2012.11.11 Albany Comic Con, Albany, NY "I Want You!"
When I attended the Albany show, I had
the idea of getting an Uncle Sam sketch. It was after all Veterans
Day and I was coming from Troy, NY (the home of Uncle Sam) after I picked up my eldest son Mike, who attends RPI in Troy, just
across the Hudson from Albany.
When I approached Nikkol Jelenic's table it was not for an Uncle Sam sketch, since most her work seemed to focus on women and vampires. After a brief discussion about what I was looking for Nikkol suggested Supergirl or Power Girl, since they both wore red, white and blue. I agreed to a Power Girl sketch and handed over an appropriate Marilyn Monroe FDC. When I picked up the cover I was greatly impressed, Power Girl was wearing Uncle Sam's hat and gesturing like the old man himself! More than I expected.
I also picked up Nikkol's book from PLB Comics - The Art of Nikkol Jelenic which features several short stories and variant cover Nikkol has done for PLB - Vegas, Baby, Vegas, (written by Josh Shockley), Fatal Fortune (written by Josh Shockley) and A Tale of Autumn (written by James Dufendach) and Voodoo Child (written by Josh Shockley).
From the back page: "As far as a medium of entertainment, comic books are one of my most favorite to indulge in. Being both a fan and creator, I have taken what I love in the writing and art from the books I collect and allowed it to shape my own work...."
Uncle Sam (U.S.) came into use during
the War of 1812 and is believed to be taken from Samuel Wilson, a
meat packer from Troy, NY, who provided supplies to the soldiers.
Wilson’s packages had the initials E.A. – U.S., where the E.A.
stood for Elbert Anderson the contractor for the shipment, the U.S.
stood for the United States. However it is said that soldiers would
started saying the packages came from Uncle Sam. In the 1850’s the
term Uncle Sam had taken more meaning towards the United States
itself. It was James Montgomery Falgg who would envision Uncle Sam in
the famous “I Want You” recruitment poster of 1916.
There are memorials for Uncle Sam
located in Troy, NY and in Arlington, Ma
Troy, NY claims to be the hometown of
Uncle Sam. I picked up this Uncle Sam postcard in the RPI bookstore.
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