RoR: Forum

My top contenders were The Transformers, the Fantastic Four, Superman, and Green Lantern, but one character makes me say to all others, "BAH!"

SPIDERMAN!

Since I was knee high to a grasshopper...

Those lyrics, you know you know 'em. The swinging theme song, perfect embodiment of a webswinger (Superman can fly, but Spidey SWINGS!). The wisecracking in the face of danger, laughing at the bad guys. Then there was the ELECTRIC COMPANY Spiderman, who made learning FUN!

My first impression of Spidey was FUN! I had Spiderman darts, coloring books, webshooter, UNDERROOS! My mom says I used to try to climb the walls, and attack her friends...I recently found a pic of me at five years old, in webslinger position...

I grew away from Spiderman, but after high school, I saw a Spiderman comic at a 7-11. I realized I had never actually READ the comics, and picked it up. I then devoured the whole history, and learned that Spiderman had problems that I could relate to: a nerd, paying the bills, a sick aunt, lost parents and uncle, fighting to survive. It was in the face of all this that he adopted the wisecracking persona. He could have used his powers for retribution against a cruel world, but instead fought for justice and still managed to laugh at the bad guys to rise above it all!

After I discover Rand (through Rush's 2112) I learned from Barbara's book that Steve Ditko was an Objectivist, which brought a brand new appreciation of the character. But when I discovered his post Spiderman, "Objectivist" characters, gone was the fun, the sense of triumph through joy, replaced with the grimness of Mr. A and the Question...who are less the children of Spiderman and more the parents of the Punisher.

My biggest beef with the first movie was that it was too good, too sincere, too thoughtful...well done, as a grownup I appreciated it immensely...but the kid inside me said, "wait, something's missing...the fun!" It was a great movie, well written and acted, but the kid in me missed the fun of my first impression. I like my Batman dark and brooding, my Superman the big blue boyscout, and my Hulk smashing things...but I like my Spidey FUN!

Thank god for the video game!!!! (No one saw me for two weeks!)

Post 21

Tuesday, November 9, 2004 - 7:30am

You guys probably know that they are now making the movie Fantastic Four due to release next summer?

Post 22

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 12:24am

Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four is my favorite super-hero.

Far and beyond all other superheroes, he lives a life of thought- and logic-worship beyond all other heroes in comics (except, perhaps the Legion of Super-Heroes member Brainiac-5). He is the logic junkie's super-hero, and his being the total embodiment of the spirit of Objectivism makes him my hands-down favorite.

If I could figure out how to post his picture here, I would surely do it.

Wild horses couldn't drag me away from seeing the Fantastic Four movie, when it comes out in 2005.

Post 23

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 5:40am

Who reads comics nowadays? A friend told me the demographic has changed. In my day it was all kids (10-19). I'm told that range has shifted upwards, which is a shame. I would like to share some of the heroism and artistry with my own boys when they are a little older but I have a feeling they'll not be able to tear themselves away from the xbox.

John

Post 24

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:28am

Orion,

Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four is my favorite super-hero.

And what's more fantastic is that Reed Richards will be played by my favorite Welshcake, sorry, Welsh actor Mr. Ioan "Horatio Hornblower" Gruffudd! Here is how the four look!

(Edited by Hong Zhang on 11/10, 7:31am)

Post 25

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 7:53am

The Pixar movie "The Incredibles" is a great take on the superhero genre. It is surprisingly thoughtful and insightful, grounding superheroes in reality while still treating the genre with respect. There was a theme in that movie I especially liked and I am sure many Objectivists would appreciate. In the first part of the movie, it shows how all superheroes around the world were forced into retirement because of law suits. The main character, Mr. Incredible, saved this train from plunging off an elevated railroad, but ended up getting sued by the passengers on the train who were injured. Who would think that a Pixar movie would have something to say about tort reform? The superheroes were forced to go into hiding by the government and lead "normal" lives, a fact Mr. Incredible resented. His son, who is gifted with superhuman speed, is forbidden from joining the track and field team because it would be unfair to the other competitors. When asked by his wife to attend one of their children's 4th grade "graduation", he says something like "Graduation? He's going from the 4th grade to the 5th grade! Why do we live in a world where even the mediocre is celebrated but when someone is great, truly great, they are made to be ashamed of it?" . . . I forget exactly how it goes but that was the gist of it.

Post 26

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 - 8:22am

Wow. This movie has now become a must-see for me. I knew I liked those folks at Pixar. ;)

Post 27

Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 5:18am

Though my favorite character is Superman, another favorite from childhood is Herbie Popnicker,
the Fat Fury, whose father thought he was "a little fat nothing" but who was probably the most
powerful individual in the world. And Herbie got his powers from, of all things, lollipops. You can
read more about Herbie here.

(Edited by Bob Palin on 11/11, 5:22am)

Post 28

Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 10:13am

Even though I voted for Superman, I'm a little disappointed that no one has yet voted for Mr. A. It's not that surprising seeing as how the character has not had the mass circulation and exposure of the other characters on the list. Steve Ditko worked on Mr. A after leaving Marvel in 1966. Mr. A appeared in fanzines and independent publications in a black and white format and Ditko maintained copyright to the character as well as creative autonomy. There is a great deal of similarity between Mr. A and another Ditko creation, the Question. Mr. A is without a doubt the most Objectivist comic book character ever to appear in comics. Here is just a small sample of Ditko's work on Mr. A so that you may see what you've been missing:

Post 29

Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 10:31am

I don't know if anyone has observed this correspondence before � Evil/Devil v Good/God.
Here it is, graphically, in "Black and White". Maybe someone else has observed it, but it's original to me.

Sam

Post 30

Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 6:57pm

Hey, since my last post, someone has finally voted for Mr. A.
All right!!!!

Post 31

Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 8:45pm

I have some Ditko comics, including Mr. A. and the Question (and I have a Question action figure!) and while they are of interest to Objectivists, I think they miss some of the qualities needed to be truly influential characters. I think they came too late; Dick Tracy is the closest character to their archetype, and he came years before. The Question does hang in there, though; Kevin Smith has said that he lends himself to a good action flick, he's been on the new JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon (less Randian, more conspiracy theorist, actually kinda interesting) and has appeared in BATMAN THE DARK NIGHT STRIKES BACK in his Randian mode (I'm no Ayn Rander, she didn't go nearly far enough!) It's Frank Miller's influence, more than anything, that has kept him in the spotlight (and to a lesser extent, Alan Moore, whose Rorschach character in WATCHMEN is a pervesion of the Question.)

Don't forget to see Chris Sciabarra's discussion of the Question in the new issue of JARS, "THE ILLUSTRATED RAND"!

Post 32

Friday, November 12, 2004 - 5:07pm

Joe,

Thanks for the heads-up on Chris Sciabarra's "The Illustrated Rand" article in JARS. I will definitely
order myself a copy. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Short story. When I was 13 years old, I did a science project on how comic books are made. I
wrote to all the American comic book publishers of the time. It was 1966. I received a reply back
from then Charlton Comics managing editor Dick Giordano. He invited me to come to the Charlton
offices for a first hand tour. My dad contacted him, made the arrangements and drove me the two
hours plus from our home in Rhode Island to Charlton in Derby, Connecticut. Giordano talked to
me, gathering as much information from me and my comics interests as I gained from him as we
toured the facility. And Charlton was unique among comics publishers because they did not just
publish comics but had their own in-house coloring department and printed the comics themselves in
their production plant, all under the same roof.

That is a day I will always remember and I will always be thankful to Giordano for spending the time
with me and to my dad for making this dream come true. I have a very warm place in my heart for
the Charlton "action heroes'' published under Giordano. And, of course, they included Steve Ditko's
Captain Atom, new Blue Beetle and the Question, as well as Thunderbolt by Pete (PAM) Morisi,
Judomaster by Frank McLaughlin and Peacemaker by Pat Boyette.

(Edited by Bob Palin on 11/13, 12:21pm)

Post 33

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 1:02am

And then, of course, there's my present personal hero: SNOOPY!!

You all know who he is; he's the one who sits on top of his dog house writing his book, which begins: "It was a dark and stormy night. . . " He sends it out to publishers, with a note: "Here is my book. Send pots of money."

I wonder why I identify with Snoopy.

Barbara

Post 34

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 7:56am

And then, of course, there's my present personal hero: SNOOPY!!

Oh My God!, With a single sentence you have now made it impossible for me to ever hold anything against you. Snoopy has more class and depth than any half-dozen of these super-heros. His battles with the Red-Baron are legendary, his loyalty to Woodstock unequaled, and when he displays his alter-ego of 'Joe Cool', he is the envy of all the would be Don Juans.

Snoopy has no equal, he is a writer, playboy, and artist.

          Joe Cool

Snoopy

Post 35

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 8:00am

I must edit the title of that article I wrote from, "Why I Hate Chris Sciabarra and Barbara Branden" to "Why I Hate Chris Sciabarra, and Think Barbara Branden can do NO Wrong".

George

Post 36

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 8:13am

Msr. Cordero-

Courtly whorish flatteries!

Jeanie Ring ))(*)((

Post 37

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 9:37am

Barbara, like Bert and Ernie, Laural and Hardy, Dean and Sammy...you can't have Snoopy without Woodstock!

Post 38

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 7:32pm

George, you are a man of high culture and great understanding.

Barbara

Post 39

Saturday, November 13, 2004 - 7:36pm