The President Of Space

Yes, you see correctly. What on Earth– ? (I went there, boldly going… okay; I’m alright now…). This unknown chapter of the Marvel Bullpen’s Outsiders’ Club would remain obscure to the point of invisibility, save for a set of photos I took wa-a-ay back in 1979.

Carl Gafford who was a freelance colorist back in the grisly days of using reduced stat-camera copies to water-color on in order to make color guides for the separators—was also a video firebrand! He led the way to making as full a use of the FCC’s mandate on “Public Access” cable-TV as he could afford. Somewhere way out there, is an interview Gaff did with Editor in Chief Jim Shooter on a couch that he won on a game show. I was the “videographer” of that pioneering effort. If I didn’t talk about it, the 18-20 people who watched any of the public channels might well have never remembered it.

Gaff was bitten by the same bug that later got Gruenwald to do “theater” or “TV” of some kind. You and I know “Cheap Laffs.” Carl who was riven by the same flock of creative muses as many a comic pro, would not proceed with his vision. Indeed, the world would never hear of The President Of Space if not for this humble blog.

Normally, I am sure we would just set up shop in the back areas of Marvel. But Carl was the first freelancer I got to know well. He informed me that one could “write off” all manner of stupid stuff if only you could describe it properly to satisfy the feds. I would not have been surprised if Carl had already claimed his TV-show Development Project and all associated costs such as a studio! Carl had a nice studio space that he shared with legendary inker/artist Bob Smith. It was way downtown in a part of Lower Manhattan usually reserved for criminal activity and comic professionals.

I am indebted to Bob Smith himself for his help in identifying people. Mike Higgins remembered far more than he should have. Carl’s wherabouts are unknown.

Large fellow: Famed Creator, Inker Duffy Vohland (1952-1982 far, far too young), lady unknown, Carl Gafford applying her tin-foil “costume,” Rick Spanier is the fellow slouching to the right of the image. Rick ran a typesetting business in the same building. The fellow to the extreme left is another mystery person! Most likely they were chums of Carl’s. Who else can you call with an utterly insane proposal that might tie you up for weeks to come? The gal, for example, may have been involved in picking up the bath mat and $1 ray guns for costuming.

The unknown gal, Rick, Gaff—ever the perfectionist—rearranging the tin-foil, Creator, Letterer, Colorist Mike Higgins and Duffy trying on his space-Colonel Sanders coat.

Legendary Creator, Writer Jo Duffy (called in to add her authoritarian air as The President) and Associate Editor Dickie McKenzie join the fray (indeed, she has few clothes on). One can see to the right that Rick is playing Space Rabbit having donned his ears. How do I know the character is Space Rabbit? Rabbit ears, that’s how.

One of my favorite pictures of Mike Higgins, contemplating his fate. Yes, that’s a bathmat tied with a rope around his waist.

And that’s most of the plan!

THE PRESIDENT OF SPACE!!!

Okay, get some pals together, raid the laundry hamper, gather up about $3 worth of props, build up a few favors and whammo! And, oh yes, production stills!

Our hero! Rick Spinier IS Space Rabbit brandishing his Selective Plot Contrivance weapon.

I think Gaff was struck by the still-warm-in-memory release of Star Wars. This line-up seems to have a Princess, a bounder and Duffy Vohland (who actually wore those glasses all the time; I realize I’ve never seen his face without them).

Much better! Direction by Carl Gafford. Must note that we were all young enough to pose on our knees. More importantly, get up from that pose.

Jo really was Presidential stuff.

Every hero needs a flaw. I think Joseph Campbell said that. But Space Rabbit’s main weakness? Well, whaddaya know—bikini-clad space Mata Haris that are willing to nibble on his floppy ear! Dickie was quite the sport to throw her lot in with us this eve!

Dickie, who worked on staff, was married to  Writer (Daredevil, at the time) Roger McKenzie and had a charming Georgia dialect. Too bad it was never heard by the masses. Mike Higgins looking rather a lot like John Lennon. (As Mike aged a little he really looked like John Belushi. But that’s another story.) So, what was going on here?

No one knows for sure. Mike Higgins remembered that Gaff just assembled people and hoped they would be okay with working without a script. Worse—doing the show live down at the Warner Cable-TV offices in their FCC-obligated studio-for-any-and-all–! Which, Mike thinks, may have had something to do with the series’ cancellation before the first table read. Mike’s not even sure what his role was—but it seems that Dickie’s character was trying to take over the Empire, over-throwing the President…

But we’ve got these nifty set stills!

The of-Marvel-interest here is that jaw-droppingly-accomplished modeler and Bullpen Colorist, Andy Yanchus, made this model just for the show! And the one below as well. Andy used to work for Aurora Models out on Long Island, NY. Plastic modeling is one of those nerd/geek specific eye-rolls these days, like ham radio (no; I’ll spare you the long-winded explanation on that one. See? I am merciful—and because I don’t know for sure, I won’t mention any more than that I think one of the Kupperberg brothers was a ham radio operator!). But when you need to make a scale model or communicate with storm-ravaged distant lands—then you need them.

In a leap of wrenching creativity, Carl was going to use the wide-screen expanse of Duffy’s “galaxy t-shirt” as a backdrop for the ships whizzing around in space.

Here then, after 10-minutes’ worth of PhotoShop work is a hint of What Might Have Been… !

Tearing through the fabric of space/time!

Finally, one of the after-hour Bullpen pastimes was figuring who would star in the Marvel Movie. Y’know, what actor would best personify the real person.

After one lengthy session where we outlined quite a production and at a point in time when I ran the typesetting computer, I put together the TV-Guide page that would announce the movie. Alas, the original material is long gone and all that remains is a xerographic copy.

Believe it or not! Mike got a puppy and was contemplating raising it as a vegetarian– even researching it in the pre-internet days! Mike was vegetarian before it was fashionable.

I am not entirely sure TV-Guide is still being published. The last time I saw it, I admit I had to turn away from my fellow impulse-buyers on the check-out-racks and pretend to finger an Archie comic… to see the mighty TV-Guide as a perfect-bound magazine format rag… Well… pardon me >sniff< I must turn away from this monitor…

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Editor’s Note:
This website was upgraded in September 2019. To my horror I lost about ten comments with the upgrade. I do, though, have the following screen capture(s) of the lost comments . I’m sorry Readers! — Arlene Puentes