Monday Meandering
I'm going to try a little bit of that old random bits of thinking, because it is Monday, and because as usual I don't have a clue. Plus my son Frank is getting married next month, and they just signed the lease on the cutest little apartment, and he's going to be moving out and I'll be down to just one kid at home, and frankly I'm feeling a little conflicted. Yes, there will be more milk and orange juice in the house, but still...!
I imagine that Ma Kent feels this way. There always seems to be a fresh apple pie, and a free washer and dryer at the Kent Farm for whenever ol' Clark feels like wandering by. Which actually is rather nice, when you think about it, because an awful LOT of superheroes seem to be orphans. Hal certainly can't go home, although I suppose that his brother's house serves that purpose to a degree. I don't know if John still has living parents, and Kyle used to, but doesn't anymore, and I would think that his mother's house would be the LAST place on earth that Guy would go to voluntarily.
Batman's parents are dead. Just ask him, and he'll tell you. Fortunately, he has Alfred to bake the cookies and run the vacumn and clean up the bat guano in the cave. Others aren't quite so fortunate. For a large number of heroes, their various Leagues and Societies and Teams serve as surrogate homes and family. The JSA is probably the most so, or at least it used to be. The old JLI served as a family of sorts, with J'onn serving as a slightly reluctant paterfamilias, and Ted, Booster, Bea, Guy and Tora as the kids. The JLA doesn't seem to be quite so warm and fuzzy, but at least it's a place to hang out. The Titans all seem to cling together, which is odd, because some of them actually do have families. Heck, Jaime Reyes may have to most normal family life of just about any hero. And I find that SO refreshing.
But anyway, enough meandering. Here's a nice picture of Guy and Kyle that I found somewhere that I can't remember. It's by Aaron Felizmenio, and it is awfully pretty.
Happy Monday!
posted by SallyP @ 2:57 PM
7 Comments:
Congrats on your son. Sorry to hear that he'll be leaving the nest.
I always thought about how screwed up the JLIs' family lives were making them fit together all the more. Their loved ones were either gone, disowned them or are on really bad terms with them. While I think both J'onn and Bruce are fond of their group certain members relationships are hard for me to define. I don't know what to call Batman/Guy other than the mutual desire to pick on the other.
I don't think Ted ever knew how much Guy respected and liked him. According to Booster Ted felt to same about Guy. Bea always seemed a little mean too Booster, and I have a hard time pegging what J'onn and him are too each other. They seemed a little distant to me.
Dear Sally,
sorry for using the comments thread to get in touch with you: I can't find an e-mail address or a contact sheet.
I'm a German journalist writing for the Berlin Tagesspiegel... and I'm a long-time lurker on your blog:
I like your mild-mannered, personal, not overly snarky approach to the DC characters, and I've been wondering if we could do an e-mail interview about 'Green Lantern' before the movie premieres in Germany, on August 4th.
Last year, I talked to CEB, editor of 'Collected Editions', and we had a blast.
Do you think you'd like to do something similar (it doesn't have to be *that* long, though)? Here's the link:
http://stefan-mesch.blogspot.com/p/2010-publishing-super-heroes-interview.html
Let me know. There's an e-mail-address on my website ["Kontakt"]: If you find time, please get in touch. I'd be delighted!
Keep up the good work!
Ted and Guy occasionally had some friendly moments together, I love the bit where they are sitting up on the roof drinking beer and reading tabloids...but for the most part, I'm not sure that they really understood each other that well. I think that Guy DID respect Ted, but he was also in his brain-dead super-macho period, and it would have been awfully hard for him to articulate it. He always seemed to get along pretty well with Booster however. And Ted...well, let's face it, Ted could be just as bratty as Guy on occasion. I've always thought that he took things WAY too far at the Ice Capades issue.
And I still think that Bea had a secret crush on Guy. They all drove J'onn crazy of course...even Batman who could be just as immature as the rest of them, but no one ever called him on it.
GOSH I miss the JLI!
Smesch, I would be delighted! Thank you for your kind words.
Hey Sally,
awesome - thanks for the quick response. I'll get in touch.
And, regarding Ted and Guy: Just today, I've read Guy say THIS snippet about his old JLI days (in 'Reach for the Stars', the third 'Blue Beetle' trade):
"Ted Kord had NO POWERS, kid. He was ALWAYS 'overpowered'. But he ALWAYS WON. I saw him mop the floor with guys who ATE STARS. Because he was smarter. He was smarter than Bats, although nobody ever noticed."
In the same scene, Guy lends Jamie a book on strategy:
"Ted gave it to me. There's a list of more books he wanted me to read. [...] Tactics, military intelligence, data analysis. Stuff like that."
I hope this isn't a wiseass or overly pedantic post: I hardly know both Guy and Ted, and it's an incredible coincidence that I read this scene today, of all days. :-)
Those Blue Beetle stories were awesome. I still am upset that his book was cancelled, but at least we got to see him in the recent JLI-Generation Lost bi-weekly series. AND, they are supposedly going to be producing a NEW JLI! Hopefully with Jaime.
But yes, Guy has taken Jaime under his wing a bit, which is simply adorable. And he DID trust Ted. He just never got around to telling him.
But he still can't stand Batman.
Thinking I'd like to read this interview and get Sally's "real" perspective on Hal and the boys.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1778701505802&set=o.117845014964389&type=1&ref=nf
It's fan art of Kyle from a facebook page so I hope the link lets you see it. Might be too PG for your blog but I thought you'd get a giggle from it...
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