Issue 124- "Philosophy of Life, Part 5"

Written by: HPLL Pencils by: Stephen Bissette and more Inks: John Totleben and more 

Alright guys and gals, here we go. Enough images, but these are some of the comics that have touched me personally over the years, and I'm gonna tell you why comics are not just for kids, but are very relevant for those who are in their mid-twenties and beyond.

The first image is the cover to Swamp Thing #50, by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, John Totleben and more. An ancient evil has been unleashed on the world, and Swamp Thing is set to play a pivotal role in stopping the plague that seeks to destroy mankind. The issue is written around the concept of darkness and light being the ultimate forces in life, and that our personal philosophies about right, wrong, life and death are somewhere integrated into these ideas that there is light and dark in the world. To use an example, multiple heroes are captured by the darkness and here is how the Spectre's Philosophical fight with the creature transpired:

Darkness: Shall my question be answered, or shall I snuff out the light, and be done with the anguish its presence causes me?

Spectre: NO! I forbid you, by the Voice that speaks in all things...

D: It DOES NOT speak in ME. In ME, there is only hateful nagging of insoluable query. Tell me, little thing: What is evil FOR?

S: Evil exists only to be avenged, so that others may see what ruin comes of opposing that Great Voice, and cleave more wholly to Its will, fearing It's retribution!

D: And what of the tortured eons I endured, unable to broach this maddening brilliance and quiet the pain It woke in me? Do they not demand retribution? Little thing, you have taught me only Vengeance...be gone, that I may savor it in solitude.

OK, is that not one of the greatest philosophical arguments you've ever heard? The Spectre is defeated, but the issue is so much more than that. I think everyone should pick it up and try it.

The final comic we cover tonight(Iwill cover the other two images, and the bigger picture tomorrow night) is the Spectre number 14 from about three years back.

In this issue, a character named Jonah is telling readers a tale of his life (and what came after). In searching for love, he was found by one whose hunger was of a different sort...a vampire. Jonah struggled against his new state of being, begging priests to kill him, to stop him from what he had become. Yet death eluded him, and he wandered the world distrught until he murdered an innocent woman. As she died, he saw her dreams die with her as the light began to fade from her eyes. He broke her neck that she would not become a vampire like him, and changed his life, gainig wealth and using that wealth to protect others from his curse. He built a tower of steel in which he imprisoned himself, forever keeping the bloodlust unsated but himself unable to harm others as well. It is a very touching story and the ending is not quite what you'd expect.

I hope these two examples show that comics can teach as well as harm or hold back. I hope to return tomorrow night to complete (for now) the lesson on why comics are important to storytelling, and society in general. G'night all...