Bulletproof
April
24, 2018
Wonder Woman and Superman are
bulletproof, compared to the rest of us. The rest of us have to be
brave and strong.
Minnesota is a very gunny state.
Half the state has enough guns for the entire state, plus a few.
Despite
the armaments, a recent
StarTribune
poll
found that 9 out of 10 people in Minnesota believe mandatory criminal
background checks should be part of all gun sales including purchases
made at gun shows (90% agree, 8% disagree). And 63% of Minnesotans
support raising the legal age to buy a gun from 18 to 21. Isn't
consensus weird?!?
Not that consensus will change
laws (not this year), or that laws will stop every single villain.
Society
has to change to find heroes, not just to intervene when trouble
occurs, but also to intervene before trouble occurs.
Superman doesn't want the bad
guy's gun. He'll duck it every time.
Music Association: (Minnesota's)
Haley Bonar - Candy Machine Gun
Logo
Creating
April 16, 2018Over
eighty years ago, the comic book format changed from reprints of
newspaper strips to original content. Original content was More Fun and
more like the adventures in the pulps. Pulps were like serialized,
short paperback books on newspaper paper.
In 1938,
a new comic
book was being created by the people who published Detective Comics.
They contacted a logo maker for pulps named Ira Schnapp to make the
logo for Action Comics. The result is above. A way to understand how
tough it was for Ira to create the Action Comics logo is to get out a
pencil and paper and trying to mimic the logo with original content.
Superman
started in Action Comics #1 that year. This week, Action Comics turns
1000.
Music Association: Elvis - Less
Conversation, More Action
Superman in Action
Lois
Lane Investigates Clark Kent
April
13, 2018
The
time is 2:44pm as Flight 101 lands at Metro Airport. While collecting
their luggage at baggage claim, Lois Lane and Clark Kent receive a page
(like a publicly announced text message) telling them a helicopter is
waiting to pick them up. The copter pilot says, “
Say,
Mr. Kent... The word is you got a special knack no one else seems to
have. They say you're the only person who knows how to get in touch
with Superman when an emergency comes up!” The
pilot jumps from the helicopter.
Our
action hero in lime-green, Lois Lane, springs into the pilot seat,
saying, “
Don't
go into your panic routine, Clark. I've got a pilot's license for these
things.”
Clark notices the rotor-blade has flown off its sprocket. Lois
discovers the controls aren't responding. Clark kicks a hole in the
floor and cushions their landing with a blast of air (um, physics?).
Lois
Lane never sees the hole in the floor. She provides a convenient
explanation about Clark contacting Superman. She
states, “
You
are the only person who seems to be able to call Superman.”
Hilarious. Lois Lane probably has more specialized yells for calling
Superman than Minnesota has types of snow. Plus, Lois is ignoring Jimmy
Olsen's signal watch, which if you've read comics, was never ever used
to tell time. Sportingly, Lois tells Clark she will find out how he
contacts Superman.
The
subplot is about the Russians digging for information, trying to
control Superman to make him their puppet. Superman is too smart for
that. Only an idiot...
Lois
borrows a pair of x-ray binoculars to spy on Clark. Lois has been
reading and believing the ads in comic books.
The Russians 'borrowed'
her binoculars to add a camera. Clark 'borrowed' her binoculars to add
a projector.
I 'borrowed' her binoculars and added a
Starbucks, and I don't even drink coffee!
Lois
sees Clark in the alley and then sees Superman flying due to the
projectors in the binoculars. Projectors. She looks up in the sky and
sees Superman. She looks at the brick wall in front of her and sees
Superman. She can't be a Pulitzer-winning reporter and an idiot. She
sleeps through Superman removing the projectors. She sleeps through the
Russians removing the camera. And she sleeps through me removing the
Starbucks.
Curt Swan provided the interior art for
Action 446
back in 1975. The binocular views are great. Bob Oksner did the cover
(the first picture). Cary Bates told the story, which ended with Lois
concluding that Clark contacts Superman by running “
a
hand through his hair -- a special chemical makes the hair give off a
unique vibration that alerts Superman wherever he may be.”
Right Lois. You figured this out because of a curl on Clark's
forehead?!?
Music Association: Stereophonics
- Superman “Superman on an
aeroplane -- sitting next to Lois Lane.”Ira Schnapp designed the
Action Comics logo and refined the Superman logo.
By the NumbersReal
Supermen
April 4, 2018Superman
comics have been around for 80 years. That's a lot of stories. Comics
are (mostly) monthly, so 80 times 12 is 960 times two (Action Comics
and Superman Comics) equals 1920. And for a while, Action
Comics
was weekly. Plus Superman appeared in issues of World's Finest, DC
Comics Presents, Superman Family, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olson,
Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, Superboy, Justice League, Legion of
Super-Heroes... Superman has been in thousands of comics.
The
problem with many Superman stories is writers (running out of ideas)
who take away his powers, taking the super out of the man. Or they make
him evil, taking the hero out of him. Either way is a writing cop-out.
They aren't writing Superman.
There are no limits to
Superman stories, but there should be two limits on Superman
writers.
1. Keep him super.
2. Keep him a hero.
If
I were writing Superman stories, he would be as inspirational a hero as
my heroes. He might make mistakes. He might not always seem to be the
greatest hero, but it would be clear he would be looking out for the
greater good.
He would be giving and kind. He would
work for a
better tomorrow that wouldn't need his help. He would be willing to be
shot at or put in jail for his convictions.
He
wouldn't be seen much. He wouldn't want his name on things. He wouldn't
look for gratitude or wait around for a thank you.
He
would seem invincible and invulnerable, but everyday things and
everyday people (and situations) can be made of Kryptonite, you know?
There
would be no end to the stories because I would draw on the greatest
inspirations, people like Jesus Christ and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr.
Other inspirations would include Malala
Yousafzai,
Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi, tank man, and some
people
you probably don't know.
I have many unpublished
stories, with writing notes for more.*
Fifty
years ago today, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
He was 39.
Music Association: The
Carpenters - Superstar* unpublished because
Superman is owned by DC Comics under licensing from the
estates of Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster
Shoveling
Superman
April 3, 2018When
winter seems to be a never-ending saga of snow with colder-than-Arctic
temperatures, I put on my thermals and spring into Action.
I
am the shoveling Superman.
Shoveling snow is a
never-ending battle. Just last week I was saying, “
Now that winter is done, it is
right around the corner.”
The
zipper broke on my shoveling coat long ago; the wind billows it behind
me.
Snow
can be tough... a real villain. The trick is getting it away from the
paths of mild-mannered citizens. Sometimes snow shoveling must be
carried out carefully. Other times I quickly scoop the snow load and
fling it over my shoulder and scoop up the next load before the last
load has landed. That's fun in a Supermanish way.
Moving
fast
without moving too fast is a trick. Moving too fast is easy -- all you
need is ice to become a red blue blur. Your feet are no longer touching
the ground. You're flying.
Flying is also easy.
Flying
purposefully and landing upright? That takes finesse. And the few times
you really get it right will be great. No one will see.
Music Association: Lenny Kravitz
- Fly AwayMusic Video Reviews
Landmine Hopscotch
Superman
Cambridge Analytica's proxy war for SpankyImpact Investing
Holiday
Gifs of Cats and Kittens Part 1
Part 2
Part
3 Part
4 Part
5
Southdale
Hennepin Library
Wonder
Woman
Food
Fraud
