Who is Ralph Snart?
Ralph Snart is my all-time favorite comic book character. I first discovered Ralph around 1988, or ’89, while in High School. It was late ’89 when I moved out of my parents house and got a subscription to RSA. It was during Volume 3, and I’ve never looked forward to receiving anything as much as those rags ever before or ever again. I loved this comic so much, I even ordered the ‘Gang Way, Fathead!’ tee-shirt from Grafitti Designs. It was funny because nobody could read it correctly, except for us RSA buffs. Instead of saying ‘fat – head’, they would say ‘fa – theed’ using the soft ‘TH’ sound and wondering what it meant. My ultimate high point with RSA was when I wrote a letter to the editor — to ‘Rubber Room Gossip’ — and it actually got published. Talk about swelling with pride!! I can’t remember what issue I’m in as I have lost all my books in a move long, long ago and I’m now unable to look it up. (Have I ever mentioned how stupid I was long, long ago?)
Ralph Snart Adventures was written and drawn and everything-elsed by Marc Hansen. I thought the following was some kind of ironic sign. This guy had the same first name as me, spelled it with a ‘c’ like me….. he had the same initials as me – MH – and his last name had the same amount of letters as mine — Hansen, Hickey. Plus, I had an acquaintance named J. Hansen and my Grandfather’s name was ‘Grampa Jay’. Okay, okay… mayyybe that last one’s a bit of a stretch, but hay!… guess what??!! That’s what Marc Hansen had to do while working for NOW Comics….. He had to stretch those dollars he earned drawing Snart as far as he could – just to make it to the next payday (whenever they decided that was going to be. That’s what I understand to be the case, anywho).
Whoa…
I’m rambling. Anyway, before I met Ralph Snart, I liked to draw cartoons myself. I believe that the creation of my own cartoon character, Floyd Vormit, is directly influenced by my contact with Marc Hansen’s Ralph Snart. So, Marc Hansen is indirectly responsible for Marc Hickey’s Floyd Vormit. Perhaps, someday, Floyd will find a place in this world.
Marc Hansen is not working for any Comic Book Corporations these days. Hansen has learned some computer programming in the meantime and has built himself a website. He couldn’t keep himself away from his own urges to draw Snart, so he decided to self-publish Ralph Snart Adventures online. You can get access to his online comic and his whole story from his website at www.marchansenstuff.com . Go check it out!
HayMan Quarterly is a product of HayMan Industries. All rights reserved.
Ralph Snart is a registered trademark. ©1986-2012 by Marc Hansen. Images used by permission.
