A Few Words About This Picture
Some people think I’m a relatively smart fellow (not my closest friends; they know better) and I freely admit I have a couple of quirks that look like I’m smart. But, folks, I’m here to tell you– I’m not that smart. When I come across the image below, I revise my estimate to “slow.”
Many, many people know this somber chamber. It is the hallway that has Marvel Comic’s front door! Thousands of people of all stripes walked right through it. The poster-filled room to the right is Reception. Straight back is the short corridor to the Mail Room (left), secret mid-office entry (middle) and bathroom (right—men only, dames got to walk to the symmetrically opposite lavatory behind the camera’s point of view). Finally the large opening to the left is the complete waste of space that leads to the Freight Elevator and (even more secretive) rear-most entry to Marvel, which accesses Robbie’s and yours’ truly’s stat rooms and Al Smith’s office (keeper of deep film and comic proof roll storage).
This gathering is just before a baseball game. Marvel vs. DC (I know, that’s another much, much bigger blog). We pulled together our devotees and freelancers who love the game—that’s Archie Goodwin (Editor), unknown kid from the mailroom, Jim Novak (freelance Letterer) and Rick Parker (on-staff Letterer). Just over the kid’s shoulder, you can see John Romita, Jr.(who needs no introduction, but did work on staff at the time as a correction artist in the B&W Book Dept.) striding forward with a smile on his face. Stepping out of the bathroom is the late Robbie Carosella, Team Captain!
This picture is a great little snapshot of a moment of anticipatory fun. All well and good. But if you cast your glance to the main entrance… Ah, “Marvel Comics” – right, how appropriate it is presented as a big word balloon.
Now here’s where I wonder why I go to this much trouble to concretely establish what a dim bulb I am. There’s a muddle little smudge under the word balloon. Through the wonders of technology, I can squeeze some of the image out. Yes, I developed this roll of film in Marvel’s own slop sink, which I believe explains the poor shadow exposure and can only stare at how horrible this is.
Why, that’s no smudge! That’s Spider-Man!
Indeed. But not just any Spider-Man. Modern people would look at this and assume that this is just a “print” of some kind. A stick-on vinyl applique. A piece of pick-up art, thrown together in the Bullpen and sent to a print shop—peel-n’-stick! Done!
But no. This Spider-Man was hand painted in place by none other than John Romita, Sr. himself. I can only imagine the neck-strain involved. John, in his perfectionist-to-the-point-of-being-funny, got a perfect, vivid Spider-Man, ready to be turned into a cover or college dorm poster or t-shirt. It was really that clean in spite of the difficult working conditions.
Back to the original premise: just how stupid am I?
So stupid that I did not take a color picture of the front door. Or use a flash. When word came down that we were going to move, I thought I would get myself a circular saw and chop this out to have and to hold. Then I realized that the building owners would come after me and/or Marvel. So I desisted. And still I did not get a better B&W image or a color one. This “grab shot” is it.
So this most collectible and sentimentally valuable Spider-Man done by Jazzy Johnny Romita himself, is in 200 feet of water off Sandy Hook (Lower New York Bay). The trash dumping ground of NYC back in the day.
Really sorry, John.
I want to see my whole figure, dammit! Then I will resume thinking of you as a smart fellow.
Hi, what year was this pic? I just bought an unused Spider-Man t-shirt (red) that he is wearing in the pic. I was told these were created only for the Bullpen and never sold to the public: There is a caption balloon on it where a name was to be written inside. I am trying to find out how old the shirt is and if they were only for the baseball game or just a standard shirt that the staff wore in the offices. Any info would be helpful. Thanks!
Tellshiar — the tee shirt Jim Novak (with the bat) is wearing was made for the 1976 softball team, as memory serves. I don’t recall if it was offered to the staffers at large, or the softball team members only. The shirt Archie is wearing predates is the red one and predates the 1976 shirt, perhaps by a year or two. I’d only seen the shirt worn by members of the softball team. Every couple of years, new shirts were made, with logos designed by Novak and another letterer. I have several of these — unused — if you’re interested to buy.