CGC Comic Collecting After 55

[PUNYHUMAN]

Hey Dave , i'm lovin it!.. Keep posting names. Great stories . This is the stuff I love about these boards . History , my man. If you can get a chance post this stuff in the Golden or Silver Threads .Alot of old timers and younger ones over there will appreciate these memories.

[David P Hartman]

Dan (Adkins) was prone to artists block...(why should writers get the excuse exclusively) He, was trying to get out a story for Marvel that , I want to say, was a Theodore Sturgeon adaptation. IHe redrew the thing maybe three times, being unhappy with each.

I mentioned his "Shazum" award. In the living room hung a portrait of Elvis Presley. Dan would do the Elvis hip throw, full arm swing "thank you very much" routine. His prize possession was a letter from Elvis' mother (guess that would be Grace). He had put out some kind of fanzine or newsletter, when he (Dan) was still in the army, and sent one to Elvis, prompting the response.

I'm surprised Dan wouldn't ask his wife (Janette sp?) to make him fried peanut butter banana sandwiches.

Dan had started taking Poloroid shots of his finished pencil pages, as a result of the loss of 3 or 4 pages from the Barry Smith Conan job, while in the mail. He also had a few scripts... 3 or so typed page synopsis, lying around. I assume most people know the difference in the way Marvel worked, as opposed to DC. At DC, scripts are finalized, or determined right at the gate, what every panel contained, down to the dialog, leaving no room for the story development, artistically! This/that is why Marvel had personality, imo. And DC was trying to play catch up... Stan (ley Lieber) had went with a looser approach which allowed for say.... If Kirby, Ditko,Steranko, whomever, wanted to take 4 pages for a fight/battle, whatever, they did. This went with the artist being given co-plotting status. Less work for Stan, initially, as well.

So plot to artist. Phone conversations. Artist draws it up. Back to writer, to come up with dialog & captions to fit the pictures. Then to letterer, who inks in panel outlines, word balloons/captions, then to inker for embellishment. Editors keeping an eye on the process to stop and correct if need be. No big secret.

Dan gave me a few scripts he hadn't disposed of. I've still got the Brother Voodoo Doctor Strange (Strange Tales) origin story around here somewhere. I also had gotten an unused splash page for a Kazar story, which showed Kazar in a fancy restaurant, dressed in a suit, snapping a butter knife in half. (Nobody is to repeat this to MetalPSI!) It wasn't 'dynamic enough' and shelved. (And inaccurate, as stainless would bend, not snap. So yeah, that's the ticket!

Dan could paint with a pencil! Which reminds me, for some reason, of a habit of his. He would take a full bottle of black ink, and set that in a pan of water, on the oven, to thicken up the ink. So as to accomplish a denser black. Or consistent black....

Anyway, Dan offered to try and help Duffy 'in the door' and early in 1973, Duffy found a rental in the hills of East Liverpool! And I had to learn how to drive a clutch amongst said hills. So, that summer, Jim Novak & I, moved to East Liverpool, into a bigger place, closer to downtown, and just a stroll to the river. That was within maybe a week of graduating high school.

In spite of all the prodding, I wasn't inclined to 'go pro', as it were. Dan had implied he could get me a summer job with his brother, who put in swimming pools, or something. That didn't seem to be happening. Duffy, having networked as he did, and Jim, as talented as he was, saw more opportunities in NYC. So, they went east, and I moved in with my cousin and her baby boy, back in Indianapolis. It wasn't long after that, before another Hoopeston buddy & I moved to Naples, Florida. I was building sea walls on Alligator Alley between Naples & Miami. You won't believe the tan I got!

 

[PUNYHUMAN]

Keep it going.

[David P Hartman]

Thanks for the encouragement Punyhuman.... that sounds deragatory....you must address those self esteem issues. Probably, so secure stable and grounded as to selected such a moniker. Not trying to stit up dust, with my name utilizing my middle initial running P & H together for that flatulence thought induction. Punyhuman it is.

I corresponded with this one writer, from Chicago (actually I was still in Hoopeston), Doug Moench. I probably had written his name & address (index cards)down, from a published loc in any number of comics. Then read his bio in one of the Warren titles, and put 2 and 2 together and became a stalker.

It was a thing, prior to meeting Adkins, to have or get numbers and addresses of the pros. If you typed your letters and envelopes (supplying a sase (self address stamped envelope)) then they may not see through the ruse, that your a 14 year old, snot nosed fan. Oh, the index card, IL thing had to do with I told Alan Light who had this lame idea about sending out this newspaper FREE to anyone that was a fan. Or use to be a fan. Or might be... He was trying, and did, come up with close to 5000 subscribers for The Buyers Guide. Weekly. I'm trying to keep these stories from getting to nested, but my editor quit, insert disclaimer.

So, Doug & I corresponded for ? maybe a year or two. I learned more vocabulary from that guy, than I can think of a word to describe! Doug would know the exact word. Pick up the Oxford, take one of the two volumes, open it up somewhere, point to a spot. Now, get the magnifier out of the little drawer so you can see that spot. Scratch that. That could be just luck, but it was such a build up I don't want to earase it.

I swear, I use to dream of a future, where you could have, well I guess a fax like setup would have seemed like real time interaction, as opposed to writing,mailing, waiting for the US mail! But looking forward to what ever might come today was something to be missed! There was usually a couple letters, fanzines. There was the weekly Menonomee (sp.) Falls Gazette, I thing that Don & Maggie Thomson Newfangles, by the time all those Seagate mailings, ok I'm drifting here.

So Duffy, both Rogers, Doc Larry, Jim, myself, all at Jim Novak's parents house in Westchester (sw of Chicago). So after writing letters, back & forth with Doug, I was finally going to meet him. He & his girlfriend (Brenda Grey, I think) and Russ Heath was coming as well! We just had to drive downtown (Loop) and pick them up. Needing room in the car, only two of us went . Duffy & I. Doug & Brenda, hop in, and it wasn't far to the high rise where Russ lived.

[porcupine48]

great stuff

[MetalPSI]

Dan (Adkins) was prone to artists block...(why should writers get the excuse exclusively) He, was trying to get out a story for Marvel that , I want to say, was a Theodore Sturgeon adaptation. IHe redrew the thing maybe three times, being unhappy with each.

I mentioned his "Shazum" award. In the living room hung a portrait of Elvis Presley. Dan would do the Elvis hip throw, full arm swing "thank you very much" routine. His prize possession was a letter from Elvis' mother (guess that would be Grace). He had put out some kind of fanzine or newsletter, when he (Dan) was still in the army, and sent one to Elvis, prompting the response.

I'm surprised Dan wouldn't ask his wife (Janette sp?) to make him fried peanut butter banana sandwiches.

Dan had started taking Poloroid shots of his finished pencil pages, as a result of the loss of 3 or 4 pages from the Barry Smith Conan job, while in the mail. He also had a few scripts... 3 or so typed page synopsis, lying around. I assume most people know the difference in the way Marvel worked, as opposed to DC. At DC, scripts are finalized, or determined right at the gate, what every panel contained, down to the dialog, leaving no room for the story development, artistically! This/that is why Marvel had personality, imo. And DC was trying to play catch up... Stan (ley Lieber) had went with a looser approach which allowed for say.... If Kirby, Ditko,Steranko, whomever, wanted to take 4 pages for a fight/battle, whatever, they did. This went with the artist being given co-plotting status. Less work for Stan, initially, as well.

So plot to artist. Phone conversations. Artist draws it up. Back to writer, to come up with dialog & captions to fit the pictures. Then to letterer, who inks in panel outlines, word balloons/captions, then to inker for embellishment. Editors keeping an eye on the process to stop and correct if need be. No big secret.

Dan gave me a few scripts he hadn't disposed of. I've still got the Brother Voodoo Doctor Strange (Strange Tales) origin story around here somewhere. I also had gotten an unused splash page for a Kazar story, which showed Kazar in a fancy restaurant, dressed in a suit, snapping a butter knife in half. (Nobody is to repeat this to MetalPSI!) It wasn't 'dynamic enough' and shelved. (And inaccurate, as stainless would bend, not snap. So yeah, that's the ticket!

Dan could paint with a pencil! Which reminds me, for some reason, of a habit of his. He would take a full bottle of black ink, and set that in a pan of water, on the oven, to thicken up the ink. So as to accomplish a denser black. Or consistent black....

Anyway, Dan offered to try and help Duffy 'in the door' and early in 1973, Duffy found a rental in the hills of East Liverpool! And I had to learn how to drive a clutch amongst said hills. So, that summer, Jim Novak & I, moved to East Liverpool, into a bigger place, closer to downtown, and just a stroll to the river. That was within maybe a week of graduating high school.

In spite of all the prodding, I wasn't inclined to 'go pro', as it were. Dan had implied he could get me a summer job with his brother, who put in swimming pools, or something. That didn't seem to be happening. Duffy, having networked as he did, and Jim, as talented as he was, saw more opportunities in NYC. So, they went east, and I moved in with my cousin and her baby boy, back in Indianapolis. It wasn't long after that, before another Hoopeston buddy & I moved to Naples, Florida. I was building sea walls on Alligator Alley between Naples & Miami. You won't believe the tan I got!

 

You aren't special, seriously, just drop it already, I've already labeled you a Dbag for going on so far, you want an upgrade to troll? I'd rather not

[porcupine48]

boys...

[David P Hartman]

Russ was just moving in, or something, and we moved a couch and unrolled some shag carpet, then we stepped in the studio/art room with a drawing table, etc. and Doug & Brenda were quite, and Russ was telling stories. Oh yeah, Russ was 'dating' Brenda's mother... So there's piles of art there! There's Atlas pages, there's Atlas covers, there's war pages, some of it was for sale. Pages for 5. Atlas covers 10. Dollars. There was/is one book/story that he agreed to do. I forget how he broke his right hand. He drew it with his left, and I couldn't see any difference! Sure, people paint with their toes. But if you know or can picture the detail Russ puts in, then it seems impossible to draw like that with your right (prominent) hand! I had no money back then. He had pencil tissue paper overlays that Frazetta did, the one time he helped Kurtzman out on Little Annie Fanny that I could take me eyes of off! Anyway, we finally got out of there, and for some reason Duffy couldn't drive (glasses fail?) Russ,Doug, Brenda no license, I may have been barefoot, left my wallet at Jim's, not that smooth with this clutch shift procedure. There was one point where I was going the wrong way, on a one way street (ya can't just go around the block, it seems). But against all odds, I got us on the Eisenhower and back to Jim's.

[The_SandMan]

 

You aren't special, seriously, just drop it already, I've already labeled you a Dbag for going on so far, you want an upgrade to troll? I'd rather not

 

 

Ummm, ok

[David P Hartman]

Sorry there MetalPSI. The butter knife parallel didn't even occur to me, but found it to ironic to ignore. I heard your opinion of me and I'm ok with that. I rub .....a lot of people the wrong way. Lotion helps. (You can't bend a tree branch back on itself, without breaking. That doesn't mean it's 'brittle'). I've more respect for mechanics and machinists, than for most engineers. No response necessary. I like ya anyway.

[David P Hartman]

Cedar is brittle, on second thought.

[David P Hartman]

The high school buddy that I went to Naples with. Danny Hable, had a rather interesting experience that's worth mentioning. It was less than a year (in FL), and hitchhiking back to IL, was around Harrisburg, PA. I didn't ask him for specifics, but he tells me he stole a bread truck (for the dough?) and there's a police pursuit, but he winds up on some railroad service road. He lost control and hits some control switch box, and the truck is out of commission. The crash rattled him a little, but he's in the trees and up the hill and he hears a train. The train derailed. Could have been worse. Or I wouldn't have got out on bail. He left his wallet in the truck when it wrecked, and realizing that , walked down and gave himself up. That was 1974ish. Danny wasn't afraid of anything. I never doubted anything he ever told me. I was on the floor the way he told that one!

[The_SandMan]

Once the speech is over, a small group of us stayed behind to take down the stage while she shook hands with people in the crowd. Just as we finished, the last person left and she asked if we were hungry. We’re college guys, we’re always hungry, but I’d have gone without food for a week just to spend more time with my sexy candidate! We all went to a nice restaurant just off of campus; there were five of us college guys and three members of her staff plus her. Much to my delight, she chose to sit next to me! She started asking me questions about where I’d grown up and my family back home. I answered and then tentatively asked her questions about a few of her political positions, but it didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about that, so I started asking her about her family. She was married, but it didn’t seem that she was too happy about that. The food came and she leaned over me to reach for the salt. At the intoxicating smell of her perfume entered my nostrils she put her hand on my leg and squeezed! I had to fight not to jump right out of my pants. No one saw because we were sitting in the corner booth, but she looked at me and smiled knowingly. As we ate, her hand returned to my leg and started rubbing, slowly making its way up. It was the best meal I ever had in a restaurant and I don’t think I even tasted the food.

[PUNYHUMAN]

[MediumLover]

Penthouse Forum

[lizards2]

I occasionally rub people the right way.

[porcupine48]

after a moult..

[David P Hartman]

I mentioned corresponding with Doug Meonch. You should hear some of his encounters with Cinthia Plastercaster....

The moult reference to lizards2 is a little cold blooded....

Actually I've been trying to keep things... above the waist. I could have touch on when after Duffy had introduced Steve Mattingly I myself to two girls there around Clarksburg, one his 'girlfriend' (Annita) who worked for a veterinarian. And, Debbie who's father was the veterinarian. They being Duffy's age (18). Steve and I both 16. So, after an evening of libations, with Duffy opting out (being self conscious about his weight), a card game of chance was undertaken, with garments replacing chips... Inside straights are a long shot... Straight flushes longer.... Anyway, Duffy is watching all this transpire, with a pillow on his lap. Anita was down to her last chip. The steaks were high, but I was all in... Anyway, to this day I don't gamble. Unless I can spot a sucker.... Never met a phour I didn't like. I'd better dial this back a notch....

[David P Hartman]

I could tell you other non-comic related stories, that I've been privy too... This one guy I'd been introduced to (this jumps to long beach) who went by Maniac (real name was Tim... He's no longer around). Anyway, he was affiliated with a few 'youth groups' and was looking for this guy, at a club, and spots him, chasing him outside. He had actually fashioned a piece of boiler plate with straps, under his coat. So... in to parking lot, the guys stops running, and turns and shots. This knocks the wind out of him, and Maniac falls between some cars. Not being able to catch his breath, he stabs a tire and using the deflating tire, forces air (as foul as it may have been) into his lungs. When he gets up the other guy, freaks, and probably left town....

To tie all this into the world of panelology (anyone remember Dr. Jerry Bails), I can only say. As a teenager, meeting many of these pros, I knew that I didn't have enough life experiences to be a 'writer'. Couldn't draw well enough to please myself. And had met more and more pros, whom I just couldn't see the talent in. No names. Don McGregor.

By the '90's, when I'd rekindled a friendship with Bob Layton, and subsequently got to know Jim Shooter, John Romita Jr., Paul Smith, Nestor Redondo, I was of the thinking that this was my hobby, my relaxation, and something to get away from the stresses of work. I could a would throw some story ideas out there, and sometimes they fell on respective ears.

Anyway, I find/found this to be somewhat fun remembering events, and it didn't/doesn't take much encouragement to keep 'em coming.

Professionally, I did evolve from machinist, machine shop foreman, NC programming, mfg engineering. I actually was the trouble shooter for a high precision machine shop. Twenty millionths of an inch, means the heat from your hand will expand things, out of tolerance... I worked with countless application engineers, carbide salesmen, design engineers, selecting tooling packages, trade show seminars, etc. etc.

I didn't realize that by disagreeing with someone's characterization of stainless steel as being brittle would start a urination distance match. And frankly, I've been, well, pulling punches implies I was punching. Like I care.

Anything I say, or write, I can back. I have little tolerance for lies, and hate thieves. I don't like being called a dirtbag. Labels disable. Makes me think back to when I first got promoted to a foreman position, and the superintendent told me, "if everybody likes you, your not doing your job". Maybe that's not applicable. Maybe that 'submit' button has other connotations.

[porcupine48]

comics,phartman,comics..