chapter 183 part 1
Chapter 182 The Addams Family
As Charles Addams said, his creative style was very special.
If the previous applicant, William Steig's, creative style leaned towards fairy tales, then Charles Addams' work clearly had a dark tone.
On the manuscript, Charles Addams used messy strokes to depict a love story about a skeleton awakening from a graveyard.
This was clearly something that Charles Addams had always favored.
Because it was a first draft, the content of the entire comic was a bit rough, but even through these crude characters, one could feel the eerie and bizarre, yet slightly absurd and humorous comic style behind the whole story.
This eerie and bizarre comic, combined with the strangely dressed Charles Addams in front of him, finally made Colin recall the other party's identity.
Charles Addams, a representative figure of American black humor comics, and also the original author of *The Addams Family*.
It is worth mentioning that when *The Addams Family* was being serialized, Charles Addams did not name the characters in the comic.
The names of these characters were only determined later, when the work was adapted into a television film, through discussions between Charles Addams and the screenwriters at the time.
For example, the daughter Wednesday's full name became Wednesday Friday Addams, which was actually derived from an English rhyme that helps memorize time:
"...
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
...
Friday's child is loving and giving,
..."
Because Charles Addams found it interesting, he used it as Wednesday's name.
And Charles Addams' black humor style, with its unique values, became the foundation of the Gothic style that would be sought after by the public in the future, and even formed a special film genre in Hollywood. Director Tim Burton, for example, is a loyal follower of this style.
Of course, in this era, the Gothic style has not yet taken shape.
Charles Addams, the cartoonist and one of the founders of this style, has not yet created the classic comic, *The Addams Family*.
Right now, he is troubled by a newspaper agency's rejection of his work.
After all, no matter how much he loves coffins, bones, and tombstones, he still needs to fill his stomach.
Although Charles Addams liked these things, he didn't plan to accompany them so early.
Thinking of this, Charles Addams looked up at Colin in the newspaper office, with a hint of expectation in his eyes.
Although deep down, he didn't have much hope for this recruitment.
"A very unique style."
Colin retracted his gaze from the manuscript and said slowly under Charles Addams' watchful gaze.
"But…"
Hearing this, Charles Addams' heart suddenly turned cold, and he even imagined what Colin would say next.
"Congratulations, Mr. Charles Addams."
However, the content that Colin uttered next was very different from what Charles had originally expected.
"What?!"
Because he was too surprised, Charles Addams didn't even react for a moment.
"I mean congratulations, Mr. Charles Addams, you've been hired."
Looking at Charles, who looked a little surprised, Colin repeated with a smile.
With Colin's reminder, Charles woke up as if from a dream. He grabbed the strangely shaped hat with eyes embedded in it, and muttered with a bit of disbelief, "Did I hear it wrong, or..."
"You didn't hear wrong, Mr. Charles Addams, can you start work tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course!"
Hearing Colin's question, even in a daze, Charles Addams agreed without hesitation.
Returning the manuscript to Charles Addams in front of him, Colin looked at this man who was still a little unbelievable and said with a smile, "Your creative style is very unique, which is not a bad thing for a cartoonist. Perhaps, Charles, you can try to incorporate this style into other comic works."
If there is a chance in the future, Colin would be happy to hand over the story of Batman to Charles Addams to create.
He believes that the unique dark Gothic aesthetic of Charles Addams, when combined with the story of Batman, will definitely form a relatively unique comic style.
Of course, the premise is that Colin creates *Batman*, allowing this Gotham City rich man to break away from the *Superman* comic story and have his own publication.
…
"...Mr. Langge, you have a letter."
New York, Second Avenue.
After a long wait, Langge, the agent in New York, finally received a reply from Augsburg.
Taking the envelope from the postman, Langge couldn't wait to tear it open and pull out the letter inside. Looking at the reply from the Manroland headquarters, the expression on Langge's face gradually solidified.
In the letter, Manroland confirmed that they had received the newspaper Langge had sent, and they had indeed noticed the difference in the printing of the two newspapers.
However, due to the turbulent political situation and internal economic problems in Germany, among other factors.
Manroland has suspended research on new rotary presses, and for the next few years, its main market will be the rotary printing presses already in production and on the market.
In short, Manroland doesn't have the funds to support research and development, and can only make money by relying on the printing presses it already produces.
At the same time, in the letter, Manroland also conveyed an unfortunate message to Langge. After internal discussions, Manroland decided to temporarily abandon the American market. After all, the situation of The Great Depression in America was more serious than in Germany. Manroland cannot continue to invest funds in a losing market, especially when the company's own financial resources were already stretched.
Therefore, Langge, as Manroland's agent in New York, also unfortunately lost his agency rights and became one of the unemployed.
"How could this happen?"
It took a while for him to accept the contents of the letter.
Langge looked at the letter from the Manroland headquarters in Augsburg, especially the notice of cancellation of the agency rights on it, and muttered in astonishment for a long time.
He never expected that his observation of new printing technology appearing on the market, which he had intended to report to Manroland, would instead lead to him losing his job.