What a Difference a Decade (or more) Makes

When I was in my 20s I wanted to write an article which I had then intended to call Earth One, Earth Two, Earth Red, Earth Blue. Not so much because I had anything truly informative or functionally relative to say about the idiosyncrasies of the multiple Earth syndrome over at DC, but simply because I wanted to use (what I thought was the) the wicked-cool (and incredibly clever) Dr. Suss alliteration in the title of the article.

Needless to say, I never wrote it. And I still think it is wicked-cool, and incredibly clever.

I bring this all up because just this past month I read not only the Marvel giveaway comic, The Wolverine Saga but the DC Free Comic Book Day handout, Blackest Night. in both cases I learned new stuff about both characters that I had simply not known prior to reading either comic.

It’s true. In the case of Wolverine I learned that he is like 150 years old (I knew that he had fought in WWII, but I had no idea that he was far older than that). In the case of Green Lantern, I discovered that there was an entire rainbow of lanterns (thus the Earth Red, Earth Blue reference from above). I knew about the Sinistro corps, and had heard something about Red Lanterns, but Blue, Black, Yellow, Saphire, Indigo, and well, like I said, there is a whole rainbow of Lanterns these days. Now, I’m sure that there is a really nifty-cool reason behind all of them, but I can’t help to think that it all seems just a tad silly.

Part of the reason that I didn’t know any of this is that I had stopped reading X-Men around 1995, and most DC comics a few years earlier. These days I mostly (only) read Spider-Man comics. The reason for this is that I really like Spidey, and as everything is so expensive (and I’m one of the Sr. Reviewers for SpiderFan, I determined to limit my reading to a character I truly enjoy.

Oh yeah, I also spend a considerable amount of time reading the Indie comics of friends and acquaintances, (new talent needs to be encouraged, and friends should support each other). Additionally, I do sample other comics (whenever any company offers a reduced or entry price to a title (or a giveaway — like FCBD), I’ll check out the book. (This is how I discovered the very Delightful Love and Capes), and the equally interesting The 99.

Anyway, it appears that a bunch of stuff has been happening in comics. So much for “the illusion of change.”