Marvel legend Thomas Tenney has fallen on hard times and is now facing homelessness. Jacksonville’s First Coast News recently interviewed Tenney on his recent setbacks and what his future holds.

Tenney, who is known for his work on Marvel’s Iron Man and as one of the creators of Force Works, had his life take a turn for the worse in 2017 when he was diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Tenney struggled to afford the treatments he needed, and his girlfriend’s mother died in 2017, making things even more difficult. “When that happened, everything got dumped onto our lap. We had no idea. It was that immediate,” Tenney said to First Coast News. Tenney’s current financial situation puts him at risk of losing his home on Aug. 30, and his attempts to make extra money through his art have not been going as planned.

In the interview, Tenney spoke about his early ambitions as an artist, including meeting former President Ronald Reagan during one of the president’s visits to Ohio. “My art teacher said, ‘you gotta draw him.’ I got to meet him. I got to draw him, and he looked at it said ‘That’s one of my better pieces,'” Tenney said. He added that Reagan later wrote him a letter encouraging him to follow his dreams, which inspired him to work in the comics industry.

After being inspired by Ronald Reagan’s words, Tenney went on to become the go-to artist for Marvel’s Iron Man stories. “Iron Man has always been like, attached to me ever since. So, I love the character,” Tenney said. Despite his legacy in comics, Tenney has still been struggling to make ends meet, prompting a GoFundMe campaign raising funds to help the family with medications and other expenses.

“I see other guys in this business my age or a little younger, I can’t get any work. I don’t know why, I’m doing everything I can, I am drawing well. It’s the same old formula,” Tenney said. “They tell me ‘I still read your books, I go back and read them.’ But in the back of your head you hear that echo of ‘Am I letting them down? Have I let them down? And then I get some who say, ‘I understand man, because I am going through the same thing.’ I go through a lot too.”

Fans can help support Tenney through GoFundMe.

Source: First Coast News