20 Mind-Blowing Facts You Never Knew About George RR Martin
11. He Started Writing As A Kid Though
He had been writing a lot longer than that, however. Whilst comic books certainly inspired his later work - he's said to have an affinity for the Avenger Wonder Man, because he died in his first story, almost immediately after being introduced (He was a tragic, doomed character. I guess Ive responded to tragic doomed characters ever since) - he had put pen to paper before then. Martin's first professionally published work was technically in the back pages of The Fantastic Four #20. But he actually started a lot younger than that, a born storyteller who was hawking his wares from an early age. Whilst at school, he penned dozens of short pieces inspired by comics and movies of the age. The young Martin would sell monster stories to his friends for pennies in his native Bayonne, New Jersey, dramatic readings included. He was not only a writer, but also a performer. He went on to write for comic fanzines and finally sold an actual, proper short story at age 21: The Hero, which appeared in the February 1971 issue of anthology magazine Galaxy.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
