good about there might be another person out there who feels the same way, or a hundred or a couple million.

How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about.

It's much better to be open and transparent about it. These are obviously issues that all agencies are dealing with and it's much better that we are open about them and confront them head on, that we spot them early on and take action early on, rather than try and do any kind of cover up.