The Daily News
1 I saw the other day that the first edition of Action Comics # 1, which came out in June of 1938, caught over a million dollars on the comic market.
2 To those uninformed about comix, Action Comics # 1 was the first appearance ever of the immortal Superman.
3 I LOVED that the first issue was now worth a million dollars.
4 What makes that particular comic worth that much money?
5 Because up to that moment, there WAS no Superman. There WAS no Daily Planet.There was no Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Kryptonite, or even REM songs.
6 As a guy who grew up with comix, I LOVED the entire DC family, which wound up bringing Superman, Superboy, Supergirl, Batman, Green Lantern, The Justice League of America, Aquaman, and many others to the planet.
7 THIS was the issue that did it.
8 And not to disappoint, but I wasn't anywhere near around in 1938, thank you veddy much.
9 But I do remember how much I loved reading comic books as a wee lad.
10 Ah, the halcyon days of youth!
11 Listen: I was raised with two sisters and no brothers, but I always wanted a brother. Growing up, I loved my sisters, more than I loved life itself.
12 They taught me everything I needed to know about surviving the wonderfully wacky world of the wimminz.
13 But REALLY? I did not have a brother, but I DID have me cousins! My cousin Bob taught me how to shoot birds outta trees, and how to flush jackrabbits out of tumbleweed. His older brother John was the Messiah of surrogate brothers: he and his friends were quite adept at catching gophers, knocking them out, and then turning them inside out, all the while singing and encouraging the following song, which went something like this: "Gobs and gobs of green, greasy gopher guts, green greasy gopher guts, green greasy gopher guts..."
14 Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! We LOVED it, of course, but as a more peaceful kid, I had to turn away and hope this all wasn't REALLY happening.
15 Fortunately, my other cousin Jim was more stoic, and ALWAYS had boxloads of comic books. We would steal away from the obvious macho pressure of enjoying the gopher scene, and we would go to a shady tree and read comic books for hours on end.
16 We would then talk for what seemed ever about the wonderful array of DC comic heroes: Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, Batman, and all the rest.
17 One of our favorite heroes was Aquaman, the DC equivalent of the Greek god Poseidon.
18 We LOVED Aquaman, and when we would spend summers at the local pool, we would always pretend to be Superman and Aquaman. A pool worked famously, of course, because the local pool gave us weightlessness, and the ability to "fly" through the water.
19 This probably prompted my love for swimming, which I still do to keep in shape. I always look upon those days with Jim as some of the best ever. Eventually, I discovered Spiderman, who became my fave because of his obvious psychological angst, which brought me into the world of Marvel comics, and The Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer, The X-Men, and many others.
20 I'm quite certain that had there never been an Action Comics #1, my entire childhood would have been different. I learned a tremendous amount of things by having read comic books. First off, I learned words. Second, I learned about science, about the concept of alternate worlds, about relativity, and about how heroes often make mistakes, but remain heroes nonetheless.
21 Interestingly, yesterday during my last class of the day, a student came in wearing a Superman cape that looked as though it had come directly from Krypton. It was the best darned Superman cape I had ever seen. After class, several of the boys started talking about super heroes, and I asked the guy if his cape was bullet proof, because it had likely come from Krypton.
22 They loved it, and we shared time talking about the heroes, and which ones were our favorites. As they left I smiled, looked out the window at the clouds and the sky, and thought of how wonderful it would be to be able to face the winds and fly.
23 To this day, I totally love all of it, although I haven't gotten too involved in comic books for years. I do maintain that some of my most creative and imaginative students have often brought with them a background immersed in the wonderful world of comic books.
24 Moving on, Part 1: Speaking of Aquaman and swimming, while real life of grading papers, helping people, visiting Dad, and all the rest pulled me away from swimming every single day, I still keep a pretty good regimen of working out any time I can, and it all works to keep me healthy and, amazingly, still in shape.
25 For the record, I have remained two sizes smaller than I had been in October, and my goal of losing 40 pounds in six months is still my goal, but real life does indeed slow down the process.
26 Not sure where this is all headed, but I relax in the reality that you probably don't know, nor even care either. I just know that there are others out there struggling to get themselves in shape, and I just wanted to reassure that while my regimen slowed down a bit, I have managed to keep the weight down and still get out there whenever I can. I stopped swimming because my hair kept turning this horrid shade of rust, which isn't particularly the image I wish to foster. A touch of vanity, to be sure, but still, a necessary one.
27 For those of you who DO exercise and all, keep working, keep exercising, and keep loving life. If you looked to me for inspiration, I appreciate it, but really, inspire yourself twice as hard every day. It isn't easy, but right now I'm still in the best shape I've been perhaps in ten years, and it is awesome. Keep your eyes on the prize, which is better help and a better shape for your entire being.
28 Moving on, Part the Second: Is it my imagination, or was Peyton Manning recently accused of deliberately throwing the Super Bowl?
29 I'm sure I must have been hallucinating, but if not, then wow. It popped up on the internet a few days ago, and then I never heard another thing about it. I have felt for years that the next huge sports' scandal will most certainly be about betting and sports.
30 I'm proud to say that despite my many vices and faults, gambling was never one of them. Watching a world in which people gamble on nearly every sport, television reality show, and daily event, I would find it amazing if sports aren't teeming with scandal. The sports' pages of any newspaper dedicate a lot to odds, to gambling terminology, to the "under", and to countless other things. They even have articles on how best to play Poker.
31 With sports, you can virtually gamble on any event, every hour of the day, every day of the year.
32 I'll take it a step further: shows like The Bachelor, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, and all the rest ALSO have places online where you can gamble on the results. The odds of corruption there are staggering when you consider that they have fewer controls than do professional sports.
33 And since I don't gamble, it is much more clear to me that corruption absolutely must be rampant. By "don't gamble" I mean I do occasionally go into a club in Tahoe and walk around a casino, but in general, it is practically a zero in my life. But watching the rest of the world's fascination with gaming gives me a very interesting perspective on it.
34 So say it ain't so, Peyton. Say it ain't so...
35 Moving on, Part the Third: Finally, I would love to share a moment that happened yesterday. I have in my room a nice Starbucksesque shade that moves up and down over the Cathedral windows in my classroom, and so at the push of a button, you get a lovely view of the lush, green hills of that backdrop our town.
36 The shade moves up or down depending upon the needs of the classroom.
37 Yesterday, I pushed the button and let the shade rise, and as it did, the beautiful cloud formations prompted comments from the students. As the shade went up, the hills and the clouds came to all of us with a sudden quickness. I had already enjoyed the hills earlier, when those guys left the classroom.
38 I've been staying late to try to keep up with all my work, and yesterday the sky continued to look absolutely splendid, changing hues and colors all afternoon. This time of the year to me is the most beautiful time, when everything is lush and lovely, and the clouds shift and change shape slowly and gracefully.
39 During the same class with the kid with the Superman cape, I brought the shades up, prompting one student to remark, "Oh! A dinosaur!" I knew immediately what he meant, because he was looking out at the cloud formations. I thought it was fun, because he said it so sincerely.
40 It was simply that sort of day. The afternoon saw the clouds turning a pinkish purple as the hills stood stoic in the afternoon stillness. It was art carved, scraped and touched by the hands of God .
41 I look forward to more today, and maybe for many days and years to come.
42 Enjoy your day. Enjoy the sky; it tells a story.
43 Live life.
44 Love life.
45 Peace.
~H~
www.xanga.com/bharrington
Recent Comments