Lot 575: Autograph - Dick Calkins

Artist (1895-1962), best known as the first person to draw the Buck Rogers comic strip, beginning in 1929. Fabulous hand-illustrated TLS, three pages both sides, 8.5 x 11, March 27, 1947. Uniquely presented correspondence to Elmer Staffs of Tucson as Calkins describes a trip to Phoenix and Tucson during the 1930s, illustrating his story along the way. Cartoons include those of a barber scalping his customer, covered wagons, and old cowpokes. In part (grammar and spelling retained): "Yure letter was brought in to the post this morning by a half-bred with five arrers sticking into him. He must of had a tough time gettin thru the dude ranch country, ans I here them dudes are on the warpath again. But he made it, and I was sure glad to get the letter. The mail up here is some irregular of late on account of the whizzer that blew up a few days ago, and that white stuff is all over the ground again. This country ain't fit for an injun to live in, let alone a white man. I ben here for fiftytwo years and have reached that conclusion...Steve Claflin told me about you, and I was going to write you, but you got off the first shot before I could pull my typewriter out of the holster. I gotta fild the front sight off that typewriter some day or quite wearin' it...Don't let this Buck Rogers business fool you. About all I get is a lot of publicity, while the syndicate gets the gravy. I am going to pack up the covered wagon and head for the wide-open spaces were I don't have to wear a white shirt except maybe on Sundays...There's some nic country between Willxo and Safford, on that road that runs from Bonita to Safford, where you cross a stream. Unfortunately, there isn't any house there, and we can't live in a tree (although from this letter you probably think that's where I generally hang out)." He has added the handwritten postscript, "You can blame Clafins for this letter!" According to the consignor, the pages have been deacified by a conservator. In fine condition, with staple holes and an area of paper loss at the upper left corner, a few spots of staining, and show-through from type and drawings on opposing sides.Though perhaps best-remembered for bringing the swashbuckling adventures of Buck Rogers to life in comic strips and, in the process, popularizing space exploration in literature and pulp fiction, Calkins also had a quick wit-a talent on display in this letter. Recounting an Old West tale, Calkins takes on the persona reminiscent of a grizzled prospector to assure the recipient that "yure letter was brought in to the post this morning by a half-bred with five arrers sticking into him" while lamenting that the life of a cartoonist is not particularly a wealthy one: "Don't let this Buck Rogers business foll you. About all I get is a lot of publicity, while the syndicate gets the gravy." All of this seasoned with Calkins' unique illustrations. A brilliantly created, one-of-a-kind piece.