Author: Craig Zablo

14 Secrets of Secret Service Agents

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Jake Rossen and Mental_Floss present 14 Secrets of Secret Service Agents.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. THEY MAKE SURE THE PRESIDENT IS NEVER ALONE. EVEN IN THE BATHROOM.

Being on protective detail means following the president wherever he or she might go. This includes the bathroom, the doctor’s office, or anywhere that might benefit from a little privacy. “The president is never alone,” Robinson says. “When Reagan was in office, Joe was there for his prostate exams and colonoscopies. He was always in the room with a gun. And if he thought the doctor was any kind of threat, he would’ve shot him.”

 

10. THEY TEND TO PICK UP NEW HOBBIES.

Because the president is never without an escort, Secret Service agents are often forced to learn new hobbies. Wood didn’t have any experience riding horses when he accompanied Bill Clinton for rides during his two terms. “Fortunately, Clinton was not a master horseman like Reagan, so it was just a simple trail ride,” Wood says. But Clinton was a well-conditioned jogger, which forced agents to be in great shape in order to be able to keep up. “You’re doing your job while running for five miles,” Wood says.

 

9. “WORKING THE ROPE” IS THE MOST NERVE-WRACKING PART OF THE JOB.
According to Wood, no other detail duty is quite as stressful as dealing with impromptu presidential greetings with private citizens standing behind a roped-off area. “That’s where agents earn their money,” he says. “You have no idea what an uncontrolled crowd might do.” To minimize threats, agents are constantly scanning for hands stuffed in pockets or other signs of suspicious activity. Their omnipresent sunglasses? Those are for crowd-scanning without tipping off potential suspects, and to ward off any liquids or other projectiles thrown in their direction.

Ken Meyer Jr.’s Ink Stains 59: Ordway, Beatty, Mazuchelli & More!

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If you’re a fan of fanzines, then you’ve got to check out Ken Meyer, Jr.’s monthly column Ink Stains.  Each month Ken (who is an amazing artist) posts… well, let’s let Ken explain…

I have a collection of over 200 fanzines from the 60’s-80’s that I plan to scan and talk about, one at a time. I hope to have some of the participants answer a few questions. Many of those participants are established comics professionals now, while some have gone on to other things. I will show a few snippets from each zine and give you a link to download a pdf of the whole thing, which I hope all of you will do!

For Ink Stains 59, Ken took a look at Fantafolio 3 from 1980 from Editor and Publisher: Peppy White

Fantafolio 3 features –

  • Cover by John Beatty and Jerry Ordway (Both who went on to long distinguished careers as comics pros)
  • Doug Herring Portfolio
  • Pin-Ups by David Mazzuchelli (Batman: Year One and Daredevil fame), Willie Blyberg & Doug Hazelwood (both who became comic pros)
  • Fandom regulars in the issue include: Larry Houston, Pete Iro, Mike Machlan, Don Secrease and others.
  • Tons of fan art, comic stories, spot illos and more.

This is a new one to me.  Interesting to see how many future comic super stars(Rick Burchett inked one of the stories) were included!

Ah, the memories of the glory days of fanzines.  Thanks to Ken Meyer, Jr. for making these available!