This is the second part of the photo study of Marvel Comics’ own mail room stalwarts. I have pointed out just how non-traditional the work could get.
Mike Kudzinowski, hauling a well-packaged “standee” of – what I believe is – Dr. Strange. There is a hole where the face should be. Wherever this gadget was to appear allowed a kid or kid-at-heart to step up and put their own faces right there! A portrait was taken.
Just like this! You can be Dr. Strange! This picture celebrates the unusual duties of the on-staff colorists. Andy Yanchus, Colorist Supreme, is ready to repair the scrapes on the inner cape part, visible above Strange’s fist. That is a giant brush in Andy’s grip. These things were gigantic photostat blow-ups that were expensively laminated onto some heavy Masonite. It was sent into the office and hand-colored! This was no normal pain-in-the-neck. One had to get down on all fours and work the color dyes into the stat paper. I can tell you, legendary artist and on-staff colorist, Marie Severin truly did say some unflattering things about the people who thought this was a good idea. We bonded that afternoon!
The Marvel Mail Room had to respond to all manner of emergency. Here, for example, Poppy is repairing his own pants with masking tape. [Funny aside: My original photographic negative was so dark and the early, inexperienced scan that I made was so mushy, I thought Poppy was working on a large sheet of printing negatives… that he had his shoes off was the main idea, so I thought! Of note is that the cardboard “table” that he’s working on is made up of old boxes that held that printing negatives! Yes, they’re huge. Also spot the ranked comic books in front of Poppy. That was how they put together ‘bundles for all of editorial—they would run down the table, plucking a comic from each pile. The large slabs of cardboard in the big shelves, against the wall, are actually groups of specific negative sheets. I think they are gathered there prior to being carted off to storage.]
After Tom DeFalco, my favorite staff hambones are Jim James and Tony Cerniglia. Jim James was a very laid back fellow. He taught me how to open a conventional Buck folding knife with one hand. (Hint: don’t trim your nails too closely!)
Poppy was less inspired when asked to make a serious face. What’s interesting in this lower picture is Arthur Goodman. Arthur was Martin Goodman’s brother (!– but disappointingly quiet about his relatives) who was still on staff. People in the “comic know” recognize that Martin Goodman was the person who started Marvel Comics as we know it today. One wonders what he would have made of the developments of the last 15 years…
Arthur seemed to be in charge of certain entertainment books for the newsstand market. Acrostics, crossword puzzles, find-a-word books—a lot of variety. They were art intensive efforts and Arthur would be asking us for stats of “pick-up” art (a good character pose taken from a panel and used wherever) or, perhaps, supplies (maybe in this shot). We were not supposed to do things for Arthur, though I’m not sure why (could be something along the lines of “internal billing”). I had a hard time saying, no; the man was part of the Goodman legacy after all. This is the only picture of Arthur I have—there was no way to predict when he would pop in your doorway. Eventually, he stopped visiting us.
John Galvin, striking a pose! Note he too, took his glasses off so he would look better! In the background—my guess is that young person with his head in the delivery window was a messenger boy.
The fellow near center is Tony Mordellaro, one of the “upstairs” mailroom people. There was a “station” upstairs, almost a closet, that was a staging area for mail. John is discussing things with him. This picture was taken on Moving Day, when Marvel moved lock, stock and barrel from 575 Madison Ave down to 387 Park Avenue South. Quite a lot of junk has already been moved. Prior to this day, there was a huge island of tables, cardboard and supplies, right down the middle.
L: Reggie Cooke—now there’s a natural born actor! Ramon Ortiz fusses with cardboard. Way in the back is the man who was in charge. To the right is Cliff Jackson, attached to the mail room, but a member of the proof roll team. Of note here is that this is after Moving Day, we are down at 387 Park and this mailroom will never be this neat again. For a couple of years, the main mail room was down on 10. For no reason, it was gathered up and moved up to 11. I seem to recall there was more room up there. The 10th Floor offices got a nifty copier room and the rear wall of the Bullpen was moved back about 6 feet
Joe Cuccolo—1926-2002
I sadly learned of Joe’s passing all too recently. Joe had retired in 1999 and lived a quiet after-Marvel life doting on his grandkids. Which doesn’t sound all that bad for this WWII US Army Vet. Joe was one of the first people I got to know as a young messenger boy. Of course, Marvel was in a different building but Joe was a constant in my experience with the place. Quiet, pleasant and competent, good to his people. Joe also co-owned a printing side-business who did small stationery and business card jobs. I’m not sure he did Marvel’s stationery when I was there– but it seems likely he did some in the past. When I was a messenger boy at K, Q & R (my mom worked there!), I would do as much “running” between them and he as I did between them and Marvel!