The idea of the STALLONEZONE first came to me in the late 70’s! Of course it would have been a LOT different back then! At that time I was really into comic books, original art and fanzines (magazines created by fans which contained original art, stories, interviews, etc). My good friend, John Beatty was an aspiring comic artist and had started to develop contacts with other fans and pros as well.
John and I were going to do a comic fanzine and I talked about creating a fanzine that covered comics and movies. We even went so far as to layout the first issue and get art stats started. We never did publish it (but I still have some of the stats!) because John began to get work professinally and I was busy with college.
I revisited the idea in the mid 80’s and even published a couple of newsletters titled ZONE that were mailed out to friends. The emphasis was again on comics, art and movies. Of course SLY was covered in each issue!
The idea for a STALLONE periodical for his fans was always in the back of my mind and once I had access to the internet I became intrigued with the idea of a website dedicated to SLY. I was on AOL and they had an area that members could use to create simple websites with a point and click production. I was off and running.
When I first started the STALLONEZONE back in 1996, it was a one man operation. I did everything from finding news items, to scanning pictures, and designing the pages. You name it and I did it alone. The site was very basic at first and then I began to add the “bells and whistles” [animated gifs, flashing messages, scrolling headlines, etc.].
My good friend, John Beatty, was impressed with my web abilities and wanted to learn how to do all of these cool things. Needless to say, in no time John was the expert and with his artistic sense of layout and design, he was able to offer suggestions and solutions to my every question. John graciously designed logos, and pages, as well as provided the much needed technical support. John came on board officially as the site co-designer and technician.
My goal was to create a Stallone ‘periodical’ of sorts. A web “magazine” that fans could count on being updated ‘weekly.’ John felt that the best way to do this was to simplify the site and streamline the ease of use to the web surfer. John took my ideas and his sensibilities and through many give-and-take sessions, we developed the STALLONEZONE into what it is today… the most popular Stallone site on the web!
The AOL site was quickly becoming too small for the SZ! I decided that I would have to find another server in order to meet the needs of our plans for the SZ. Early in 1999 we switched over to Mindspring. Within six months Mindspring was too small! John and I talked about getting Stallonezone domained. In September of 1999 we did just that!
Although we have received news and photos from various sources over the years, one very talented Stallone fan named Ernest Resendes [A.K.A. “Jazzman”] began to send in scans of his original art as well as rare pictures from his personal collection. Jazzman did this repeatedly without request for payment or even credit [although we ALWAYS credit fans who send in items that are used on the STALLONEZONE.]. Jazzman became a regular contributor whose positive responses and upbeat attitude transcended the casual fan/contributor. John and I discussed the situation and decided that Ernest should be offered a role as ‘Associate Gallery Editor.” Jazzman accepted and became the third member of the team.
In June of 2000, rOb De Vera the creator of the very popular STALLONE tribute page, Souhpaw, decided to retire the site due to the time constraints needed to maintain Southpaw’s high level of excellence. rOb had always been a SZ regular and had in fact donated specifically made graphics to us over the years. rOb’s site was always given top billing in our STALLONE links section so it seemed natural to invite him to join the SZ creative team. rOb enthusiastically agreed!
Currently the four of us provide the bulk of the material that appears on the STALLONEZONE. Whenever others contribute we offer them a “byline” for their contribution.
We would also like to acknowledge all the people who post on our message-board. We appreciate their support.
We have no plans to expand our editorial staff [besides not many people are willing to work for nothing but praise!] but who knows what the future will hold?