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Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, jim steranko, twitter
Jim Steranko's Ability To See In The Dark, Breathe Fire, Employ X-Ray Vision And Do Without Sleep – Why You Need To Be Following Him On Twitter
Few years ago, I pitched my return to the comics form with my version of Batman & in an innovative new format to Dan DiDeo. He rejected it!
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 3, 2013
@KarlOttersberg I wanted to create something new, innovative, and exciting for Batman, and Dan wanted standard, old-fashioned comics. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 3, 2013
@TONYBINATL DC AD Mark C wants to use one on a new Batman B&W book and Jim Fletcher proposed a Batman statue based on one of the images. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 4, 2013
@Manqueman Did I mention I offered Dan Buckley to return to Captain America with at least 24 books packed with all-new material–& format? — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 4, 2013
@Manqueman He turned the negotiation over to someone I never heard of who said he didn't like my concepts. True story! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 4, 2013
What is Twitter for? Finally, we have an answer. To follow comic book legend Jim Steranko. If you are not following Jim Steranko on Twitter, then why do you even have an account? He only recently joined but has been delivering pure Twitter gold.
@ArchenemyInc Always thought it odd that journalists rarely focused on my #Houdini work and escape stunts because they were often dangerous — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@ArchenemyInc I took a special pride in the fact that, unlike the fake set-ups employed by many escape artists, mine were authentic. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@ArchenemyInc Doesn't sound like a big deal, but picking locks & handcuffs underwater is an awakening concept–the definition of discipline! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@JoeAconite @ArchenemyInc Lockpicking is one thing, doing it in a jarring drop to a riverbed in a packing box filling with water is another. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@JoeAconite @ArchenemyInc That's one way to look at it, but it wasn't as easy as it sounds. I'm covered with scar tissue from head to toe.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@ArchenemyInc Deep imagination, significant upper body strength, some mechanical ability, high threshold for pain, a theatrical sensibility!
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@ArchenemyInc And probably more nerve than good sense! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@f_francavilla Do I look like I'm lacking in energy? And you know I sleep only two hours daily. Practice, man, practice! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
@zyblonius @f_francavilla It's my secret to holding court all night long at cons & appearing first thing in the morning–for another round! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 2, 2013
During my Marvel tour, my pal Dan Adkins phoned. He was assigned inking SHIELD 3 and said he couldn't complete the assignment on time. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
He had to turn in the job by Monday morn and it was Friday evening. Would I come up to Brooklyn from Pennsylvania to help him wrap the book? — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
Coincidentally, I'd also been invited to a party at Fabulous Flo Steinberg's apartment that night & decided to kill two birds with one stone — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
Arrived at the party around 10, in time to meet Steve Ditko, the only time I've actually connected directly with him & the joint was packed!
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
I wore a Nehru suit and a new, white silk turtleneck shirt (it buttoned in the back) I'd just bought for $40 (that's more than $250 today).
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
I recall the shirt because drunken Denny O'Neil stumbled over and splashed his drink on the only 4×4" of the shirt that showed at the neck. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
The stain ruined the shirt and I never wore it again. By midnight, I was in Adkins studio-apartment helping him ink SHIELD 3. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
Our plan was that he'd ink backgrounds and props; I'd render the characters. Could we wrap 20 pages over the weekend? Only Odin could guess! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
But we did it! I continued working throughout. Adkins slept three times during the process–then, I had a 2 1/2 hour drive back home. Zzzzz! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
But I recall the drive because I set myself a mental problem: to figure out how to make free long-distance calls from any telephone. Right! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
In those days, long-distance calls were generally handled through an operator and were VERY expensive. But where there's a will… — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
I already had devised numerous ways to make free local calls from pay phones, using numerous techniques & devices, some as simple as a pin!
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
Long distance by payphone was a little more complex, but I eventually nailed it. Now, I set to the task of figuring it out from any phone…
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
and without any devices. Believe it or not, in my sleep-deprived state and negotiating highway traffic, I figured it out. Perfectly! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
The technique was flawless and saved me a bundle of cash for about six months, then I hatched the idea to sell it–to the phone company! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
I pitched the idea to my NYC attorney who called it "a blueprint for crime." I asked him how to make it legal–and he began making calls. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
However, life stepped in. Greer, my attorney, got sick, and that impacted the elephant he kept in his Manhattan garage (not making this up)! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
Which seems a great excuse to move onto fire eating.
@Hugo_Strange I was maybe 10-12 years old when I began licking lit matches with my tongue. You could HEAR the sizzle! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange Somehow, I met a number of vaudevillians who had retired in the area and one of them introduced me to performance fire-eating. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange The bit really appealed to me and I worked it into my repertoire of dangerous stunts that even the toughest guys shied from.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange Sometimes, I'd breakdown oversized punks by plucking a red-hot coal from a furnace bed and holding it til it cooled off.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange Hardly anyone had the guts to try that stunt and even the few who tried burned their hands and never took my challenge again. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange I started working carnivals at ten years old, first at a shooting gallery, later shilling at a gambling-wheel concession. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange All carney games are rigged, some–like the gambling wheel–are ingenious beyond belief. I was a kid shill. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange I'd bet nickles & dimes and win quarters & dollars, while greedy rubes watched and lusted.If this dumb kid can win, so can we! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange WC Fields was right: You can't cheat an honest man! What an education that was–a sucked born every minute! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange Anyway, I was about 14 and "with it" in carny parlance, strolling the midway and stopped to watch a fire-eater working bally. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange The technique of amassing a crowd and selling tickets is termed "turning the tip" in carny talk. And this fire-eater was hot!
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange But something happened while he was swallowing flaming torches–maybe he had to cough or hiccup–and that was it!
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange He exploded! Maybe, instead of breathing OUT, he breathed in-and became a human volcano, fire shooting out his nose and mouth! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange Some thought it was part of the act, but I knew what had happened. Someone threw a coat over him, but it was too late. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange His lungs and throat were charred by the accident and he was ambulanced away to a local hospital. I took his place! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange I cornered the spieler who managed the concession, saying I could do his act–but without the big finish! And I got the job. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@Hugo_Strange And to this very day, every time I pass a can of lighter fluid, I get a little thirsty! — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
And Jim also has more super powers…
@JimViscardi My father engaged in some magic when I was a kid and, from that opening, I discovered Houdini–and a revelation. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi I thought I might have some attributes, even as a young teen, that put me in the perfect groove to tackle risky escape stunts.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi Always had a probing imagination and the kind of escapes I visualized couldn't be bought at the local magic shop for $19.95.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi I had significant upper-body strength, was not claustrophobic (REALLY important), and had no fear of heights. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi I was a mesomorph, deep-chested and could eventually hold my breath for about three minutes, about fair for underwater stunts. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi It was around that time that I discovered that I had an eye condition which enabled me to see in the dark, somewhat like a cat. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi Additionally, I had a high threshold for pain and a bulldog tenacity that really came in handy when the unexpected occurred. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi Another element was a kind of natural mechanical ability that served me well envisioning the intricacies of locks. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi My lockpicking techniques were enhanced by the ability to visualize mechanism interiors, like Superman's X-ray vision. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi I knew about the insides of locks by taking them apart and studying how they functioned. That aided my visionary powers.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi And my street-savvy background provided the kind of nerve required to tackle the difficult, often dangerous aspects of escapes.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi There were two categories of stunts, those I practiced until I could do them in my sleep–and those that were one of a kind. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi Those in the latter category were always the most hazardous because they were created in the darkness of the unexpected. — Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
@JimViscardi The underwater escapes, especially those in receptacles, were often insidiously treacherous, often riddled with nast surprises.
— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 5, 2013
It's Jim Steranko's world, folks, we just happen to be living in it.
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