Pierce Askegren

John Pierce Askegren (1955 - November, 2006), of the Louisiana Askegrens, was an American author best known for his work in adaptations of licensed properties and is a lifelong comic book fan. His life began in the circus where his parents performed as high wire walkers. After a tragic fall at the age of 11, Askegren broke his hip and began his life-long affinity for Tab Soda. After his father took a job with a railroad company, Askegren’s parents finally settled in a small Northern Virginia town where he non-eventfully finished Junior High and High School. He attended Madison College in the early 1970s where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. During his college years, Askegren, dabbled in a singing career in and around the Shenandoah Valley and Washington D.C. areas. He performed with his band under different names, “Johnny Pierce”, “Mr. Pierce and the Piercetones” and “The Young Men and the Sea”. The latter name being a reference to Ernest Hemingway’s novel, “The Old Man and the Sea”.

After a chance meeting with millionaire Herbert Haft, chairman and chief operating officer of the Dart Group, Askegren went to work at Crown Books. His time at Crown Books was tumultuous as he moved from store to store, finally ending up at the unglamorous Rolling Valley Mall location. He finally left during the late 1980s and went to work in the Defense Industry where he has been a logistician, editor, and technical writer.

It was during his time in the circus that Askegren was introduced to Comic Books. He remembers being in awe of the talents of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko in Marvel Comics’ early years. Askegren has written extensively on Marvel Characters having written or cowritten many novels featuring the Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four, Spiderman etc. Askegren got his start in the comics industry in the late 1970s writing short stories for Creepy Magazine.

Askegren died suddenly shortly before Thanksgiving of 2006, but his death was not publicly announced by his family until several days after. No cause of death was immediately given, but it was announced that an autopsy would be performed. On December 14th his brother, James W. Askegren, released the following statement:

:"All-Pierce's cause of death was Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease and Sudden Cardiac Death. In layman's terms, Pierce had hardening of the arteries and suffered a massive heart attack. I received the Death Certificate yesterday (12/13/2006). Thank you again for your kind words and the next few days."

Books

Franchise novels

*"Buffy the Vampire Slayer"
**"After Image" (2006)
*Fantastic Four:
**"Countdown to Chaos" (1998)
*"Alias" (with J. J. Abrams)
**15. "Collateral Damage" (2005)
*Spider-Man:
**"Spider-Man and Iron Man: Sabotage" (1997)
**"Spiderman and Iron Man" (1997) (with Danny Fingeroth)
*Gateway to the Stars: Marc Miller's Traveller (1998)
*"The Avengers and the Thunderbolts" (1998)

eries

*Inconstant Moon:
# Human Resource (2005)
# Fall Girl (2005)
# Exit Strategy (2006)

Anthologies contributions

*"The Ultimate Super-Villains" (1996)
*"The Chick Is in the Mail" (2000)

External links

* [http://www.sfwa.org/news/2006/paskegren.htm Obituary]
* [http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?sid=183&pid=354639 Simonsays.com Askegren's bibliography]
* [http://www.askegren.com Brain Radio]
* [http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/a/pierce-askegren/ Pierce Askegren @ FantasticFiction.co.uk]