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

@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.









