It had never occurred to me that comic book sound effects would be different in other languages—I guess because I’ve always foolishly assumed sounds were sounds, right?—until I went to blow my nose the other day.

See, Irene had bought a box of Puff tissues, one with a superhero-themed design she knew would entertain me, and I’d been using it for months, only noticing the sides which had BOOM! and Zap! written on it.

But then I noticed that the remaining two sides, rather than BOOM! and Zap!, were emblazoned with the sound effects BOUM! and Vlan!, which would allow the box to also be sold in France. (more…)

Yesterday, I promised I’d share with you the Iron Man character write-up I found stuffed in the back of Marvel Comics file cabinet when I worked there in the ’70s, and even though you have much better things to do today than read this post and are off celebrating Presidents’ Day by buying a car or a mattress or a huge flat-screen TV, I’m a man of my word.

And so …

But wait!

Before you click on the scan below, first picture the characters of Tony Stark, Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan, and try to imagine which celebrity voices you’re meant to hear in your head whenever you read their word balloons.

Got a few names? OK, then now you can click away!

Well? Did you get close on any of them?

Whether you did or not, I imagine the main thing you’re thinking is … Korea?

Tomorrow, you’ll get to see the final character sheets I found—two pages on the Fantastic Four.

Plus a few words from none other than Stan Lee himself!

Over the past week or so, I’ve shared scans of pages I found in a Marvel Bullpen file cabinet during the mid-’70s—so far, you’ve seen the X-Men, Captain America, Thor, the Sub-Mariner, Doctor Strange, and the Hulk—and along the way I mentioned I had a feeling based on the content that these were written no later than the mid-’60s.

Today’s sheet will give you more of an idea of why I think this. Take a look at Spider-Man and his supporting cast and tell me what you see.

Or rather … what you don’t see.

Well? Did you not see what I thought you might not see? (more…)

Yes, I know Curt is no longer with us, but he would have turned 82 the other day, and since he was THE Superman artist of my youth, I figured I should take note. His is the face of Superman I see when I close my eyes, though you’d think, based on my age, that face could have easily belonged to Wayne Boring.

As far as I know, I only met Curt once, back in 1973 at a National Cartoonist Society Ruben Awards banquet held at the Waldorf Astoria. I was just a fanboy then, my job in the Marvel Bullpen still in the future. I was the guest of cartoonist Bill Kresse, whom I’d met thanks to a high school class trip to the New York Daily News.

I wore a old tuxedo which had belonged to a family friend, and as is true for all fanboys back then, I carried a sketch pad tucked under one arm. And to the embarrassment of my host, I interrupted the artists as they tried to eat their rubber chicken, and asked for drawings. (At least I assume my actions had to embarrass Bill. He never said. Who knows? Maybe he found them amusing.)

Here’s what Curt graciously drew for me. (more…)

As I said in my previous post, I’m confident that there’s simply no way you’ll be able to guess the celebrity voice meant to run through your head once Bruce Banner Hulks out.

OK, this is your last chance to take a crack at it. Got your candidate in mind?

Then click away to read the character description I found stuffed in a file cabinet in the Marvel Bullpen back in the mid-’70s.

Well?

Admit it—you didn’t even come close.

Next up—Spider-Man, accompanied by a supporting cast of characters that’ll explain why I believe all of these pages were written in the ’60s.

Over the past week, I’ve shared some superhero descriptions I found hidden between drawers in a filing cabinet back in the ’70s when I worked in the Marvel Bullpen—descriptions some of us who worked there at the time think were written by Stan Lee.

So far, you’ve seen write-ups of the X-Men, Captain America, Thor and the Sub-Mariner, complete with suggestions of what voice you were meant to imagine while reading the adventures of each character.

And today we come to Doctor Strange.

But before perusing the scan below, take a moment and think—who should the sorcerer supreme sound like?

Got a name? OK, then click away!

So? Were you in the ballpark?

Well, even if you were, I’m 100% positive that tomorrow, you’ll be stumped. Because there’s simply no way you’ll be able to successfully guess which celebrity’s voice you were meant to hear running through your head while you sounded out the word balloons of the incredible Hulk. It’s a name that totally surprised me.

Give it a shot if you think you’re up to it, but I promise—you’re going to lose!

I’ve already shared a few ancient superhero character descriptions with you that were written decades ago by someone at Marvel Comics—presumably Stan Lee, though until there’s some evidence that’s more than just the opinions of me and a few fellow former Bullpenners, we’ll leave that word “presumably” in there.

So far, you’ve seen the X-Men, Captain America, and Thor. (Who knew that the Thunder God was supposed to sound like Richard Chamberlain AND Richard Burton?)

Yesterday, I asked you to try to guess which famous actor Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, was meant to sound like in the word balloons of your mind. Did you come up with one? Give the scan below a read and see if you were right.

So … how far off were you?

Now it’s time to give some thought to whose voice comes out of Doctor Strange’s eldritch mouth. Tune in tomorrow to see how close you come!

By now you’ve probably heard the story of how Gary Friedrich recently lost his lawsuit against Marvel Comics over the rights to Ghost Rider, and how he’s now not only required to pay the company $17,000 it claims he earned from selling signed merchandise over the years, but also, he can no longer even state that he’s the character’s creator. Neal Adams, who helped get a degree of justice for Superman’s creators, has said that, “Gary is sick, and he’s about to lose his house, and though he will tell you he is not destitute, he needs help.”

Steve Niles has set up a fund to help Gary, and I’d been meaning to send a few bucks his way, because it’s the right thing to do, regardless of what you think about the merits of his lawsuit, but I’ve been busy and/or dithering since Steve got the ball rolling Friday. A few minutes ago, though, I finally got off my butt and sent $100 Gary’s way.

What riled me up enough just now to make me click that donate button? A glimpse at the Bullpen Bulletins page which appeared in all August 1972 Marvel titles announcing the coming of Ghost Rider.

What does it have to say about “a far-out new feature which we think you’re gonna dig”? Several things, but most important, it describes Gary Friedrich as the guy “who dreamed the whole thing up.”

Let me repeat that.

In 1972, Marvel Comics described Gary Friedrich, who’s now legally prevented from calling himself the creator of Ghost Rider, as the person “who dreamed the whole thing up.”

You can see for yourself below. (more…)

I’ve already shared with you who Stan Lee thought the X-Men and Captain America were supposed to sound like—at least in character guides he apparently wrote back in the ’60s. (A date based not at all on hard evidence but instead entirely on when and where in the Bullpen I discovered these, internal clues in the characters’ arcs, and some opinions of old Marvel pals.)

And now we come to the bifurcated Thunder God, with one voice as Don Blake, and another as the mighty Thor.

But before you click below, stop and think for a moment. Which actor’s voice do you imagine coming from each personality?

Done pondering?

OK, check it out and see if you were right.

So how close did you come?

Tune in tomorrow to find out whose dulcet tones should echo in your mind when you read the Sub-Mariner’s word balloons!

A week or so ago, I downloaded a free Kindle edition of P. T Barnum’s 1880 book The Art of Money Getting or, Golden Rules for Making Money. (And you can, too.) I started reading it on our flight down to Florida last weekend, enjoying it immensely, and then, while visiting the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, in the midst of its exhibit on Sitter and Subject in Nineteenth-Century Photography, I came face to face with Barnum himself.

I was startled by the double dose of Barnum, and yet, serendipity has always been an active force in my life. So why not yet again?

Barnum’s advice book was published in 1880, so the photo below was of a much younger man, taken in 1855, and not yet looking like the huckster with which we’re familiar.

To convince you the book is worth your time, here’s one of my favorite passages, as you’ll see what happens when Barnum meets a man who puts his own selling skills to shame:

After securing the right vocation, you must be careful to select the proper location. You may have been cut out for a hotel keeper, and they say it requires a genius to “know how to keep a hotel.” You might conduct a hotel like clock-work, and provide satisfactorily for five hundred guests every day; yet, if you should locate your house in a small village where there is no railroad communication or public travel, the location would be your ruin. It is equally important that you do not commence business where there are already enough to meet all demands in the same occupation. I remember a case which illustrates this subject.

When I was in London in 1858, I was passing down Holborn with an English friend and came to the “penny shows.” They had immense cartoons outside, portraying the wonderful curiosities to be seen “all for a penny.” Being a little in the “show line” myself, I said “let us go in here.” We soon found ourselves in the presence of the illustrious showman, and he proved to be the sharpest man in that line I had ever met. He told us some extraordinary stories in reference to his bearded ladies, his Albinos, and his Armadillos, which we could hardly believe, but thought it “better to believe it than look after the proof’.” He finally begged to call our attention to some wax statuary, and showed us a lot of the dirtiest and filthiest wax figures imaginable. They looked as if they had not seen water since the Deluge. (more…)