Adam Blatner

When I was 14 (in 1951) Phil Harris sang a funny song on the radio titled “The "Thing,” which triggered my imagination. I cartooned and made up a back story about the discovery of this “Thing,” which was in fact a Fantasmous Crockensoon, a being of extraordinary something-ness. Intrepid Explorer Professoroid Norbert Q. Hackenthorpe (notice the third eye) of a nearby dimension set out on the quest to discover and domesticate, or at least tame, or at least befriend the Notorious Crockensoon, whose very breath was known to drive ordinary humanfolk to madness, or at least silliness.

Using a variety of baits, none of which worked, Professoroid H finally devised a clever scheme: He called out into the multi-dimensional void: “Yoo hoo, Crockensoon, Here Boy, Come to A Meeeeeeting!” Well, upon hearing such sincerity in P.H. (also known familiarly as Norbert ol pal by good friends such as the C.), poof! There he was! (Actually, it wasn’t so much of a ‘poof’ as a sound of a bleb blebbing, but between dimensions.)

Thereafter the two were inseparable, the C taking NQH on marvelous inter-dimensional trips to visit all manner of wondrous phenomena.  (Peter Paul & Mary later sang about Puff, the Magic Dragon, which is another legend like the inter-galactically famous  Norbert & the Crockensoon.)  Chapter 2 to follow someday if you ask nice.