PORTLAND – Frank Springer dabbles in oil paintings at his home in Damariscotta in midcoast Maine.

But when he was younger, he was drawing Spider-Man and other comic superheroes for Marvel Comics. It was a way to make a living.

Now the opening of the third Spider-Man movie brings back memories of when Springer, 77, drew the likes of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Punisher, Captain Marvel and Powerman.

The blockbuster “Spider-Man 3” opened in theaters Friday, taking in a record $59 million domestically on opening day and breaking the previous all-time high of $55.8 million for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” in its first day last summer.

“I wish I had a piece of the action, but I don’t,” Springer said. “Unfortunately, none of us get a piece of the movie.”

While living in New York in the 1950s after college and a stint in the Army, Springer began drawing comics on a freelance basis. He drew Spider-Man comics from the mid-1970s into the ’80s.

Living on Long Island, Springer would be mailed a script or travel to Marvel Comics’ Madison Avenue offices to meet with Marvel’s comic guru, Stan Lee, to talk about the upcoming issue.

Springer stuck to the formula of drawing Spider-Man “like a middleweight high school wrestler, 5-foot-9-inches and 150 to 160 pounds – not like Batman or Superman, 6-foot-5-inches with deltoids like basketballs.