God Hates Comic Book Geeks?

Every year literally thousands upon thousands of people gather in San Diego for the annual San Diego Comic-Con. The San Diego Comic-Con is the largest comic book and pop culture themed convention of it’s kind in the world. While originally showcasing comic books the convention has grown to include exhibits from movie studios, gaming companies, toys and collectibles over the years. If you want to promote a project, San Diego Comic-Con is one of the best places to get noticed.

This weekend, San Diego Comic-Con will have a new guest that is sure to make the news. From blastr.com:

The Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, which is headed by Fred Phelps and which has made headlines over the past few years for a series of protests of events such as the funerals of Meet the Press host Tim Russert (because of his Catholicism and what they termed his "tolerance of homosexuality") and Jerry Falwell (whom they termed a "false prophet') and perhaps most notably the funerals of American servicemen killed overseas, have announced that they plan to picket the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con from 1:15 pm to 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 22.

The reason they're going to protest the con? We think it's best described in their own words, as posted on their website:

"Are you kidding?! If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here. They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do! Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it. The destruction of this nation is imminent - so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry."

Boy howdy! Westboro Baptist Church at the San Diego Comic-Con? Well, this ought to be a hoot. Now, some might wonder why would the folks from Westboro will only protesting for forty-five minutes? That’s an easy question to answer! Once the attendees find out that members of Westboro Baptist Church are protesting comic book heroes outside of the largest convention in America, they will likely go outside and beat the crap out of these misguided folk with their Force FX lightsaber replicas. And, let’s be honest, getting your butt whooped by a bunch of geeks dressed up as Black Lantern Firestorm and Captain America with lightsabers is embarrassing even for the members of Westboro Baptist Church. Also, it doesn’t make for good publicity no matter who or what you’re protesting.

Seriously, while it’s good that the Westboro Baptist Church folks (who gained national recognition for protesting military funerals) have learned another verse besides the two from Leviticus; 18:22 and 20:13 which state the Biblical prohibition of homosexuality it’s sad that they never, ever seem to be able to proclaim anything resembling the Gospel: that Jesus died for all sinners.

A quick look at Westboro’s website shows that today they will be protesting yet another military funeral with signs that read "Thank God for Dead Soldiers", "Thank God for IEDs", "God Hates America", "God Is Your Enemy", and "America Is Doomed". What’s missing? Jesus and everything that He has done for every sinner on the planet is completely absent from their messages. A sign that condemns sin without the Gospel is no Gospel at all. Sorry folks, but a gospeless message is as much a help to poor miserable sinners as Joel Schumacher was to the Batman franchise back in the nineties.

From their track record it is highly unlikely that Westboro will do the work that churches are supposed to do and that is preach repentance and Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins instead of their normative God hating sinners schtick. It’s sad really as that the forgiveness of sins is what all sinners need to hear about whether they are homosexual, murders, or just like me: chief among sinners.

Does God hate comic book geeks? Nope. In fact He loves them so much that He gave them Jesus, His only Son to die for all the sins of the world. A treasure so great that even Overstreet could not measure the worth.

Now, if ya’ll excuse me I need to start working on my Colonial Marine costume before the weekend gets here so I get a picture next to the Nostromo "Hibernation Chambers".

HT: Jim

Homework

I figure that before the year ends that I had better wrap up a few things that have been pushed to the back burner due to either vocation, family, or other drama in the real world apart from my time on the interweb or, simply put; sheer laziness on my part to post what I promised to post.

Earlier this year Dan over at Necessary Roughness assigned me a short list of items to write about that he thought might be interesting; Battlestar Galactica, comic books, living in the Haut south, embroidery, metrology, and image composition.

The only topic I’m gonna pass on is Battlestar Galactica as I’ve written at length a good deal on why this sci-fi show which pays tribute to Mormon myths is a favorite of mine. (This was especially true during the early republican primaries where Mitt Romney, a son of Kobol, was running to be president of the fifty colonies.) Click here for my many, many tongue in cheek BSG/Mormon posts.

So, let’s go down Dan’s list…

Comic books. I started collecting comic books way back in ’75. The overseers of the Cigarville Orphanage (Yes, I’m from a town that used to be called Cigarville and yes I was one of the infamous Cigarville 7 back in ‘82. I’m not certain who even remembers the Cigarville 7 if anyone at all and at the end of the day, I think that’s probably best. Google it if you care, I don’t.) would always give us a quarter to buy a comic book off the old spinner racks at the local drug store back when comics were sold in drug stores and supermarkets. Nowadays comic books are sold through small local distributors or bigger online companies like Mile High Comics (I’ve been a satisfied customer of theirs for over twenty years now) and typically run over three dollars for a single title.

I’ve long said that comic books are something akin to the old Greek myths, which told tales of titan’s struggles with both the gods and evil men. Whether it is demigod delivered to earth in a rocket ship from a doomed planet or a teenager whose inaction causes the death of a beloved uncle and his seeking redemption through wise cracking heroics, it is these epic tales that first attracted me to an art form which married words and panel art. And if you look close enough, there’s always a good bit of theology thrown in as heroes must deal with the struggle with evil. The Daredevil title is particularly good at fleshing out theological themes.

I’ve been collecting comic books since ’75 and currently possess the largest private collection in my state. It’s some kind of disease I’m sure…

Living in the Haut South. I moved to the Haut South over twenty years ago and just fell in love with the culture. My first taste of the south was Texas when I was transferred to Fort Hood from Mainz, Germany. Talk about a culture shock! Growing up in the northeast I wasn’t quite prepared for the more laid back way of doin’things but quickly adjusted. I knew I was gonna be ok when I went to my local Walmart on a lunch break and bought a handgun; something that was nearly impossible up in Cigarville country. As soon as I learned that barbeque was a noun as well as a verb I was officially welcomed by the locals as one of their own, Yep, I found myself a home in Texas.

Wanting to remain in the aviation avionics field I took a job a little bit north of Texas and settled down with my missus. We’ve been living in the Haut South ever since even though I did eventually leave the aviation field (more on that later). The locals are not as welcoming to those from the northeast. The reason for this that Yankees have a nasty habit of leaving their ancestral homes disgusted with their culture, transplanting to my little area, and promptly running for city and town council to show these bunch of hicks how to do things the right way (just like they do in Cigarville). This creates a good bit of animosity with those who think their culture is cultured enough and don’t need no damn Yankee to tell ‘em otherwise. The haut goes both ways ‘round here and is palatable.

Embroidery. I don’t know jack about embroidery. I designed the logo for POTF with the help of my quality manager (this was before I knew how to “photoshop” images) and sent the created image off to be formated into a file that could be read by one of them there fancy embroidery gizmos. The average fee to do this is about a hundred bucks from a reputable embroidery shop and it’s worth every penny if it’s done right.

Metrology. The reason Dan asked me to write about metrology is that he knew that I was a metrologist. I know what you’re thinking and no, I’m not one of those guys on tv that yap about the weather. The weather guys are meteorologists. I’m a metrologist which quite a bit different.

Metrology is defined by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures as "the science of measurement, embracing both experimental and theoretical determinations at any level of uncertainty in any field of science and technology." Sounds simple doesn’t it? My vocation has me dealing mostly with laboratory instruments that measure mass down to the microgram. Tiny little things those micrograms. Some of the instruments that I service and calibrate have the capability to read the mass of air particles or fingerprints left on an object. The work I do is mostly preventative although lately I am finding myself doing more and more repairs as customer’s budgets for capital expenditure necessitate units are fixed rather than replaced.

Metrology, while precise, isn’t as an exact science as one might imagine. There are, especially in the FDA regulated pharmaceutical industry, complex and therefore expensive calculations to determine the various levels of uncertainty of measurement affecting all levels within the manufacturing process to remain compliant with regulatory bodies. Compliance is expensive and a companies have to weigh (no pun intended) the value of uncertainities of measurement of the laboratory instruments, ingrediants, and even packaging with the effect on the quality of their product. It would be nice to have every laboratory balance weigh perfectly but even if that were possible, the cost of maintaining such a standard would drive the price up of medications to the point where we could no longer afford even an asprin much less those expensive medications we all need to remain healthy.

I’ve been in the metrology field for almost fifteen years now and almost every day is a hoot. I’ve got good customers and I work for a great family owned operation in the Haut South, what more could I ask for?

Anybody have questions?

The next post will be on the final item on Dan’s list; image composition. I’m working on something a little different as far as format is concerned for this one…

You Can't Say That!

So, there we were, the missus and I chatting it up about the utter nonsense going on over at Marvel Comics, which at one time I understand was called the House of Ideas.

“You can’t say that” she yelled.

“Uh, yes I can, in fact, I just did.” I calmly replied, “he hates comics, and there is nothing in print or on tape that can even come close to refuting what I’m saying, is there missy?”

So what was the hullabaloo about? Joe Quesada. Again.

I’ve written before about the editor in chief of Marvel here and here. A few months back it was the news about Ghost Rider that caused the scales to fall from my eyes. Under Quesada’s leadership, and according to the press releases, Ghost Rider is now an angel. That’s right kids, Ghost Rider; you know, the guy with the flaming skull, the guy that rides a motorcycle with hellfire for wheels, well, he is now an angel.

So, you might think the über geek in me, reading that press release might just about have an über coronary. And if you thought that, you would be wrong.

No, the pain in my left arm and chest started after reading Amazing Spider Man, issue 545. With this one issue, Marvel Comics erased over twenty years of continuity by erasing Mary Jane Watson as Peter Parker’s wife! Peter Parker sold his happiness and his marriage to the devil Mephistopheles to save the life of his aunt who had just been shot. He made… a deal… with the devil.

Mephistopheles, using magic, just made everyone forget who Peter Parker was and reset everyone’s lives so as to make sure the Peter wouldn’t have to feel the sorrow of losing his aunt. This, at one time, would have been completely out of character for someone who since his uncle was murdered because he was so selfish, has done nothing but put everyone else’s needs and happiness ahead of his own. Now we are asked to believe that losing his wife is less important than losing his aunt. How Peter feels emotionally now trumps all. Peter Parker gives up his wife so he doesn't have to feel bad. Great responsibility is now great selfishness.

And, oh yeah, that same magic that somehow not only made everyone forget what was what, but also resurrected Peter’s dead best friend Harry Osborn. For crying out loud!

We are asked to believe that everything that has happened for the last twenty years, and 269 issues, happened but never happened. We are told to just forget that dusty old cannon, its just filler between the eras.

Quesada and company have pulled similar stunts before that have caused many a comic book fan to question whether they have any respect at all for what is in comic book canon.

Under Quesada’s leadership, Captain America has been assassinated, Bucky, Cap’s partner who died heroically at the end of WWII was resurrected, Magneto has died and been resurrected more times than I can count, Colossus; an Xman has been resurrected as has his sister Magik, Thor and the Asgard have endured Ragnarok and been resurrected, Iron Man has been turned into a fascist working for the government, both Daredevil and Spider-Man’s secret identity have been exposed to the world, the Hulk has turned from green to red, and the list goes on and on and on. But back to Spider-Man…

What the heck are Quesada and the rest of these people thinking? Do they even know who Spider Man is? Have they ever read any of the forty years worth of back issues? Sure they have, but they have absolutely no respect for the creators and writers that have been entertaining fan boys (and fan girls too) for decades.

Quesada’s excuse is that the comic books we grew up with create too much of a limitation for those tasked with writing the stories. There has been so much history, the reasoning goes, that to reach those who don’t currently read comic books, the history must be wiped out and reorganized to appear fresh. It’s just too hard he cries.

And what of those who grew up reading the stories of the last twenty or forty years? Well, they’re told that what they remember reading really happened, but just like the people of the Marvel universe, they will need to forget it all. It’s like magic, it happened but you just can’t talk about it.

The fans are being told that to reach those who do not read comic books, they need to take a back seat. The fans are being told that while their support is certainly appreciated, they need to think about the bigger picture of growing the audience. The fans are being told that even though Peter Parker married his sweetheart Mary Jane Watson twenty years ago they need to forget it ever happened. Fans are also being told that Peter Parker is no longer a responsible adult taking care of his wife but now lives with his Aunt May again, just like he did in high school.

Now, if we look at the situation honestly there is only one conclusion; Marvel Comics management, i.e. Joe Quesada hates Spider-Man. But they only hate the historical 40 year old Spider-Man as they have seen fit to craft themselves a new spider-man marketed to the mid twenty something, I can’t make ends meet so I live off my folks so how can I buy comic books when they cost two to three dollars for a single comic crowd.

Yep, based on what is being said, what is being written, it is plain as day, this is clearly not our father’s comic book company and the people in charge like Joe Quesada hate Spider-Man.

Nuff said.

Sinestro's Oath, The Human Condition, And Sin

Last week I received my copy of Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps. It was a little over week since it actually hit the shelves as I get all things comic book related from Mile High Comics out in Denver. Normally any big news in the world of comic books comes out on Wednesdays as that is the day any new books are released.

For those of you not familiar with the character Sinestro a brief introduction is in order:

Sinestro was the creation of John Broome and Gil Kane over at DC Comics way back in 1961. He was a native of the planet Korugar in the Green Lantern Corps space sector 1417. (the Green Lanterns are an intergalactic police organization led by little blue guys called Guardians. (It should be noted that the Guardians are not Smurfs.)) Sinestro was once considered to be the greatest of the Green Lanterns, but as the years passed, he became more obsessed not simply with protecting the Korugarians, but with preserving order in their society. Eventually he concluded that the best way to accomplish this was to conquer them, and to rule the planet as a dictator.

When Hal Jordan (a current Green Lantern) was chosen to be a Green Lantern, Sinestro was assigned to train the newest member. Jordan was horrified with Sinestro’s treatment of his home planet and had a hand in exposing Sinestro for who he had become.

For his punishment, Sinestro was sent to an anti matter universe where he partnered up with the Weaponers of Qward, who hated the Guardians as much he did. The Weaponers aided Sinestro by creating a yellow power ring to battle the green ones used by the Corps.

For years Sinestro battled a number of Green Lanterns as, truth be told, he was just a “B” list villain only to be defeated time and time again. The tales would normally have Green Lantern’s ring nearly out of power only to be recharged by a green power battery by reciting the oath:

In brightest day, In darkest night, No evil shall escape my sight,
Let all who worship evil’s might, Beware my power, Green Lantern’s light!

The power ring would always get recharged and Sinestro would always get defeated, hauled off to a galactic jail, or just flat out escape to wreck havoc at a later date. The same tale, told over and over. That is until last week.

Last week had Sinestro doing something a little bit different. He decided that he would start up his own group, his Sinestro Corps, to bring order to the galaxy through the only means he knows, tyranny and fear. Since disorder has run rampant under the more peaceful means, he decides that fear will be the cornerstone of his Corps. “As long as there is life, there will be fear” he declares. He gathers several thousand recruits who have “the ability to instill great fear” on their home worlds, all of them deadly and dangerous. Each one of them issued a yellow power ring like Sinestro’s to help instill that fear. The Green Lanterns are in for a world of hurt!

What struck me hardest wasn’t the excellent story telling by Geoff Johns or the brilliant pencils of Ethan Van Sciver. What hit me the hardest was actually in the beginning of the book. Sinestro has taken the oath of the Green Lantern Corps and perverted it to charge his own yellow power ring:

In blackest day, In brightest night, Beware your fears made into light.
Let those who try to stop what’s right, Burn like my power, Sinestro’s might!

With that little oath Geoff Johns takes Sinestro from the “B” villain list to the big leagues. No more does he think he is a villain, as comic book villains often do, but rather he believes what he is doing is the right thing to do in order to bring order and stability, albeit his order and stability, to the universe. “Let those who try to stop what’s right, Burn like my power” is a shot across the bow for all do gooders who value rule of law over the ends justify the means style of order.

What did I find so fascinating about that? I can’t help but be fascinated by how Johns’ script hit on the fact that evil does not consider itself evil and wants to do things it’s own ways. I keep remembering a conversation I had with a family member who believed that humans were really just good and only flawed in the fact that they just fall short of God’s law but still are really good at heart for trying. Falling short of course is a huge understatement to say the least. If fallen creatures are good by nature then they don’t even need redemption. By now I’m sure you can see where this is going.

We all are fallen and sinful creatures who from the time we were conceived are born with a cancer. That cancer that kills us all is called sin (Ps 51:5)! Sin is not just a disease that we can get better from by working at with all our hard work until we get better. Again, sin is a cancer that will kill everything that lives. And if we deny that we are with that same sin we are really fooling ourselves straight to hell (1 John 1:8-9). And if we deny the disease, then ultimately we will deny the fix to Adam’s first sin in the garden: Christ.

Article IV of the Augustana confesses the cure for what ails us:

Our Churches teach that people cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works. People are freely justified for Christ’s sake, through faith, when they believe that they that are received into favor and that their sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake. By his death, Christ made satisfaction for our sins. God counts this faith for righteousness in His sight. (Romans 3:21-26, 4:5)

We all want to do what Sinestro wants to do, that is to say, to do what’s right in our own eyes, and in doing that, we fail miserably. As fallen creatures we continually choose our own path, just like Sinestro, time and time again. And just like Sinestro, we fail to call evil evil. Just like Adam, we continually want to choose our own path. And just like Adam’s first sin, the end is always the same, death.

I ‘m glad that the days of comic book villains who are calling themselves evil are gone or at bare minimum, on the way out the door. Good riddance to the bad guys joining the “Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” or “Secret Society of Supervillains”.

While the shift in the language might not be welcomed by some, it is by me because it speaks to the core of sin. Sin by its very nature can’t look into the mirror and see itself for what it is. Sin decides for itself what is right. Sin would kill us all if not for Christ being nailed to a tree in our place. Yes, thankfully Christ who was without sin took on human flesh and vanquished sin, death and even Satan himself (who also wanted to do things his own way).

And thankfully Christ gave us the Church where His Word is preached and His Sacraments are administered. It is there that we all can go to face that mirror that Sinestro can’t seem to see. It is there that we can confess that we sin in thought, word, and deed. It is there that his called and ordained servants absolve us of those same sins in the stead and by the command of Christ Himself. And that is what a character like Sinestro can’t do or have respectively. And for that, Sinestro will have to, like many who don’t know Christ, live with fear instead of Light.

The First Commandment, Comic Book Shops, And Sin

From the Small Catechism:

As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household.

The First Commandment.

Thou shalt have no other gods.

What does this mean?--Answer.
We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

Why bring this up? Well, last weekend my wife and I went to the local art museum to see an Egyptian exhibit that focused on, imagine this, tombs. I really had no desire to leave the house on a perfectly good Saturday being content to get caught up on some reading and all. But the missus want to see the exhibit because she like all things Egyptian and she assumed that maybe a DHD might even be on view. It wasn’t but the exhibit was ok without it. I’ve seen better exhibits but I thought it passable. And it was also good for the museum to see a bunch of slack jawed yokels walk around looking a public monies being spent. Everyone benefited.

After the exhibit the missus wanted to get some ice cream and what the missus wants she normally gets. So we went to a local Ben and Jerry’s and paid eight dollars for four scoops of ice cream. I cringed while handing over the cash as I know the local megastore only would charge me two dollars. One has to wonder if the megastores are really as evil as everyone charges. I'm suspecting they are not.

Anyhoo, it just so happens that the local comic book shop was less than a mile away and I thought I would save myself a trip the following week and drop in. That’s where it all went down, bad.

We walked in and briefly looked around at the table with Wednesday’s offerings (comic books always come out on Wednesday) and there really wasn’t a lot that caught my eye. But apparently, we caught everyone else’s eye. Even my wife noticed that it was noisy when we first walked in and then it got quiet, really, really quiet. So what was wrong?

I walked in with my wife, that’s what was wrong! I broke norms and I caused others to sin. Every fanboy knows that you don’t bring a date to a comic book shop! What was I thinking? The reason it got so quiet in there is that no longer were the customers (all male, imagine that!) looking for cool stuff, they were looking at my wife. They were breaking at least the tenth commandment which is explained this way:

The Tenth Commandment.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his.

What does this mean?--Answer.

We should fear and love God that we may not estrange, force, or entice away our neighbor's wife, servants, or cattle, but urge them to stay and [diligently] do their duty.

Was that the worst thing going on, comic book geeks like myself ogling my cute wife? No! You would have had to be there to properly understand what was happening but they were looking at me differently as well. The customers were clearly confused and thinking to themselves “this guy walks in with a date so he’s not one of us. And yet he’s talking smack about Joe Quesada (EIC at Marvel Comics) so he must be one of us. Maybe he is the promised one who will show us how spend all our time reading comic books, playing Halo3 and talk to real girls? Maybe he is the chosen one!”
At the end of the day I realized the real sin was mine. I should have immediately demanded that they stop prostrating themselves and stand upright like men for crying out loud! But that’s not what I said and for that reason the sin is mine.

I allowed myself looked upon as something I wasn’t. We all want to be perceived as important or puffed up one way or another. When we decide that we know more than we really do we make ourselves out to be gods. We like to think that the Mormons and other sects have that little market cornered, but they don’t. Everyone likes to say we make money or “things” gods, but we all, because we are poor miserable sinners, often elevate ourselves to god-like status. Those who say they don’t haven’t seen a mirror in a while.

Adam’s sin wasn’t as my pastor is fond of reminding people a fall at all as many like to refer to it. Adam’s sin was an upward overreaching because he wanted to be like God. Just like Adam, I wanted the limelight and the attention that came with it.

I know that the self appointed saints of sanctification will probably have a field day with this one but who cares. I sin daily and I know it. That is why every time I make the sign of the cross I force myself to remember that Christ has made me his own in the waters of Holy Baptism. That is why every time I look at the corpus on the cross I’m reminded of the price of my sinful nature.

So I’ll repent and go back to trying to figure out this convoluted mess that is Countdown which I picked up last weekend. Hmm, why the heck would Jimmy Olsen have powers and where is Ray Palmer for crying out loud?