I'm a Superman Fanboy

To say I love comic books would be an understatement. As I’ve said before, I’m what you’d call a "passionate enthusiast" with disposable income. Whenever a new friend or co-worker finds out I’m a comic book collector, they usually ask me, “Who is your favorite superhero?” Honestly, the answer is “it depends”.  I’m a fan of the comic genre, which means that I enjoy good writers, artists and story-lines. I fall in and out of love with various books all the time; for instance, right now I’m reading/collecting "Indestructible Hulk" and "Aquaman", but that doesn’t make me a life-long Hulk or Aquaman fan. All it means is that currently I find both books to be well done and I'll keep buying the book until I stop enjoying it. I think that in order to call a superhero your “favorite” you need to have deeper tie than just finding it to be a good read. I think most of us comic book fans gravitate to a superhero when we are young and then stick with them as long as we buy comic books. When I was a kid, I had two main heroes that I wanted to be, Spiderman and Superman.

It's certainly not out of the ordinary to have either of those two as your favorite superheroes. For some people saying that you enjoy Spiderman and Superman is kind of like saying Pepsi and  Coke are your favorite brands of cola. It elicits a giant “duh” from comic book fans and the average person alike.  So, why did I love these two characters? If you were to do a straight up comparison of the two they represent different things to a kid. Spiderman is the smart mouthed kid with super powers. He could leap from building to building, shooting webs and having fun. As a kid, it was easy to pretend to be Spiderman. We could climb on the back of the family couch and make the “Spidey Hand Motion” while making the “chawawawa” sound. Spiderman in essence was our youth; we could be wild and crazy, but still a hero. I enjoyed Spiderman, but I don't collect his comic books. I kind of drifted away from the character over the years and just when I wanted to go back, they really screwed up the story for me. This might not make sense to some non-comic book people, but "A Brand New Day" was the last day I ever thought about collecting a Spiderman book. I might sound like a snob and it probably is proof that I wasn't a hardcore Spiderman fan, but when they introduced a plot device that esentially wiped out all of the previous "Spider-history" I couldn't follow. Of course, there are stupid plots in every characters history and I can look past them for one of my favorite characters of all time, Superman.

Superman…geez, I don’t even know where to start. He was the strong, invincible, flying leader of all the other heroes. Just one of those reasons would be enough to make him any kid’s favorite, but the reason he was my favorite had little to do with Superman and everything to do with Clark Kent. Clark was unpopular; he was perceived as weak and was, in short, a nerd. He was what every small kid with glasses wanted to be, a hidden hero. I can remember trying to give myself a “curl” at a very young age, just around when I got my first pair of glasses and I was picked on for the first time. 

Typical hero idolization aside, I have always been amazed at the difficult choices it must take to be Superman. The character represents the ultimate force of good, which has to be the hardest easy choice that anyone can make. In my opinion, this is the real beauty of the Superman character, he can take the negative conotation of being referred to as the “big blue boy scout” and makes it a term of endearment. Historically Superman has been written as a character that makes the choices we should make and makes them with ease. It's a really simple concept for kids to grab. Sometimes good and evil to be as simple. In a world full of brooding anti-heroes, it's nice to be able to give kids a hero whose motives are black and white, letting the shades of grey wait until they are older.  So, I’m proud to be a Superman fan. I’m proud to enjoy something that appeals to my inner child and occasionally my outer one. So, for every Dark Knight, it’s nice to occasionally have one that represents the best of us, at least until Hollywood decides otherwise... I’m looking at you Zack Snyder, I'm really excited for "Man of Steel"...don’t mess this up for my inner child...

Mars: Putting the "Red" in Red, White and Blue!

I’m feeling philosophical this week (I blame Justin Kownacki and Mike Friedrich). So I want to pose a question to my tens of, ten readers. Let’s say in the next 125 years we were able to colonize the Mars. It is a dangerous mission, so we don’t send the A-list of humanity. Instead we send the dreamers, adventurers and those looking for a fresh start.  My question to you is this, how long until this social experiment breeds a “New America”?  Let me clarify what I mean by the term “new America”. I’m not suggesting that Mars would end up just being an addition to the United States. It may start that way, but what I’m suggesting is that in the end it becomes a complete retelling of our countries birth, with the role of Great Britain being played by the United States and the role of revolutionists being played by Mars colonists.

Imagine it, the red planet 2138; the last of the settlers arrive on the last ship, the Bransonita. It has been a long journey; provisions nearly ran out since they had navigated around an errant band of meteorites. The settlers are exhausted but excited; this is their new start, a new beginning. No longer will they be subject to the limited opportunities of earth. Here they will be free to live away from a society that subjects them to ideals which they don’t agree with. On Mars they will no longer be subject to the endless stream of corporate commercials that pass off as culture. On Mars they have no need to worry about student loans, finding a safe place to live, and electing leaders that no longer represent them. This is the new world! Fast forward another 25 years and the Mars settlers have organized and began to have a thriving community.  The first generation of Martians has been born and they are quickly spreading across the planet. Of course, this colony is still part of the United States and their citizens are protected and in some cases supported by their earthly motherland. However, their home planet ties are dwindling; the people of Mars have perfected hydroponics and have almost created a complete self-sufficient ecosystem which makes the need of constant supplies and visitors from earth less necessary. In fact they are down to one supply ship a quarter, until they discovered “element X”. Element X is a new type of construction material for microchips. It conducts electricity perfectly with zero impedance at room temperature. This means that all power can be used to its utmost efficiency. This new element has the potential to revolutionize all technology and mankind with it, the only catch is that it can only be found on Mars.

Suddenly there is a surge of immigrants to Mars, every one of them looking for ways to cash in on this new “gold rush”. Of course now the governments of Earth are paying close attention to the Red Planet. What started as a frontier adventure has turned into a financial boom for every Martian. You see, for the first 50 years of the Mars colonization they believed that there were limited resources on Mars and thus little value to the planet. So, the United States allowed people willing to travel to Mars to claim or purchase land, which includes mineral rights to that land. Aside from a few entrepreneurs who bought huge plots of land for entertainment purposes, most of the land was bought by frontiersmen who accepted it as pay for work and services. These are the citizens who moved to Mars to escape the less desirable parts of earthly living. They came to Mars for adventure or to start new churches, new cultures, and a new way of life. They took a leap of faith and now this leap made them rich. These Martians now have a pride for their new planet, its culture and people. It’s this pride that makes them want to form a new country and of course you know, this means war.

What qualifies me to think any of this might happen? Nothing, I’m not qualified in any way, shape or form. My only justification is that we, people, humans are very predictable. Throughout history we have cycled through the rise and fall of many empires. So, in short, America isn’t that special. Maybe that’s going a bit too far…we are just as special as Greece, Rome, Persia, Egypt, and every other empire that has ever existed. However, to think us unique is a stretch. We weren’t the first and we won’t be the last and what better place for the “next America” to be born then on another planet. Its history and we never learn from it, so we often repeat it. By the way, this would make an awesome tv series or book. I would write it, but I’m too busy making money to buy an acre of red dust.

My Passion

Dawn and I sampling the flora & fauna of Washington, D.C.

My Grandfather used to say that he hoped I’d become passionate about something someday. I’m pretty sure he was just talking about a career or a professional interest, but I took that hope to heart in all things. You see, I was somewhat of a nonchalant kid when it came to interests. I was never overly fascinated by any subject. I enjoyed things, but I was never crazy about any one thing. When it comes to the collection classified ads I call a resume, it’s  fair to say that my lack of a consistent passion shows through. I have yet to find a career or professional interest that truly keeps my attention, however, I do not lack passions. When it comes to things that I couldn't live with out, I only have two things, comic books and Dawn Papuga.  Oddly enough, I discovered both of these at the same time and they are forever linked to each other.

Before 2008, I was merely a passive comic book fan. I collected one or two issues, but it was hardly a passion. Then for some reason that I don't remember, I decided to read the novelization of Alex Ross & Mark Waid's "Kingdom Come" by Elliot Maggin. For those of you who don’t know, "Kingdom Come" was a 1996 DC Comics mini-series. The series dealt with what happens when Superman goes into exile for a decade and new “heroes” step into the fold and start to run amok. (If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend you do. It is a good example of how to write a story with a strong understanding of a characters history and motivations.) It was this novel that really opened my eyes to the world of comics. I was drawn in by the fantasy and the complex situations of what seem to be simple characters. So I began to pick up all things comic related and that is why a good friend of mine invited me to the Steel City Comic-Con in Pittsburgh where my life changed forever.

The Steel City Comic-Con was my first "comic culture" experience and I honestly didn't know what to expect. All I knew is that my friend was meeting another group of his "Pittsburgh Social Media" friends, which Dawn just happened to be part of. When I first met Dawn she was a bundle of energy and was bouncing from exhibit to exhibit at the Comic-Con. Honestly, I couldn’t take my eyes off of her and all I wanted to do is walk next to her. It’s funny, 5 years later and that feeling still hasn’t gone away. Our first conversation was among a large group of her friends and we were talking comic books, of course. Dawn said that she was a Marvel girl through and through, X-Men to be exact and she didn’t like DC. Of course, me being a DC fan, I had to start a discussion about the difference between Marvel and DC. It is my opinion that DC is really based on a religious model of existence and Marvel is based on the scientific model of existence. My evidence for this is that Marvel often talks about the “mutant evolution” and uses more science-fiction basis for many of their characters, while DC uses more of a mystical and ideological tone. Not that DC shies away from science, but their language is a bit softer and broader, they have “meta-humans” as opposed to “mutants” and different “Justice Leagues” as opposed to “Avengers”.  As I was exercising all my nerd muscles, it was like everyone else at the table disappeared and Dawn was the only one I was talking to. (Editor’s note:  My argument must have worked, because in the past 5 years we have only bought a handful of Marvel comics.)

In a nutshell, from that first dinner on, I was hooked. There hasn’t been a single day since where I haven’t thought about her. That’s not to say it has been perfect or easy. We’ve both gone through quite a lot to be together, but isn’t that what being passionate about something is all about? I can’t imagine life without her, so that’s why I’m marrying her. I’ve found something I can’t live without and I’m taking it with me wherever I go.  I can’t imagine being as passionate about any career as I am about her and I’m pretty happy about that. My pure bliss would be an infinite amount of time with her and a never ending stack of comic books. I wonder if it would be creepy to invite Mark Waid to our wedding since he helped to start this whole thing...worst case scenario we’ll just register at the Twilight Zone.