Bits ‘n’ pieces.
WE LOVE THE FREE COMICS: Now here’s a contest! Alan David Doane, Slave Labor Graphics, Jim Rugg, and Brian Maruca are holding one whopper of a Street Angel giveaway!
RECOGNITION IS HARD: I’ve spoken before about how certain people will come into our store identify Green Lantern as Green Hornet, or look at a picture of Hawkman and call him Birdman. Okay, if you’re just looking at a picture of the character, and you have no knowledge of comics, I suppose I can see why a person would do that. But, if you, a fully grown adult with (I’m assuming) reading skills, pull up an old Archie comic, with the huge logo reading “ARCHIE” across the top of the comic in full view, and you say, repeatedly, “oh, look, it’s Richie Rich” — I don’t know how to react to that.
A while back, I was reading a Stephen Baxter novel (Titan, I think), and I had someone get a good look at the cover and say, “oh, reading Star Trek, huh?” Apparently anything space-related is from Star Trek. I believe this is a condition related to the “Archie/Richie Rich” incident…a condition called “we don’t care about your stupid interests…why don’t you watch sports like a normal person.”
WE MUST STOP THE INTERNET: Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers fan fiction. Some stories are rated “R” for violence. No slash, I think. I hope. (via Portal of Evil)
WE LOVE THE SILLY COMICS: Action Comics #393 (Oct. 1970) features the story “The Day Superboy Became Superman” — no, no, he doesn’t become a man that way.* In short, Clark Kent is a student at Metropolis University, and as Superboy he’s continually putting the smackdown on underprivileged people who keep sneaking onto the school to cool off in the pool, steal food, and so on. They’re only doing so out of need, but Superboy sees it only as breaking the law, and treats the perps as such. A student activist named Marla is riding Superboy about how he’s treating these poor people:
“Look at this miserable slum, Superboy! While you’re preventing catastrophes on remote worlds, who prevents disaster in your own back yard? When will you do something for these people?”
Superboy’s response?
“You and your bleeding heart! I have more important things to do!”
Anyway, Marla’s off-campus “school” (actually a condemned building) where she tries to help the poor is demolished while she’s still inside, since she apparently didn’t hear the heavy equipment approaching. Superboy arrives just in the nick of time to listen to her dying words:
“The kids…my students…there’ll be no one to teach them now…to educate them for a better life! …Promise me you’ll help them…”
Guilt trip in hand, Superboy decides to go into action. He smashes down a row of abandoned buildings, and begins to build a brand new school at super-speed. However, even as the poor people in this slum area cheer Superboy’s efforts, he has some qualms:
“They’re applauding my super-feat! But is that all Marla wanted? Didn’t she tell me I’ve got to stop acting like a Superboy and start thinking like a Superman?”
He stops the rebuilding, and tells the crowd “I could have rebuilt the entire slum area…”
Several months later, after construction on the school is completed, a dedication ceremony is held. As the school, and the Superboy statue in front of the building, is about to be dedicated in Superboy’s honor, the Young Adult of Steel interrupts. Using his super-strength and his super-sculpting skills, Superboy remolds the statue into the likeness of Marla:
“…Who gave her life for the children of the slums — and who helped Superboy become Superman!”
And, presumably, there was much snickering by the audience after that, until they realized that probably wasn’t what he meant.
