Polite Society Of Masked Heroes!

Modern America is often a bewildering place. In the throes of a worldwide pandemic a significant part of the population has chosen to receive their medical advice from a rank amateur, and at that an amateur with a long-standing and well-substantiated reputation for being at best wantonly unreliable and at worst maliciously deceptive. In matters of life and death it seems people are weirdly comfortable with life-threatening risk at the cost of life-saving wisdom. This attitude has developed over many years and many decades as a belief , a growing nigh religious reliance on politics to define all the world's issues precludes some folks from seeing the clear evidence of their senses. An ignorance of the methods of science has caused reliance on that once venerated sphere of information to erode, and in its place comes riding rank superstition and unfounded hope. And that explains why in America something as simple as wearing a mask for the protection of fellow citizens is transformed into a test of political loyalty. Being polite and considering the needs of others is now seen as some sort of oddball weakness by some factions, and fashion overcomes practicality.

I have worked hard to ignore the tumult of these modern times. Mostly because its so immersive that I will find out anyway about important matters and so don't have to concern myself with that. But not riding into the fray day in and day out frees the mind and the spirit to find contentment. I am beginning my retirement and so the workaday world is no longer my concern. I fret about the pandemic in regards to my daughters as they are getting closer to having to return to the classroom (perhaps) but personally I can create sufficient defenses that for the most part the disease doesn't come near me too much. Hopefully I and mine will stay healthy in these unhealthy days and hopefully in a very few months the political nightmare will be over and relative calm and even a modicum of professionalism will return to the highest office in the land.

While there is no over-arching theme for the month of July (though you might notice, I am initiating a new regular on-going feature I've brilliantly dubbed "Sunday Funnies" which will logically enough show up on the Sunday of each week and focus on a myriad of comic strips I've been collecting for many years and with increased effort in the last decade. I keep meaning to dig them out and give them a proper going over but something always seems to get in the way. With retirement now upon me, I have the time to finally follow through. The focus will be on Prince Valiant to kick things off, but expect to see Captain Easy, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Alley Oop, Dick Tracy, Superman, Batman and more as the weeks roll by. Other comics deemed "funny" such Calvin and Hobbes, Popeye, Peanuts, Pogo, Blondie, and Mickey Mouse among others could also readily be on the list. I have some of these gems collected in their raw comic strip form and in comic book format as well, and all are fit for "Sunday Funnies". It's time to enjoy these vintage masterpieces at last, and I have enough to last maybe as long as I do.

Expect something with a special Jack "King" Kirby flavor for the next several days in some of what have become annual "Fourth World of July" posts this week, but beyond that it could be anything at all. Hang in and hang on and be safe out there amigos, and do me a favor and join the ranks of the polite society of masked heroes.

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