i am biggest: the origin

When I was a wee lad my parents would let me leave out food for Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, and after I went to bed they would then leave a note, ostensibly left by said magical sprites, for me to marvel at in the morning (and they would get rid of the food, as if it had been eaten--always leaving little crumbs behind as evidence). When I was very very young they would write out a note from me to Santa/Bunny that I would place by the plate of food.

I've still got a note to the Easter Bunny from, oh, sometime in the late 1970's...for some reason, after filling in my name in the note, I then scribbled the non-sequiter-ish "I am biggest" at the bottom. I made some mini-comics in the 1990's using that as the title, and it carried over to this blog. I just find it funny.



A drawing of the Easter Bunny, from the back of the note:

strike force 1

From the early Eighties...

childhood terrors, part 3

In my grandparents' guest room, which was way down at the end of a dark hall in their house, there was a print of this painting of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velazquez hanging on the wall opposite the bed:

Everytime I stayed over at my grandparents I had to sleep in that room and try not to look at that Pope.

childhood terrors, part 2

To this day, this moment remains the single most disturbing thing I've ever seen in a movie. A big part of it has to do with the unexpected cut to this medium close-up from a wide-shot, but...man. I still get goosebumps at this whenever I see it.

childhood terrors, part 1

When I was a kid I had a book about ghosts and hauntings, and this photo was in it.


I would stare and stare at it and get super frightened.

Rev. Ralph Hardy, a retired clergyman from White Rock, British Columbia, took this now-famous photograph in 1966. He intended merely to photograph the elegant spiral staircase (known as the Tulip Staircase) in the Queen's House section of the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England. Upon development, however, the photo revealed a shrouded figure climbing the stairs, seeming to hold the railing with both hands. Experts, including some from Kodak, who examined the original negative concluded that it had not been tampered with. It's been said that unexplained figures have been seen on occasion in the vicinity of the staircase, and unexplained footsteps have also been heard.

when superman was superboy

When I was about four or five I was given a 4-book collection called The Story of Superman (the books were "The Origin of Superman", "The Adventures of Superbaby", "When Superman was Superboy", and "Superman in Metropolis"). Written by Elliot S! Maggin (yes, the S! stands for Superman) and drawn by Metamorpho and Aquaman artist Ramona Fredon, the books run through the whole Silver-Age origin of Superman.

I always liked the ridiculous amount of thought that must've gone into reasoning how Superman could use his heat vision through his glasses lenses when he was Clark Kent:

team-up thrillers

This book, collecting six Marvel comics, came out in 1983 and was my introduction to Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and the Silver Surfer, amongst others (sure, it was also the first time I had ever heard of the X-Men villain Lucifer, or of Pepper Potts, or Kulan Gath, or Kurrgo--the Master of Planet X!...but I digress).

Looking back on it now, the inclusion of the team-up story featuring Spider-Man and Red Sonja seems...mightily weird. And the Hulk/Thing story isn't really the stuff of legends, either (I guess they didn't want more than one Jack Kirby story in the book, so they went with a fine-but-not-classic Hulk vs. Thing by Len Wein, Jim Starlin, and Joe Sinnott from Marvel Feature #11, instead of what would be my choice, a classic Hulk vs. Thing story from Fantastic Four #25)...but there's Iron Man fighting Captain America drawn by Don Heck, the X-Men vs. the Avengers by Kirby, Spider-Man vs. Daredevil by Ditko, and Thor vs. the Silver Surfer by John Buscema.

And my first real introduction to the Surfer was this panel:

Isn't that awesome? No wonder he became my favorite superhero character.

ngyaaaaaaaaaaa

From Marvel's Little Shop of Horrors adaptation (art by Gene Colan). "Ngyaaaaaaaaaaa" instantly became an inside joke among our little circle of friends. I dunno why...it's just a very odd death cry, I guess. No exclamation point, either.

Safetypup says...

I used to clip and save the Safetypup cartoons on the milk cartons we'd get at lunch in junior high. I have no idea why (you should see my old Twix wrapper collection from back then). I even have some of the brown Safetypup "variants" from chocolate milk cartons.

Here's instructions from the National Child Safety Council on how to draw Safetypup:

portrait of the artist as a young batman

Today's world needs more underoos. Back in the late 70's/early 80's there was an embarrassment of riches as far as kids underwear apparel went.

Along with Batman, I also had Superman, Spider-Man, and Luke Skywalker (X-Wing flight suit version)...I have a vague memory of having Flash underoos, too, but the internet doesn't seem to confirm the existence of such a thing...which, if true, seems like a strange omission to me...I mean, they had Aquaman underoos, for God's sake...

book nostalgia

R is for Rocket--My first book of Ray Bradbury stories. Includes the classics "A Sound of Thunder", "The Long Rain", and "The Golden Apples of the Sun". I vividly remember reading "The Long Rain" and suddenly understanding metaphor.

Our Universe--One of the more popular geek books in my elementary school library (probably tied with the Gnomes book and a book on the Rankin and Bass Hobbit cartoon), and one of the heaviest as well. Some of the information in this book is now out-dated, but I loved the paintings of Greco-Roman gods heading each planet chapter, as well as conceptual paintings about how life might exist on other planets in the solar system. Thanks to this book I still remember the names of the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. And what a fantastic cover (by the late great sci-fi artist John Berkey).

Superman and Spider-Man--One of the first comics I owned, this over-sized special teamed up Superman and Spider-Man against Doctor Doom and the Parasite (the Hulk and Wonder Woman appear, as well). This comic is the reason it took me years to figure out that Superman and Spider-Man don't actually exist in the same continuity. It was also my first exposure to John Buscema's particular brand of anatomical dynamism.

Nostalgia and back pain are making me old.

A drawing from summer 1995. I was so much younger then:


(drawn in a mad rush for Du8 and Dax's "Eulogy" game/event/what-have-you. Someday I'll share more evidence of this thing, for the very few people who know and/or are interested in whatever I'm talking about)

I blame He-Man

In 3rd grade almost everything I drew was either He-Man or ninja-related. In fact, for nearly the entire school year I managed to duck out of math class and sit at my desk, drawing big guys with balloon fists or merchants of silent death.

See, we were assigned a math group based on how well we tested in the subject (I was in the "yellow group", which was average), but this created confusion and I could easily just stay at my desk when the other yellows gathered together at the big desk and went over homework. Nobody seemed to catch on.

How I passed math that year--or was even graded at all--I have no idea. But I happily cranked out He-Man drawings while setting myself up for an ongoing, fundamental lack of confidence when it came to the subject of mathematics...