Okay, so I’ve been digging into comic book history lately, and I stumbled upon this rabbit hole of characters created by Roy Thomas. I mean, this guy’s a legend, right? So, I decided to see if I could put together a comprehensive list. It sounded simple at first, but boy, was I wrong!
The Initial Search
I started, like anyone else, with a simple search. I figured, “Someone’s gotta have a list somewhere, right?” I found some stuff, mostly scattered across different fan wikis and forums. Some lists were incomplete, others had questionable entries, and a few were just plain wrong. It was messy.
Compiling the Data
So, I decided to roll up my sleeves and do it myself. I opened up a simple document and started copying and pasting names from those various sources. I quickly realized I needed a way to keep track of where I found each name, just in case I needed to double-check something later. I felt like a real detective, I had to verify every source!
Cross-Referencing and Verification
This is where things got really time-consuming. I started cross-referencing every character name with multiple sources. Comic book databases became my best friends. I spent hours poring over publication dates, writer credits, and character appearances. It was tedious, it tested my patience, I had to make sure to get it all correct.
The “Maybe” Pile
Then there were the characters that were possibly created by Roy Thomas, but it wasn’t 100% clear. Co-creations, re-imagined characters, characters that appeared in stories he wrote but might have been conceived by someone else… all of these went into a separate “maybe” list. I figured it was better to be cautious and acknowledge the uncertainty than to just include everything without checking.
Organizing the List
Once I felt reasonably confident about my list (and my “maybe” list), I started organizing it. At first, I went with alphabetical order, it was a mess.
I attempted a chronological order and it sort of worked. It was fascinating to see how his creations evolved over time! I finally felt like I had acomplished a small feat.
The Final Product (For Now)
So, I’ve got this document. It’s not perfect, and I’m sure there are still some errors or omissions. But it’s a heck of a lot better than what I started with! It’s a constant work in progress, a living document. I’ll be doing more research and updating as I go.