Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 26, 2024 | 2 comments

The celebrated Mr. K tells a great tale on the late, great Mr. Spock’s birthday…

—

Welcome to columnist Paul Kupperberg’s recurring feature A COMIC MOMENT WITH… Having worked decades in the biz, Paul has so many great, humorous stories to tell, this seemed like a really groovy way to share some of them — especially on birthdays. This time out, it’s the late LEONARD NIMOY, who was born 93 years ago, on March 26, 1931! 

—

By PAUL KUPPERBERG

While fact checking some dates online, I came across this (as far as I can determine) uncredited first person account of this Comic Moment on the website Fanlore.org:

“The highlight of the second con, called the International Star Trek Convention, was the unannounced appearance of Leonard Nimoy that Sunday. I was on hand as a helper (unpaid volunteer) and, along with future comics writer Paul Kupperberg, was part of the flying V-formation of security to get Nimoy from the entrance to the stage. We then stood in position to form a human wall between shrieking fans and a smiling actor.”

Factually true, but not even remotely comic.

The Set-up: February 1973. New York’s Commodore Hotel. The International Star Trek Convention.

While I had did watch Star Trek and its animated successor in their first runs (and subsequent reruns), and even read some of the James Blish novelizations thereof, I had made my Subway Trek from Brooklyn to Manhattan that February morning not so much for “Star Trek” as I had for the “convention” part. The Venn diagram of comic book, science fiction, and Star Trek fandom seemed to be almost concentric circles, so even if Trek wasn’t my jam, the place would still be filled with my friends from whatever fandom.

The scheduled guests included Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, stars George (Mr. Sulu) Takei and James (Scotty) Doohan, as well as science fiction author Isaac Asimov.

Leonard (Mr. Spock) Nimoy was not scheduled to attend. But he showed up anyway.

And he chose to do so while I was in conversation outside a hotel ballroom with one of my aforementioned fandom friends, the head of security for the convention, who happened at the moment to be fully inebriated. So, when someone came rushing up to inform my friend of Nimoy’s unexpected arrival and the chaos gathering around the actor in the lobby, he sprang instantly to action.

“Wanna take care’a that, willya?” he said to me, then sank slowly to the floor and began to snore.

I did not want to take care of that, but I did anyway. I ran out to the lobby, which was indeed mobbed with what looked like hundreds of fans swirling around the eye of this particular hurricane, TV’s own Mr. Spock. I don’t know what possessed me to jump into that maelstrom, but I did, pushing and clawing my way to get to Nimoy. I grabbed his arm and said, “Follow me, Mr. Nimoy!” and then acted as point man to plow through the crowd and guide him to the ballroom.

I was pushed, shoved, scratched, bumped, and almost lost my glasses several times getting him through that mess. I finally turned to him and said, “I don’t think you’re worth this.” To his credit, Nimoy laughed in delight and said, “I don’t either, but isn’t it marvelous?”

Well, heck, how do you abandon a guy like that? Along with a couple of the actual security staff, we managed to get the surprise guest to the safety of the ballroom podium where he spoke to the adoring (and thankfully no longer bloodthirsty) throng.

The Punchline: June 2008. New York’s Jacob Javits Convention Center. The Licensing and Merchandising Convention.

The annual New York Licensing and Merchandising Convention was a blast! It would fill the Javits Center with thousands of major and minor intellectual property owners to showcase their properties for potential licensees. Companies like Disney, Warner Bros., and Paramount took great swaths of space and set up massive booths with elaborate displays and conference areas which they had booked from morning to night with clients. They spared no expense to impress, and many would bring in big name stars to draw people to their displays.

Where else could I meet Larry (Bozo the Clown) Harmon, Gumby creator Art Clokey, and Loonette from The Big Comfy Couch? Even when I worked in DC Comics’ Licensing Department, I had little real, official reason to attend, but it was too much fun to miss and, added special bonus… Lots of Free Stuff!

For 2008, Paramount was showcasing perennial moneymaker Star Trek and brought in Leonard Nimoy to glad hand the crowd. He was just standing there in front of a Trek backdrop, doing a meet and Polaroid greet with attendees. Passing the display and seeing that there was no one waiting, I took the opportunity. I went up, shook hands, mouthed a few fanboy words (’cause, y’know, come on, he’s Spock!), and, as we posed for our Polaroid, I said, “You know, this isn’t the first time we’ve met.”

His expression told me he had no idea who I was (nor had I expected him to), so I quickly told him how I had risked being trampled 40 years earlier to deliver him to the Commodore ballroom at that Star Trek con.

Nimoy laughed and said, “I remember that. Was that really you?” When I confirmed that it really was, he shook my hand again and thanked me for the rescue.

I did not respond, though I was tempted, “I have been, and always shall be, your friend.”

—

MORE

— PAUL KUPPERBERG: A Comic Moment with… EARTHA KITT. Click here.

— PAUL KUPPERBERG: A Comic Moment With… SHELLEY WINTERS. Click here.

—

PAUL KUPPERBERG was a Silver Age fan who grew up to become a Bronze Age comic book creator, writer of Superman, the Doom Patrol, and Green Lantern, creator of Arion Lord of Atlantis, Checkmate, and Takion, and slayer of Aquababy, Archie, and Vigilante. He is the Harvey and Eisner Award nominated writer of Archie Comics’ Life with Archie, and his YA novel Kevin was nominated for a GLAAD media award and won a Scribe Award from the IAMTW. Now, as a Post-Modern Age gray eminence, Paul spends a lot of time looking back in his columns for 13th Dimension and in books such as Direct Conversations: Talks with Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators and Direct Comments: Comic Book Creators in Their own Words. His latest, Direct Creativity: The Creators Who Inspired the Creators, is due out in April.

Website: https://www.paulkupperberg.net/

Shop: https://www.paulkupperberg.net/shop-1