I often share about food here, and I often share about my early years in comics, but I don’t think I’ve ever before shared anything at the intersection of those two topics. It isn’t a Venn diagram with much, if any, overlap, so this may be a first.

Danny Crespi, who was Marvel’s assistant production manager when I worked there in the mid-’70s, gave me his recipe for spare ribs, which he said were “as good as the ribs as the Lotus Eaters.” Here’s Danny as he appeared in the 1975 Marvel Comics Convention program book.

Danny was one of the nicest guys in the world, even though when Mike Esposito, who was doing art corrections in the Bullpen back then, grandiosely said, “In six months, I’ll be running this company,” Danny quickly quipped, “Yeah. Into the ground.”

In any case, here’s his recipe, a rather strange bit of comics memorabilia.

The Lotus Eaters was immediately downstairs from Marvel’s 575 Madison Avenue offices, and the site of many Bullpen meals—include my farewell lunch when I quit my staff job.

So were Danny’s ribs as good as those at Lotus Eaters? It’s been too, too long since I’ve eaten either, so I can no longer answer that question.

But Danny wouldn’t have lied about a thing like that.