Larry Hama ...signing my Flagg!

...well, at least the rear deck!

About a month or so ago, Larry was doing a signing at Hub Comics in Somerville, MA. I'd met and spoken with Larry at Joecon 2010 in Providence and had already gotten his autograph, so I decided I'd go just to say hello and see some of my fellow local Tankers that would also be there. Then, an idea suddenly dawned on me- what better piece of GIJOE history could I have Larry sign than a piece of the greatest ship ever made... the USS Flagg (for obvious reasons, toting a 7+ foot aircraft carrier along for him to sign was out of the question, so I opted for a piece of the deck instead). I know he didn't design the toy or anything, but it was Mr. Hama who brought it to life in the comics and I figured it'd be that much more special to have his name on it.

Larry immediately recognized the deck shard of the behemoth, and told me the story of how he was first brought in by Hasbro and shown the styrene/foam core prototype model while the designers were working on it before its mass retail release in 1985, but apparently he hasn't seen much of the ship since.

While I was there, I also paid Larry to do a sketch of Airtight for me, which he promptly pulled out his vintage yearbook for reference! (See photo). He liked the figure and even used it for reference too, but he seemed thoroughly confused by the Renegades filecard info and asked what happened to his original write-up. I explained to him the odd confusion surrounding the figure and how he appeared in Renegades but was clearly an homage to the original ARAH character. Larry also told me the story of the character's file name, Kurt Schnurr- Apparently it was the pen name of his friend Paul Kirschner, who was writing/drawing for some kind of a dirty magazine at the time and didn't want to tarnish his real name! Apparently he modeled the character after him as an inside joke, as he did with so many others.

The best part of the day? Larry and I were both wearing Arashikage shirts.

Hope you enjoy.
Yo Joe!

Cool story Bro.....

















Nah, I'm fucking w/ya.... This is pretty EPIC, to get that kind of access and all that shit signed? AWESOME.

Now this is Front Page stuff/

Great story....nice to read at the end of the day on Friday. Glad you shared....

That is freakin' sweet... he is such a cool, generous guy too.

Originally Posted by GeneralxRon

Now this is Front Page stuff/

I only wish!!

Originally Posted by Air-tight

I only wish!!

They front paged a "Busty" Lady Jaye drawing... sure why not this? It is Larry Hama. Not Leisure suit Larry..

Awesome stuff. Thanks for sharing

You both have the Arashikage logos? Damn Retaliation has made Air-Tight and Larry Hama both into ninjas!



Really though that's awesome. I met Mr. Hama at Joe Con last year. I was blown away by how down to Earth he is. He will literally talk to you forever about anything you ask. He told me so much about Joe that I never knew. We need more Hamas out there.

That is REALLY cool. I love all those "inside" stories.

I always thought "Kurt Shnurr" was a silly play on words for Kirschner Hot Dogs, lol!

Now I know.......