ACQUISITION DATE: 1990
SOURCE: Private
OWNER HISTORY: 2
DIMENSIONS: 11 x 17
STOCK: bristol
CREATION DATE: 7-8-84
SIGNATURE: Arthur Adams
PUBLICATION: October 1985
Ten years. I suppose the first thing that comes to mind are all the clichés about where the time went and how the years just flew by. In terms of this site, of course it’s all about the great friends I’ve made, all the wonderful people I’ve met, and all the cool artwork I’ve been lucky enough to add to my collection over the past decade. “Decade”, now there’s a scary word. Don’t know why, but it makes me think of history books. I felt old ten years ago, so I’m feeling dang near ancient now! LOL! I can still remember that first night (more like early morning) sitting in front of my computer nervously contemplating my first post. Perhaps I thought that by doing so at that late hour, I could quietly “sneak” onto the site without anyone noticing. (Up to that point, I’d been a relatively private collector for the past 20 years.) But apparently I had forgotten that, while it was the middle of the night for me, somewhere in the world it was the middle of the day. So of course about 20 seconds after I hit SUBMIT, I got my very first comment. And the rest, as they say, is history!
Of course it hasn’t been ALL fun and games. When you put yourself out there, you inevitably open yourself up to attack. Thankfully the few instances have been more silly and stupid, rather than ugly or cruel. Then there was my Dad (thanks to Michael Kenyon for remembering his anniversary). Little did I know when I joined CAF on that night in late March, three years later (almost exactly to the day) I would lose my father to cancer. A lot can change in ten years.
Okay, as promised, here are some pieces I’ve never posted on CAF before. I’ve had these pieces for the better part of 25 years and in each case, I am either the original owner or only the second owner. At this point, I’m not really sure if they will stay up permanently or even how long they’ll be here. But for now, enjoy!
10th ANNIVERSARY - Day 7
My only Longshot cover. But considering Arthur only did six for the original mini series, that’s not bad odds. Of course back then I had this silly dream that I might someday own all six. Yeah, I’m laughing too. Anyway, I LOVE this image. Always liked Longshot with his jetpack. And of course this is the only cover of the six that features the lovely Ricochet Rita. A great idea having them fly against the night sky, with all those twinkling stars and cool zip lines. Just too bad that they had to color it in that hideous purplish blue. At least the house ad was done in black. Interesting that at the top, it says “Longshot #2” but to the right it says “Cover #1”. Plus, this is the image they used for the house ad (see Additional Images below) before the series began. I also know there’s an unused version of the Issue #1 cover floating around. So I’m wondering exactly what order those three pieces were drawn in and if there was some jockeying around of what image was to be used for what cover. I can easily see this image being used for the first issue, although I really love the published version of Issue #1. You can’t see it on this scan, but I had this signed (again) by Arthur when he was living in the next town over (now he lives a couple of towns over). I remember bringing it to his apartment and when I showed it to him, he grabbed it from me and ran to his bedroom to show his then girlfriend who was not feeling well. “Hey, want to see something cool?” he shouted as he was walking down the hallway. I guess he hadn’t seen the piece in a while, so it was kind of cute to see him get so excited.
Anyway, that’s really the only funny story I had for this piece. I purchased it in 1990 as part of THE EIGHT. You guys will have to bop around to find the other seven. Hopefully you’ll have fun looking. My thanks to Lance Suarez for this one, and the other 7 pieces that made up the single greatest art deal I have ever made and WILL ever make in my lifetime!
My thanks also to all of you for helping me celebrate my 10th anniversary on CAF. Hope you enjoyed the artwork and the silly stories. So happy and blessed to be a part of this wonderful community. Nothing is promised in this life, but here’s to making it through the next ten years! Cheers!
