Come Together

It's heartening to see people come together in times of tragedy and loss.

It's sad that it takes such tragedies to bring people together in such visible ways. Shouldn't we be together - all of us, all people - all the time?

Maybe sometime in the future.

Everyday heroes

My thoughts are with all those affected by today's bombing in Boston. No idea who's responsible at this time, but it doesn't matter. I'm proud of the responses of all the people at the scene - for every act of terror there are hundreds if not thousands of heroes.

Never an option

Magneto is one of the best mythic characters ever created, in my humble opinion. First, his power is the best - control over the power of magnetism. Think what an incredible power this is - all magnetic materials are at his command. He could rip apart the Earth if he wanted to.

Second, he's a villain, but his cause is debateably just: Mutant Power!

The Marvel comic universe is divided into two large, broad categories of super powered individuals: Mutants, and regular folk with powers. For example, Iron Man has technology. Spiderman was bitten by a radioactive spider and thus gained spider powers. The Hulk was made by gamma radiation. And so on - external events or external tools make the hero. Regular folk who obtained super powers and became heroes.

Mutants, on the other hand, have genetic mutations which give them their super powers. Creatively, this allows for a writer to create any kind of super power they'd dream up, with little concern for backstory/justification. It's a mutation - 'nuff said. It works too within the broader bounds of science - some mutation of the human gene allows for super strength, or super healing, or the ability to control other people's minds. Professor X, y'all, the Yin to Magneto's Yang. It's plausible, and the conflict which this creates is subtle and understandable - mutants versus "normals".

Magneto is for Mutant rights, to save this small group from the fear and hate of the larger Homo Sapien population. Professor X is all about enforcing the Homo Sapien agenda.

But you see here how Captain Picard really feels.

You wouldn't like me

There are smart Hulks in the comic lore. And grey Hulks.

And all kinds of other Hulks.

But "The Hulk" - the myth - is rather about a Jekyll/Hyde/Frankenstein story of a man who gets angry and turns into an unstoppable green smashing machine. And it's true - the Hulk cannot be stopped. His power is that his anger/rage/pain/fear makes him stronger, thus, the more powerfully you were to beat on the Hulk, well, he'd only get stronger still. This of course plays to powerful, instinctual emotions in people. The feeling of power/powerlessness. Anger and the wish to smash your enemies, or everything. Freedom from constraints of society and morality. Fear of the monster lurking inside. Fear of power. Etc.

Super heroes from the comics - Superman, Batman, Hulk, etc, are our new myths, and they're all pretty awesome. Let Spidey be your guide, man. Or even Aquaman, if that's your thing. Swamp Thing says Amen!

Batfreud

All the heroes were involved in the war effort (WW2 only - the other wars, not so much), but as a nerd, I'd like to raise a quibble: If you've got Superman, Batman, and Robin on your side, instead of having them raise and harvest Victory Gardens you instead used them to, oh, I don't know. Kill Hitler? But alas! There are no real heroes. Just drawings, or words, or characters on a screen.

From the original Batman serial film series - 1949, yo! Batman and Robin. The baggy leotards are intimidating, yes? But still, 1949! These 15 short stories ran before the featured movie of the day.

It's interesting to note through art the changing of society's standards. All the tough guys from the early days of movies and tv look like [arnold]little girly men[/arnold]. No definition! Do they even lift?

When you're "Adam West" smooth, maybe you don't need to be jacked.

Your car needs to be, however. Gee whiz tools define the character.

And now consider the Batman mythos as underlined here - created in 1939, WW2 propaganda campaigns, and already with a film series in 1949. A popular TV series in the 60's. Also a wacky movie. Movies in the 80's - 10's. And so many, many comics. A myth is born before our eyes, and enters the Jungian collective - we all "get it", right? Rich playboy with tragic background fights evil using cool toys? It's an expression of our desire for fairness in a closed, controlled system that is not fair, in which we are mostly powerless. A modern hero, for modern times.

Batman also might be a symbol for revenge, but I leave that for you to judge, and also what it says about humanity if true.

Wonder, Woman

Here's one of the first sketches of Wonder Woman, who premiered in comic form in December 1941. It being December of 1941, she was of course fighting for Truth, Justice, and the American Way, even though she was an Amazon. Go figure! Did you know the non-fictional home of the Amazons was Bulgaria, along the Black Sea? Not very exotic.

But maybe this will do.

Or maybe this?

But definitely not this. Note the loss of the Eagle as the costume evolved. Also note that the Romans of yore used the Eagle as their standard - no coincidence, of course.

Variations of Cap

A more realistic Captain America, today. Or, perhaps even more realistic:

The gritty reboot of Captain America: Wingnut Warrior.  But here, a true American hero:

A voter! Or the child of a voter, and hopefully has learned how important it is to vote.

Vote for the Lady Avengers!

Otherman

Can Superman even get drunk off Earth alcohol? I think not. But maybe some alternate universe Superman could. Like

Nic Cage could drink the actual alcohol clouds that span light years. Seriously, and literally, alcohol clouds in space. Now, if there were obvious punchline clouds, too, all would be complete. But there ain't, ain't there?

The greatest hero of all, but you'll never hear about him, since he's always busy saving Singapore rather than Metropolis or Gotham.

Red Son Set

From the "What if" Superman comic "Superman: Red Son", which, I'll point out for the few non-super nerds in the audience, has a double meaning. "Red" for Soviet, as this story tells the tale of Kal-El crashing in Ukraine instead of Kansas, and the history that unfolds from that small change in impact trajectory.

The second, more subtle meaning is Kal-El is from a Red Sun system - Krypton. In truth, the entirety of Superman's powers come from living on a Yellow Sun world, like Earth. If you sent Superman back to a Krypton like planet, he'd be just a normal dude like you and me (except super swole). Thus, "Red Son", as Kal-El is the last "legitimate" person from Krypton. There's been some criminals and other undesirables, but they don't count.

Yet, sadly, even Soviet Superman couldn't save Communism.

Defeated, by greed, and freedom. It's sadly true.

If you agree that, in THEORY!, Communism is based on "sharing", and Capitalism is based on "greed", then you can see how perhaps we live in the evil Universe, today, where Capitalism reigns supreme, to the max. And this is why:

The freedom of the individual (and his/her cliques) as compared to CENTRAL PLANNING and other high handed Communist attempts to mold human society. The lesson is: A Central Power should not try and mold a society. Rather, give it the freedom and protection it needs to mold itself within the bounds of that society.

South Korea compared to North Korea is our real time lab experiment. South Korea, like it or not, is the fucking future.

That door has closed.

Fun times in and around the DMZ

For whatever reason, L'il Kim has decided to stir the geopolitical plot and declare war on everyone. Check out the attack map above. Sorry, Austin!

No one believes NK can reach the US with any missile, but maybe L'il Kim thinks otherwise. Hard to say what anyone thinks or believes in North Korea - it truly is cut off from the rest of human civilization. Check out the night time satellite:

It's been a humanitarian disaster for decades, due to the extreme leadership of the Kim family, in the name of the perfect Communist society, of course. With the recently deceased Kim, the temper tantrums were usually designed to extract some concession from the international community - food aid, trade pacts, imports of luxury goods for the Party leaders. But with the young Kim, who knows. He's gotten very belligerent very quickly. Most likely this will follow the same pattern as before, but maybe not. Till then, let's review some fun times at the DMZ and beyond.

Fun fact! The Korean War (1950-1953) never ended - the war is still on. Thus, the DMZ, one of the most intense places in the world. We're looking from the South Korean side into North Korea along one of the few open spots on the DMZ. The blue (UN Blue, yo) buildings are used for rare meetings between the two sides.

Standard policy whenever opening the door to North Korea - holding hands. Awww. Apparently way back in the day a S.Korean guy opened the door and was dragged over to the N.Korean side until ransomed back. Fun!

So you're an intrepid hipster and want to go on vacation in North Korea. Here's some travel tips.

Might as well stick to Pyongyang. There ain't much else going on. Check out the cool HOTEL OF DOOM (most likely fake):

Now, ladies, there's only Party approved hairstyles allowed. Please conform to the following chart:

That's right! North Korea is not just about nuclear threats and famines. There's a sexy new style sweeping the Hermit Kingdom:

Join the Revolution!

Sanctioned fodder

Fair and balanced.

North Korea is ready to fight, apparently.

Totally wild!

Hero to some

Against the evil NAZI hordes, mind you, who had just lain waste to your country. Would not any man in this army be considered a hero to his fellow countrymen? Every tribe is looking for heroes, and war often provides them. So too, revolution.

Vladmir I Lenin, nerd who changed the world.

The nerd celebrated at sporting events.

The nerd who would sweep away the royalty of earth in the name of the common man.

The nerd who is a hero to many, but certainly not all. Are there any heroes who are? Lenin was sincere in his revolutionary beliefs, and is not responsible for any of the later horrors of the USSR - that's Stalin and his successors, but mostly Stalin. Dude was whack and in the running for "Evilest human, ever". Don't blame his deeds on Lenin, who liked kittens, and fighting authority. Here's an 1895 mugshot:

A nerd who got inspired by some other nerds (Marx, Engalls), and led a worldwide revolution. It would be incredibly awesome if it didn't collapse so quickly into totalitarian nightmare. Maybe there's a lesson there.

Or maybe not.