Written, pencilled, inked by Heath P. Lail
Hullo, everyone. It's been quite a while, has it not? Well, I have been through many twists and turns these last few months, and I have to say I'm stronger for them. I have missed speaking to you all on a semi-regular basis...CC v 2.0 is up and running at my newly-created blogspot, but Sam refused to post there because it requires an account before you can comment. Fair enough. Therefore with this, the returning issue of Clerk's Cafe, I make my other blog required reading in order to get the entire experience of reading my thoughts. For example, I am starting the rather ambitiously-titled POL 2 here this evening. In order to read Part the Second, it will be necessary to visit http://hplail.blogspot.com/. Should there be a part 3, part 4, etc. I will caddy-corner the stories from one blog to the other. Therefore, I hope to increase the readership of BOTH blogs, and force people to begin their own daily blogs in order to express their own feelings about important natural and national occurances. Well, with that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let's begin, shall we? I've missed doing this, as I haven't blogged over at 2.0 in over two weeks until today, either.
My question to you is this: do you ever take the time to wonder what would happen if you lost everything? I'm not simply speaking about friends or family, but everything you ever worked for, dreamed about, or pursued? No? It is not easy to see things that way, is it? well, the image above is from Miracleman issue 16, from 1990, and that is exactly what happened to him. This series was written by Alan Moore and issues 11-16 were drawn by John Totleben, the same fellow who drew that spectaular cover you are looking at. Alan took a simple knock-off of Captain Marvel, who was in turn spawned from Superman, and crafted one of the most humanistic, poignant tales ever told in the medium. This discussion is not about comics, but let me tell you why Miracleman fits into our everyday society--he was a Superman who didn't KNOW he was Superman. All he had to do was utter Kimota (atomic spelled backwards and with a k) and he became the world's strongest superhuman. BUT he had forgotten this simple step to stardom and instead works a day job, just like us blokes. Well, one day he has this horrible migraine, and by pure incident utters Kimota. Pow, everything is great huh? Superpowers, no more problems right? Not so. Instead, he gets a call from Johnny Bates, his former kid sidekick, who has grown up to be a powerful and influential man. Instead of being happy at his former boss's return, he is vengeful because he plots to destroy the world and his pal might screw that up. Well, to make a long story short, Bates has stayed in his superhuman persona for the last few years, never reverting back to the mild-mannered kid he truly is. This has caused his brain to malfunction (real Psychology term, huh...lol) and he has gone insane. He attempts to kill Mike Moran aka MM, and threatens his wife and the ones he loves. In the end, Bates undoes himself by speaking HIS magic word, reverting him back to a kid and MM thinks all is well after taking Johnny to a mental hospital.
The point I'm trying to make is not that there are superpowered baddies out there, no. The point is that we should all be grateful for what we have and stop being materialistic. Stop being so busy, life isn't that important. Instead, go out under the stars and look up...do you ever still just wonder what's out there, or do scientific explanations about gases, nebulas and other such things make you go "ohhh, I got it all now". If so, then snap out of it. You don't get it, not at all...none of us do, nor will we ever. Philosophy is nice, but Philosophy, Science and Psychology together will never explain why it is that a kid gets a sense of wonder when he looks up at the night sky, rides his first Ferris Wheel, or falls in love for the first time. Those are things we must cherish in our own hearts, or risk the chance that those experiences will be taken away by a corrupt society. In the end, Bates escapes, becomes Kid Miracleman again, and murders a good number of citizens of London (where it rains human body parts, people are hung by barbed wire and worse) before he is stopped by Miracleman.
The title of issues 11-16 is "Olympus", like the mountain home of the Greek gods. I have so far (and at great expense) only procured issues 13 and 16, the elusive issue 15 where the main battle takes place shall never be mine anytime soon due to cost and rarity. But these issues have taught me a good moral...seek to live in peace with those around you, seeing always to learn and grow, never to destroy. Destruction unto others leads only to heartarche and suffering for yourself as well. So, the next time you get a few minutes or hours to go outside and silently gaze up at the sky, I suggest you do so, because it might just teach you something. Listen, and perhaps you might learn some divine knowledge or a universal truth through silence, rather than speech, such as our forefathers did millenia ago. May Peace be with you all tonight. Best.
