STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Bill Murphy remembers the moment like it was yesterday. It was 1957 and he was a kindergartner at PS 8, a few blocks from his childhood home in Great Kills.

As he stood at an easel putting the finishing touches on a tempera painting of Zorro, his favorite television action figure, the teacher took notice. She praised the young artist and insisted the principal had to see his good work.