The Thinkulum

I grew up on superheroes, mainly the ones from the DC universe. I watched the Super Friends, the Superman movies, Wonder Woman, Batman. I had the action figures, storytapes, coloring books, and we have pictures of me in a Superman Halloween costume. Superman was my favorite. Well, I’m in nostalgia mode these days, and I’m always in research mode, so when the first Spider-Man movie came out, I wondered how easy it would be to track down the first Spider-Man comics to find out how the character got his start. It’s the kind of thing I’m always looking for, the real story, the genuine article, roots and origins. What was Spider-Man like when Stan Lee first conceived of him, and what was his story? And while I was at it, why not Superman? It turned out to be easier than I expected. Marvel and DC are both publishing collections of just this sort of thing, bound reprints of their early comics, and for many of their characters.

I remember my childhood only vaguely. And I was even more oblivious while watching the Super Friends than watching Deep Space Nine when I was older, so I have only the most nebulous idea of what the show was about, and the plots escape me entirely. I only know that I loved it. Other than the pure, “Ah, those were the days” feeling, in this nostalgia-seeking phase I’m in I want to try to remember exactly what it was I loved about these things. Maybe I can recapture some of the imagination I had back then. But I also want to find out what was there beyond what my little mind could pick up. What did Superman stand for as a cultural icon? How did he get that way? What is it about people that would motivate them to create such characters? Why was I so captivated by them?

And so, several weeks ago, I began. I tracked down the first Superman comic ever, in the form of the Superman Action Comics Archives: Volume 1. I am now on volume 2. I’m taking notes along the way, which I’ll probably share with you at some point. It made me happy to realize that now I’m reading real comics. Not the sophisticated, Frank Miller stuff. Superman, as he was when he was creating the comic book industry (or so I’m told). I never read them growing up. Comic books are an expensive hobby.

Anyway, my plan is to read all the Superman comics that have been published in book form. I’m also hoping to start on other superheros before long. There’s Batman and Wonder Woman and the Flash and the Green Lantern and Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk and a bunch that I never got into when I was young.

And so you have my (clumsily-written) introduction to my great Superman adventure. Hmm, I started reading a Superman story last night and didn’t get to finish. I think I’ll read the rest of it right now.

Okay, back to Farscape. I had seen it mentioned in TV Guide and on forums, but I had no idea what it was about other than aliens. I thought maybe it was similar to Babylon 5. I didn’t know what Firefly was about either. It turned out that the two shows have a lot in common, although they have very different feels. They both take place on ships, of course, with crews that are outlaws. Both ships have picked up random passengers who have been forced to integrate with the crew. Both crews are trying to avoid the big bad authorities–the Peacekeepers in Farscape’s case and the Alliance in Firefly’s. The shows are similar enough that I’ve been getting them confused. It took me a minute to remember that, yes, Firefly was the one with reavers. And during one episode of Farscape I thought, you know, they should be more careful when they’re visiting these planets. Who knows who could see them and contact the authorities? They should probably stick to the outer planets. And then I realized that they only talk about the outer planets on Firefly!

But the shows are really very different. Farscape is quirky (it’s a Jim Henson production!), but it has a fairly conventional sci fi feel and a lot of the usual sci fi elements. Firefly is basically a Western in space. The sci fi elements are kept to a minimum. In fact, at this point I don’t even know how they manage interstellar travel. Both shows balance humor and serious issue exploration, but Firefly does a better job of it. It’s more nuanced and more natural. Its characters are drastically different from each other, but they are ordinary people, not the somewhat stylized aliens of Farscape. Still, Farscape does a good enough job in my opinion. Overall, I’d say I like them both in different ways.

But the fact that I was expecting Babylon 5 when I started on Farscape makes me want to watch Babylon 5. 🙂 Maybe I’ll try watching that together with the new Battlestar Galactica and see what happens. Those seem different enough to keep straight. Or the old Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers. I get those completely confused, mostly because I can barely remember them.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you what I’ve been reading.

Hello. It’s time I blogged again. I really wish I did more of it, and perhaps I will. I am again trying to get control of my daily routine. Time. My nemesis. Anyway, in the 30 minutes I have left till I am supposed to go to bed, I will tell you what I’ve been up to.

Mostly I’ve been watching DVDs of TV shows. Before it was only TNG (Star Trek: The Next Generation), which I’ve been working through for the past year or so. The next Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine, began in season 6 of TNG, so I started the DS9 DVDs when I got to that point. I was looking forward to it because although I had found the show boring when it first aired, the people at TrekBBS spoke highly of it, as if it were really the most sophisticated Star Trek series. And you know what? They were right. I was pretty dense when it came to following plots and character development back in the old days, and I didn’t care about the things the show was about, like society and politics, but now that I’m a little more aware and open to new things, I was hooked right off the bat. I posted this on TrekBBS, and they welcomed me to the club. 🙂 They also told me it gets better (I was almost at the end of season 3), which I pretty much already knew. I started season 4 tonight, and all I’ll say is that those writers sure weren’t afraid to shake things up! Well, wouldn’t want the galaxy to stagnate I guess.

Those DVDs were from the public library. Then I discovered Netflix. Of course, I had heard of it before. I just didn’t think I’d ever watch enough movies to justify a monthly fee. But as time went on and my list of obscure things to watch grew, particularly TV series on DVD, the siren call of Netflix grew too tempting, and about a week ago I signed up. The first series I’ve been renting is Firefly, which I’ve been watching with my brother. We’re becoming instant fans so we can watch the movie in the right frame of mine. And it hasn’t been hard. That was a good show! It sticks in the mind. I hope Joss Whedon can start it up again after the movie. He’s said he’s willing.

While waiting for Firefly DVDs, we’ve been watching another series (from the library), Farscape. But I will have to continue this tomorrow. Good night!