My Love Affair with the Thundercats
Where do I begin? On September 18, 1985, I was out sick from my job as an airline reservations agent with a nasty head cold. It was around 4pm and I was lounging on the couch looking for something to watch on the TV to take my mind off of feeling miserable. I came across a cartoon whose animation and colors caught my eye. It was Thundercats episode 8, Tower of Traps, by Leonard Starr. I sat up and watched as WilyKit and WilyKat investigated the black tower that led to Lion-O and WilyKit later needing to rescue WilyKat from Robber Baron Karnor by traversing a series of traps. The kicker was that Robber Baron Karnor was no longer alive. Wonderful story and animation! I was hooked.
Now, in 1985, I was a thirty-year-old female; an adult who loved animation/cartoons, comic books and toys. I had no children as I had not met my husband yet. I was the crazy aunt then to my nieces and nephews, with whom I shared my love of science fiction, fantasy and creativity.
As a little girl, I loved Astro Boy, Fireball XL5, Bugs Bunny and Disney animated movies. Live action was for grown-ups. These early shows sparked my imagination, and they became a stepping stone to my hobbies as an adult. I would create my own stories and play them out in my head.
As I grew up, the quality of animation faded, especially in the 70s. That decade brought limited animation and cycled clips along with the not so desirable backgrounds. Finding a cartoon with the animation seen in Thundercats was the first thing I noticed. The superb writing appealed to children and to adults. That was something I hadn’t seen since the Termite Terrace animators created their cartoon shorts for the movie theaters.
I started writing fan fiction. I could unleash my universe on paper. I wrote Star Trek, Doctor Who, Knight Rider and Hawaii Five-O stories and, via the fanzine route enjoyed sharing my universe of the characters I so dearly loved with other fans. I even picked up a pencil and learned how to draw—somewhat.
I found out a friend I had met via my travels in fandom and also wrote fan stories (and has since become a NY best-selling author of cozy mysteries) loved He-Man. We talked, and she found out I loved Thundercats. We put our heads together and published a fan magazine and called it Animazine. With a small run, we were able to recoup our materials costs at the fan conventions we attended. At that time, Star Comics had a letter column, so we sent flyers to fans who wrote into the publication. Through this I met CJ Johnston. I was able to see her bloom into the fantastic artist she is today. We still keep in touch along with another pen pal fan that lives in Georgia. 
So I wrote a Thundercats trilogy. I loved it. Being able to create and fill in the gaps we fans find in the shows we love is what fanfiction is all about. By 1990, life took over, so my writing and drawing faded as my schooling and work took over, but I still love and remember the universe I created of my favorite characters. And I got to meet many great people along the way.
In all, I know Lion-O was a big kid, but so was I. I guess we grew up in a wonderful way.
My niece Melanie Simpson, Larry Kenney and me.
This was taken in 2010 at a convention in Miami.