TICONDEROGA -- Stan Burdick hangs out with The Phantom, Spider-Man and Superman.

The director-curator of the Ticonderoga Cartoon Museum oversees a collection of more than 1,000 pieces of comic art, ranging from political cartoons to superhero comic strips.

"It started out as my own collection, 50 years of collecting comic art," Burdick said. "When my wife, Cathy, and I were retiring and moving to the Adirondacks from Ohio, she told me there might be room for either me or my collection.

"That's how the idea for the Cartoon Museum was born."

ORIGINAL ART

The museum was located in Hague for the first six years, but the town-owned building it was in was scheduled to be torn down, so Burdick found a new home for the collection in the Ticonderoga Community Building.

The museum started in one large room in the basement five years ago but has expanded to three rooms now.

"It's just something that's fun," Burdick said. "It entertains people. We feel this is the right place to give people a smile."

The art includes editorial cartoons by Thomas Nast, the late-1800s illustrator who gave America its version of Santa Claus and exposed the corruption of Boss Tweed in New York City.

It also has original art by Chuck Jones, creator of Bugs Bunny; Frank Frazetta, whose sword-and-sorcery paintings revived interest in Conan of Cimmeria; and even Essex's own Sid Couchey, who drew Richie Rich for Harvey Comics.

"We feel we have a good balance between editorial cartoons and comic strips," Burdick said. "There's so much here people can't see it all in one day. A lot of people say they're going to come back."

ARTO MONACO EXHIBIT

The museum will open for the season from 3 to 5 p.m. Friday, then will keep hours of 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Admission is a donation of $4 for adults and $3 for children.

There will be refreshments and free gifts for all who attend Friday. Burdick said attendees will get something called "Amazing Superhero Punch" and can enter a "Name the Comic Guys" contest to win prizes.

Many of the comic strips on display are signed originals, including Peanuts by Charles Schulz, The Lone Ranger by Charles Flanders, The Phantom by Lee Falk and Smilin' Jack by Zack Mosley.