It was the summer of 1976. I was in the lobby of Marvel Comics' offices on 575 Madison Avenue delivering a White Tiger pin-up for the Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu black and white magazine when I ran into Craig Russell. We stepped into the open bullpen as we exhcanged hellos and some small talk. Knowing I was a newbie in the comics, Craig took an interest in how I was progressing and spent some time looking at the art I carried in my portfolio. He then pulled out a felt tip pen and proceeded to pass on a few tips he thought I could use. "Think of composition as if it's all in the family." He said. "A big rock in the background shouldn't stand there alone. It needs little baby rocks and children rocks around it to make it feel at home. It also needs to have a softer mommy rock nearby so it can look strong." As he spoke, Craig doodled the rock family on the back of a materials requisition form he swiped from a nearby desk, pouring into it the same firm elegance he applied to every line which graced the comics he illustrated.
Skip forward to the end of the summer of 77 on 45th and 9th. Craig and his roommates were hosting a house warming party for their new apartment on the upper west side. I arrived there with a few friends from the Continuity, including Alan Weiss. What was strange about this party was that it appeared that Craig's roommates weren't all from the comics community and I suddenly found myself in close proximity to people who were not familiar with the family of comics makers. Once I adjusted to the shock, I began making my way around the hallways in an attempt to mingle or shmoozle or whatever the hell else I could find to do there. The place was jam packed and the folk I came with were nowhere in sight. At a distant room in the corner of the apartment, I gleamed Alan Weiss standing in the doorway listening to something which had apparently captured his attention. I forged my way through the crowd to find him in the midst of a discussion about Buckminster Fuller.
For those who aren't familiar with him, Buckminster Fuller invented the Geodesic Dome. This is a big dome which doesn't need supporting columns because it's constructed with connected triangular supports. Each triangle supports the ones above it all the way from the bottom to its top center. Bucky, as we later called him, was also a humanist philosopher who wrote many fascinating books, one of which was "Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth", which I'd coincidently read several months earlier. This book lays out an aspiration to achieve the collective survival and success of 100% of humanity in the shortest time possible and suggests that if we would all spend a little more time fishing, as an example, we'd be able to think a little more clearly and come to better conclusions as to what to do with our lives and how to use our presence in this world to our utmost all-inclusive benefit.
Sitting in the room with Alan and giving the lecture on Bucky was a stocky young man who had a presence that rivaled Marlon Brando's in Apocalypse Now. Rick Meyer was demonstrating the physics inherent in the triangles which he made from toothpicks and silly putty. He was showing how a structure made of these triangles is much stronger than its square counterpart. More interestingly, he was apparently peddling an interest in Buckminster Fuller's gathering of intellectual thinkers, scientists and philosophers in order to put forth a plan to save mankind from the destructive path it was on. It was called The World Game and was based in Philadelphia. Rick talked about how anyone can participate in the seminars and workshops by contacting the organization and contributing to putting together these plans for the salvation of mankind. As Alan and I showed some curiosity about the likely success of the design-science revolution he spoke of, Rick explained that well informed people at The World Game could answer any questions we might have. "ANY questions?" Alan asked challengingly.
"Any Questions." Rick insisted.
Skip forward again a few months to when the Martian went to Titan and found the San Francisco treat. After 6 weeks of searching for America, I found it also and returned to Continuity in New York. I walked into the front room to find everyone surprised to see me sporting a beard and long hair. Neal cracked a smile and said: "Welcome back, Mike. We all have religion now", as he held up an issue of Star*Reach 12, which had just come off of the presses from San Francisco. I didn't bite. I wasn't about to let anyone drag me into talking about it yet. This needed time and it was better for me to keep my mouth shut for now and show them what I mean by just doing what I knew I must. "You look like Jesus, Mike" Neal proclaimed again. He knew exactly what was on my mind and he was letting everyone know also. I held my ground and kept my mouth shut again. "He looks really serious" Kris said, hoping I'd break the ice and say something funny. I thanked her for arranging my return flight from San Diego and went back to my room.
A phone call to Craig Russell and another one to Rick Meyer at his work number which Craig gave me. I asked Rick to come by Continuity ASAP as I had something to tell him which he'd be very interested in. Noticing the intensity with which I asked, he said he'd stop by in the early evening. For the next few hours, I sat in the back room studio as Marshall Rogers concentrated on his Batman cover while people intermittently popped into the room from the front to see if they could get a word out of me concerning what had happened. Alan stopped by in the late afternoon and I asked him to hang around a bit for the conversation with Rick. Kris soon appeared at our door to tell me that someone was looking for me. I went to the reception area, welcomed Rick to the studio and together, we went into our back room where Marshall and Alan were, and shut the door behind us. I sat at my drawing table with my back to it, facing Rick. Alan and Rick sat on the couch across from me. Marshall was busy with his Batman cover.
"What's on your mind, Mike?" Rick asked, breaking the momentary silence.
"There are a lot of people who believe in God who could be taught the things that The World Game wants to teach." I said.
"Well, good luck with that." Rick brushed off the unlikely notion. "How do you plan to do it?"
Standing up, I pressed him slightly. " Answering any questions!"
I then leaned into him and raised the intensity.. "What's going on.." ..and volume. "..RICK?!"
Rick was beginning to understand that I had a plan.
"And what part do you play in all this?" he asked.
"And Michael and his angels fought in Heaven." I said.
The words simply rolled off of my tongue with the inflection and knowledge of holding the key which The World Game needed in order to implement their designs for the success of all of mankind in its difficult hour.
Rick's adam's apple leaped in his throat as he sat back and collected himself with a gulp. For the next twenty minutes he went on to explain how the comics creators and scientists will join forces and stand poised to change the course of history. How the same spirit of the writers of the scriptures will be applied today to educate mankind, through the comics, and implement the revolution which will fix everything in our world. Both Alan and I sat in silent awe throughout his dissertation while Marshall remained busy with his Batman cover. When he finished, Rick asked me to come with him and meet some friends who'd be interested in hearing more. I told him it would have to wait. "We don't like wasting any time, you know." He said, as he stepped out of the studio.
The next day we met again and I asked him if he'd be willing to write down his interpretation of the book of Revelations for me before I go with him to meet his friends. "Perhaps you should find someone else to do that, Mike."
That was the last time I saw Rick Meyer.
Fast forward to May, 2004. I'm networking the comics web community with The New Comic Book of Life web site from Jerusalem. I'm also looking for Rick Meyer. I don't need his interpretation of Revelations anymore. I simply wish to talk to him about The World Game. They have a new web site but he's nowhere to be found there. I find Craig Russell and post a question to him about Rick at his forum. Craig has heard about my new website and welcomes me with reserved warmth. He says he hasn't heard from Rick since the mid 1980's.
Skip forward a few months. I'm in New York with Alan Weiss who'd just returned from a comics convention where he met with Craig. We reminisce about Rick and the imposing impression he'd made on both of us back at Continuity.
"Craig thinks you're psychotic, you know." Alan says precariously.
"He'll get over it." I answer. "It's all in the family."
Craig Russell. Portraits of the Creators Sketchbook.
