Heroes

PLANTING SEEDS
By Alex Ness
October 30, 2023

MY SUPERHERO FAVORITES

Heroes are presented in no particular order.

Planted Seeds and the adult taste and sensibilities

Growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s had benefits and costs. One was relatively safe, in a small town the biggest issue was bullies, and those weren't as bad as the present. But one big issue was needing to see monster movies or sci fi movies, in the theatre, or, during summer break, watch black and white serials and 3 Stooges shorts on the television. There was no such thing as VCRs, or Tivo, or anything similar.  But of those I was able to find, Flash Gordon, Godzilla and Ultraman exposed me to great stuff.

But along with entertaining me then, I still enjoy them all now, more than fifty years later.

FLASH GORDON IN MANY MEDIA

I was a Flash Gordon fan since the age of 9 years old.  I watched the serials in order, and was amazed at the imagination shown by the people of the era. They understood how to create a story, and keep you coming back.  Flash has appeared in comics, books, newspaper cartoons, and in a fun Sci Fi adventure film.

GODZILLA AND KING KONG

I was 8 or 9 years old when I first saw Godzilla. The film was King Kong vs Godzilla, and I loved it. I'd seen bits from the RKO King Kong before, loving what I saw, and Godzilla was his perfect opponent. Their rivalry as respective kings of their domain was what fired a 9 year old's worldview. My Uncle Leo was so generous with his kids, they had one tv, and he allowed his kids to watch the show, despite having to watch it with us. He could well have said, I can watch football on the other channel, why don't you kids go play outside for 5 hours. But he didn't. And my imagination grew tenfold while watching it.

ULTRAMAN, GIANT ROBOTS, & SMALL HUMANS

I love Ultraman, and that love has only bloomed since the Netflix Ultraman series came out. I have nothing but love towards the character and his story.  Giant robots, from Mazinger Z to the Iron Giant are awestriking, and Jet Jaguar from the Godzilla world of Godzilla vs Megalon, looks an awful lot like Ultraman... so I had an immediate appreciation of him, his theme song, and ideas of where he went after the movie. I thought he should have had a movie, for him against Kaiju, but that was not to happen. Micronauts began in Japan, but they took flight with the US adaptation by Mego and Marvel Comics. I  was thrilled when the characters came back to comics, with DDP and Image, followed by IDW. Greatly talented artists and numerous writers created solid tales of the team. And, even if imperfect, they became comfort food comics for me. I hope some day to see a movie with the Micronauts.

COMFORT FOOD COMICS

I've told the story numerous times, but in 1998 I was in the middle of my gallbladder no longer working, and giving me a variety of attacks. In fact, not just attacks, but the gallbladder had turned white being calcified. I had many attacks, and had 4 different times where my wife was gone for a week. I was alone, in grotesque pain and I was in some ways worried that I was having heart attacks. I went through sleepless nights due to constant gallbladder attacks. What kept me alive and aiming towards not freaking out, was the world of comics, reading awesome works by Jack Kirby, Mike Grell, Timothy Truman, and Godzilla movies, World War 2 comics, and Alan Dean Foster novels. They had become my comfort food.

Why didn't I go to the doctor? No health insurance or health plan. We were getting it, but it would kick in when my wife's employer began the new plan, September 1. Even then, when I went to the doctor he looked at me and said, you don't have anything wrong, you are just fat and need to diet. And I did, I cheated just two times in 3 months which that led the doctor to find the problem.

COMICS FEATURING ROME

A reader wrote and asked me why Roman Legions, and the Roman Empire aren't a subject of great comics. They thought I'd agree due to my interest in ancient Rome. They were correct. I'd love to read a few great pure history of the Roman Empire comics. But what we have is a number of alternate history, and imagined worlds with the Roman Empire in the background, rather than the subject itself. Those shown below are really good, but they aren't purely Roman history. It might be that a solid comic featuring ancient Rome might be considered educational, rather than entertainment oriented, and that is fine. I am not saying I agree or not, but I think we shouldn't limit our comics by perceived audience. We deserve a good comic about an important time in our human experience. 

WAR COMICS TO CONSIDER

I offer these as good examples of the genre of war in the medium of comic books. There were many war comics in the past, but as we grew tired of Vietnam, the popularity of such comics fell, as did the reader's interest in the American hero winning every battle. The ideal of America was broken by failure in Vietnam, and the spillover effect was generational awareness of the inaccuracy of the previous outlook. But, as time went on, new works, exploring all facets of the world during war.

NOSTALGIA 

I'm fond of the world I had lived in, as well as in this, the present. In my past, anyone could walk alone to the grocery store, without fear of predators. I could breathe the cleanest air, even living in the region with many paper mills.  Craft mill smell is similar to poop. But it didn't feel like an industrial black cloud. I could live without fear, despite the world being a moment in time where a cold war player decides to launch its nuclear weapons. The toys were amazing, you could entertain your wildest adventures, with plastic soldiers or space men, some were reality based, others more fantasy oriented.  Commander Comet could kick Matt Mason's ass, but Matt had many friends, including aliens, so he might not get a one on one fight.

CONTACTING ME FOR REVIEWS OR OTHERWISE

I can be found on Facebook, Twitter or through email Alexanderness63@gmail.com. I accept hard copies, so when you inquire at any of these places, I'll follow through by telling you my street address.If you send hard copies for review I will try to always review them, but if you prefer to send pdf or ebooks to my email, I will review these at my discretion. I don't share my pdf/ebooks, so you can avoid worry that I'd dispense them for free to others.

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