Greetings loyal airmen.  Well, time does march on, as I discovered this past week when Jerry Edwards wrote to tell me one of the earliers comic characters I ever worked on was officially 25 years old this year.  Which really got me to thinking.  The truth is, Mr.Jigsaw, Man of a Thousand years is around 29 actually.  But let me explain.   Way, way back, almost 30 years ago now, artist Gary Kato and I submitted a short sci-fi comic strip to Charlton Comics (now long gone) for a try-out mag they were calling Charlton Bullseye.   They accepted the strip and then surprised us by asking for more.  That's when Gary informed me he wanted to do a comedy super-hero.  One who could dismember himself at will, and then by that very will, control those body parts.  From that I envisioned and wrote Mr.Jigsaw, a not too swift young fellow from the backwoods of Maine who ends up coming to Portland to begin his career as a super-hero.

By the time Gary finished illustrating that first, origin story, the Bullseyes project had been cancelled and we really thought we'd never see Jiggy in print.  Lo and behold the editors looked at the pages, loved them and promsied to run the strip somewhere in their line of books.  Sure enough the following year, Mr.Jigsaw appeared on the cover of Scary Tales #38.  Where he was promptly seen by…ten people, maybe.  Just kidding.  Whatever the number, one of them was writer-columnist, Tony Isabella.  Tony took a shine to Jiggy and went as far as to flag the late Don Thompson about our Maine based hero.  Thompson in turn listed our story as one of the Top Twenty of that year.  Amazing.

Jerry, by the way is Mr.Jigsaw's biggest fan and has been around since the start when he wrote me a wonderful letter after having read that first story in Scary Tales #38.  In fact, to celebrate the anniverary of Jiggy's birth, Jerry is putting together a fanzine of sorts that will be an official check-list of all Jiggy's appearance, and a detailed account of his history.  Since the comic stuff, Gary and I have done several website adventures with Jiggy and he is now currently found at Brian Meredith's excellent site, Modern Pulp.  The beat, as they say, goes on.

A few months ago, my daughter Heather gave me a copy of WICKED by Gregory Maguire.  It is a humorous,  retelling of the story behind the famous L.Frank Baum WIZARD OF OZ tale.  Whereas in this story, Maguire gives us the biography of the Elphaba, the witch herself, and the story he spins is a far cry from what was seen up on the silver screen.  You see, Maguire, wants to add some depth to the witch.   After the movie became a classic, a lot of focus came to Margaret Hamilton, the wonderful actress who played the Witch.  It was especially poignant when it was learned she was once a grade school teacher who always loved children.  It's my gut hunch that Maguire tried to infuse that kind of goodness in his portrayal. WICKED is a terrific book filled with imagination and heartache.  Pick it up, you'll enjoy it.

Finally, before sending this week's log to the presses, a warm hello two new airmen from across the big waters. Kaan is an artist from France, and Joaquin Agreda, a writer of the fantastic from Spain. Thanks for stopping by the Hangar, amigos.  And more importantly for writing to say hi.  I'm thrilled to have you on board.

And that loyal airmen wraps up another week in the hangar.  Am closing up shot early this afternoon, as Valerie and I are off to catch SUPERMAN RETURNS at the local movie house.  I'll let you know my thoughts, good or not so good..next time.

Have a great week, Ron, over and out.