PSU Magazine Winter 1999

from the PSU basketball team. Cutting himself off from family, fri ends and other distractions, he reasoned, would help him concen– trate on his goal. Dark Horse is licensed to produce comic books and video games based on the movie "Star Wars" (pictured here). "In order to be successful in busi– ness you need focus," he says. "This was some– thing I had planned to do for some time, but I kept say ing, 'I'll wait, I'll wa it. ' By litera lly severing everything it sort 6-foot-9 Mike Richardson , is a tower– ing presence in the comics industry. Richardson, who earned an art degree from PSU, would probably agree that his most widely recognized achievement was to put his own artis– tic creation, The Mask, on the silver screen in a highly successful 1994 film tarring Jim Carrey. But in his arcane world of comic book writers and illus– trators, Richardson is better known as the young upstart who gave industry giants DC and Marvel Comics a run for their money. t was never his intention to take on the big guys. When his wife, Karie, whom he had met on a blind date when she was 16 and he was 18, became pregnant with the first of their three daughters, Richardson realized it was now or never to pursue his fondest career dreams. He wanted to (1) write and illustrate a children's book, and (2) start his own business. He fi gured he could do No. 1 in his spare time while doing No. 2. He and Karie quit their jobs in Portland and in 1979 moved to Bend. He left behind three brothers and three sisters; his father, a mechanic; and mother, a homemaker. He left the friends who had gone through parochial school with him and remained close to him. He left his college friends and his old teammates of puts it all on the line and sharpens that focus." Richard on says it was his d o e– knit family and the wholesome atmos– phere of Milwaukie, where as a child he delivered newspapers and picked berries to earn money for comic books, that helped give him the elf-confi– dence to pursue his dreams. He grew up with a strong work ethic and a warm respect for other people. He knew nearly everyone in town by name and was familiar with the wares and the layout of nearly every shop. O lsen's Five and Dime, for example, had the best toys in town . Perry's Pharmacy displayed their comic books on a spin rand, while at Milwaukie Pharmacy all the colorful comics were spread out enticingly on a long newsstand. Richardson credits his parents for steering him along his life's course by encouraging him to read books, magazines and yes, even comic books. And they instilled in him the attitude that hard work and perseverance would get positive results. "My parents always said I could do anything I set my mind to doing," he says. "We had strict rules at home but we always received a lot of positive reinforcement. And the lesson we got in school was if you worked hard you could be anything, even the president of the United States. That was considered a good thing, back then." Soon, Richardson reached his second goa l. Pegasus Books came into being, thanks to $2,000 remaining on a credit card and to his wife's willing– ness to work as a waitress in Bend after leaving her job as an executive secre– tary at First Interstate Bank. But the children's book Richardson dreamed of writing never stood a chance. There was simply no spare time. The book– store, offering comics, posters, sc ience fiction and children's books, became so successful that ultimate ly Richardson was able to expand to eight locations in three states. fter his bookstore career got under way, two things happened that would change the course of his life. First, he lea rned from the comic book artists and writers, who visited his stores for book signings, that they traditionally signed away all rights to their work, giving owner hip to the comics publishers, such as DC and Marvel. While mulling the injustice of that arrangement, Richardson happened to meet Randy Stradley, now the company's creative director, while Strad ley was shopping at Ri chardson 's Beaverton store. Comics featuring Concrete-a Dark Horse-intro· duced character-and the movie· based Aliens are big eller for the company. WINTER 1999 PSU MAGAZINE 7