When Jim Steranko Drew His Own Money To Buy A Fur Coat

Y'know I think you guys may have some kind of skewed picture of me. So, to set the record straight–I'm a lover, not a fighter!

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I moved away from home before Christmas when I was 17, taking some clothes, a towel, eating utensils, two dishes, and a measuring cup

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

from which to drink. The cheap, furnished, one-room apartment I found had a worn-out, hideously-green linoleum floor with an

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

eye-torturing pattern; bare shades on the windows; a single ceiling light like that of a prison cell;

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

and a kitchen so small I had to stand in the doorway to open the refrigerator.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I had nothing and was nothing. A girlfriend occasionally brought some food. Someone gave me an old radio.I spent most of a year in the room—

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

which had a bed, a standing wardrobe, and no chairs—or in movie theaters, which I broke into and would hide out in until darkness fell.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I created another identity for myself.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I feared being outdoors during daylight; there were at least three former associates in the city who would kill me on sight.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I made furtive trips to the YMCA, where I continued to lift weights and box. One day, across the street, a building was demolished.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

In the rubble, I found a solid, plain wooden door, which I hauled back to the apartment, along with two big strap hinges.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I sat on a beat-up bar stool someone had thrown out, even though I couldn't put my legs under the chest of drawers.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

A couple of bricks elevated the board, and a discarded lamp I found on the street illuminated it.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

In the isolation of the bleak, little room, I began sharpening my drawing skills.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Weeks merged into a Kafkaesque mirage of pathetic daydreams & nightmares, where it was difficult to tell where one began & the other ended.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Christmas promised to be particularly desolate. I wanted to get my girlfriend a present, something she least expected: a fur coat.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I found one in a store window priced at $150, which might as well have been $150,000. I hardly had two nickels to rub together.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Some days, all I had to eat was a head of lettuce or a quarter jar of peanut butter. I drank sodacut with tap water to make it last longer.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I made tomato soup with ketchup and hot water. Some days, there was nothing.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I needed to look deep into my bag of tricks to survive and score the fur jacket. I found both–and borrowed $100 from a friend,

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

which I exchanged at a bank for four new $20s and 20 $1s.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Then, I talked a local printer into giving me a few sheets of blank Strathmore 20-pound bond typing paper (with obvious rag content),

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

and began by placing them for a day in a solution of weak coffee to mitigate their brightness.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Meanwhile, the four new $20s were soaked in a saucer of tap water, then split along their edges, lengthwise, with a razor blade

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

(each bill is made from three pieces of paper). The result was four fronts and four backs. Four $1 bills were also split.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

The coffee treatment gave the bond paper the texture and background color of real greenbacks, and, when they were dry,

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I drew, with pen & ink, four $20 fronts on one of the sheets. Matching the minute engraving was difficult and mistakes were not acceptable.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

It took time and patience, which I had in excess. The next step was to paste the four drawn $20 fronts to four real $20 backs.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Then, the four real $20 fronts were pasted to four real $1 backs. Finally, the four real $20 backs were pasted to four $1 fronts.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

After they were assembled, I'd wrinkle them, dump them in a bag with dirt and gravel, then put the bag in a laundry dryer for 20 minutes.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

When the bills were retrieved and straightened, they were almost indistinguishable from the real thing—hand-drawn fronts & backs included.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

That's when my passing strategy kicked in. I took the bogus roll into the busiest department stores during high weekend customer traffic

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

and spotted the youngest cashiers. I'd buy something for about $25 and offer the cashier two drawn $20 with real backs.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

I'd get $15 in change, then take the item to customer service for a refund. The result was $40 in real money.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Another pass at a different store netted me $80 authentic.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Next, I repeated the process with the $20 fronts pasted to $1 backs, being careful to hand the bills to cashiers in face-up position–

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

the same way they're usually stacked in the register. I counted on them not being turned over in the rush. They weren't.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

Finally, I'd pass the real $20 backs with the $1 fronts back side up to the most harried and inexperienced cashiers,

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

those just hired for the Christmas rush. (Sometimes, l'd buy a $22 item and pay for it with a counterfeit plus two real ones on top.)

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

No bills were ever questioned.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

My $88 investment netted $240 in real cash. Repaying the $100 loan left me with $140 plus an additional $16–

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

the singles which were not split–for a total of $156, just enough to buy the coat and a super-special card

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

for the girl who stood by me during my darkest period.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

She loved the coat, the card–and, last but not least, me, too!

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

.@Lower_Mainland_ As Kipling used to say, "That's another story!"

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

.@davedrawsgood @DCComics @Marvel I recall some years ago proposing a SHIELD six-issue mini-series to Joe Q that dramatized events…

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

.@davedrawsgood @DCComics @Marvel just after the Punisher shot Fury. The plot rippled with wild twists & surprises, all of which I outlined

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013

.@davedrawsgood @DCComics @Marvel Joe said some plot point violated the Marvel Universe. Half year later, they started over with everything.

— Jim Steranko (@iamsteranko) July 9, 2013