Holy Gotham City!

  I grew up reading comic books. From Batman to Superman and from funny to ghost and military to western comics. I loved Batman and I still as you can see display a little superhero shelf over my computer. I'm now in the 6th decade of this journey round the third rock from the sun. My eyesight prefers ebooks and things I can enlarge on a computer screen or an ereader these days. Comics don't hold my adult attention the way they did my 8 year old self. But, the memories are still there.

  One of my earliest memories is going to my grandparents house in Altoona, Alabama on the weekends. I would walk up to the drug store and buy the latest comics. This drugstore as anybody from those days in Altoona could tell you was classic Americana. Soda fountain and round tables and chairs and a string over the front counter with the newest comics displayed. The owners knew when I came in what I was looking for. Mrs Prince would say "Go around to the back and look through the ones we haven't put out yet if you want to but, don't make a mess and put things back the way you found them.

So, there I would go and find my latest treasure. The twelve cents in my pocket burning a hole until I could get that Batman comic I had seen advertised last month. It was here! In little ole Altoona, Alabama straight from Gotham City (New York) most likely. So it was off to get an ice cream cone next door and then straight to my grandparents front porch overlooking the little town. A comic book and an ice cream cone. An eight year old kid's dream in 1966 or so.

Up, Up and Away!...Superman.

 I can remember being at a friends house and saying a phrase that sounded really grown up to my pal's older brother. He asked me where I learned to talk like that because I sounded like a grown up. I didn't tell him because I thought he would (and he would have) make fun of me. But, now the story can be told. I learned a lot of vocabulary from reading Superman. That particular phrase if I remember correctly was something I had read Krypto thinking. Who was Krypto? Superman's dog.

All I ever needed to know I learned from Batman. You treat the weak and vulnerable with respect. Be honest and treat women and older people with respect and never hurt children. But, you also have a backbone and keep getting back up if you fall down. I think the character has gotten darker. Much darker over the years but ya know what? That's what happens when you grow up. So, maybe we all need a superhero at times. I'll take Wonder Woman these days. 😉

  I have over the years thought about how I wish I had my old comics because they would be worth a fortune. Some would be. But, as I get older I realize that where I'm headed money won't be the most important currency and while I'm still here the memories are more valuable and long lasting than the bucks would be.

So, here's to trips down memory lane. The ice cream is always sweeter and the art more beautiful and the movie screen more gigantic back there. So, keep watching the sky and I'll see you next time.
Same Bat Time
Same Bat Channel.

Peace.