Citizens' Voice from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • 5

City man finds comic treasure in his garage Mats used in old printing process yields examples of humor in 1930s -i 1 111 x- I 1 i 5 vi, I jj Dan Androkitis views comic mats Citirens' VoiceJimmy May money selling these plates, it doesn't matter. I'll keep them in my house and put them on the walls, but I certainly won't throw them away. I'll try to preserve as many of them as I can," he serve the mats to one day pass down to his children when he has some. "They really are a part of our history that I believe is important to keep. If I don't make any a collector of this type of memorabilia out there somewhere.

"People really collect a lot of different things," he said. An fan of local history, Androkitis said he would like to pre Probably, a person who worked there once owned the house and used the mats for insulation," Quinn theorized. In his quest to get to the bottom of the mystery, Androkitis said he was finally able to contact King Features Syndicate in New York City, owner then as well as now, of many of the comic strips. He spoke with a syndicate representative who attempted, over the telephone, to identify the mats as to their origin. Androkitis said the long distance conversation yielded some very interesting information, but not exactly what the plates are or how they were used.

"The man I spoke with told me so much information about comic strips that I couldn't remember it all. But, he couldn't tell me too much about the plates. One important piece of history he told me about is that one of the strips is the strip in which 'Popeye' was first introduced," the Miners Mills man explained. It took a local person with an extensive knowledge of the area to straighten it all out. "Thimble Theatre" in the Sunday Herald Sun, Durham, N.C., is impressed on one of the mats nailed to Androkitis' garage wall.

That strip was identified over the telephone by the King Features representative as one containing the early Popeye comic strip characters. In addition, The London Free Press, London, Ontario, Canada, from 1935 carries the strip, "Life With Father." The Battle Creek Moon, Battle Creek, depots "Joe Palooka," the strip drawn by one-time local resident Ham Fisher. These comic strips out of the past, along with many others, will be removed from the garage walls and preserved to the best of Androkitis' ability. Whether or not the mats are valuable isn't really the Miners Mills man's primary interest, although he said he believed there is By DEBBY HIGGINS Cihieru' Voitt Staff Writer Dan Androkitis isn't sure what he's discovered in his garage will bring him lots of money or fame or if his special find will simply add some historical color to his home. Whatever the outcome, Androkitis says he's pleased he made the discovery.

Lining the walls in his garage in Wilkes-Barre's Miners Mills are many 15 by 20-inch mats made of a type of cardboard used for printing during the time hot metal, and not computer-generated, type was used. The mats bear the impressions of comic strips from newspapers around the country, circa 1930s. Specifically identifying exactly what the "mats" were used for and what they're made from has presented the young man with a bit of a puzzle. "They really are a part of our history that I believe is important to keep. try to preserve as many of them as I can." Dan Androkitis Describing findCoach "I think they're some kind of proof plate that may have been used in the printing of the comic strips, but I'm not sure and I'm not sure how I can find out," Androkitis told the Citizens' Voice.

But, according to Jerry Quinn, a stereotyper at The Citizens' Voice, the mats are no mystery. "They are mats that used to be used in the old hot metal printing. It looks as though they were used by International Color Press, a company that used to print comic strips for newspapers around the world. The company left the area sometime in the early 1970s. Funnies 100 years old next month In early May, the U.S.

Postal Service and the Library of Congress will join many organizations marking the centennial of the newspaper comic strip, an indigenous American art form enjoyed by more than 113 million in the U.S. and millions more abroad, according to the Newspaper Features Council. "Hogan's Alley," a newspaper comic created for the New York World, the same strip that featured the "Yellow Kid," quickly became the first commercially successful newspaper comic. Its "Yellow Kid" began the infamous battle between rival newspapers that eventually led to the appearance of comics in nearly all newspapers worldwide. The legendary custody battle between arch rival publishers, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, is said to have been characters directly on a wall of the exhibit space.

The exhibit will feature selections from the Library of Congress' collection of more than 2,500 pieces of original comic art. The display will continue through Aug. 10 before traveling to other cities. Reading the comics knows no age boundaries. According to a recent survey undertaken in 1993 by Belden, commissioned by Metropolitan Sunday Newspapers shows that 86 million adults and 27 million kids read the comics regularly, and that 46.4 percent of readers have an annual household income greater than $50,000.

The survey also shows that 78 percent started reading comics before the age of 12. While historians debate the actual "birthday" of comics, celebrating 100 years in 1995 will bring out comics lovers of all ages from all walks of life. Republican nomination for gover nor last year. The federal government has spent five years quietly investigating the case. Now it appears the investigation by a grand jury the second to consider the case is winding ud.

(See PREATE, page 40) over Yellow Kid creator Richard Fenton Outcault. The controversy, according to newspaper historians, spawned the term "yellow journalism" used to describe the tabloid-style reporting practiced by many newspapers that also carried comics to attract readers. Commemorations scheduled in Washington, D.C., in May will celebrate the centennial of comics. Additional events throughout the summer will continue the celebrations. The U.S.

Postal Service will unveil 20 new stamp designs, each honoring a newspaper strip from the comics' first 50 years. On May 5, an exhibit at the Library of Congress entitled, "Featuring the Funnies: 100 Years of the Comic Strip," opens to the public. As part of the opening celebration, a number of popular syndicated cartoonists will be invited to draw their famous Allegations that Attorney General Ernie Preate Jr. accepted illegal campaign contributions from video poker machine operators in return for lax enforcement of gambling laws have dogged him since his election in 1988. He was re-elected in 1992, but the controversy undercut his run for the Dead informant, videotapes 1 4 JV 7- i if- 1 if play key roles in Preate probe By HUNTER GEORGE II Associated Prass Writer HARRISBURG This story has the ingredients of a made-for-TV movie: an elected state official, alleged payoffs, lies, gambling, videotapes and a dead government informant.

Comic mat dated Oct. 20, 1935.