LNH: LNH Comics Presents #57: Infinite Leadership Cry.sig Ep.22

[EDMLite]

On Apr 22, 2:45 pm, Arthur Spitzer <arspit... at earthlink.net> wrote:

>        "SBB? You alright?" In a rare moment of actually noticing someone
> else, PR Kid added, "You look like you need a hug."
>        "I... visited the Virginia Tech memorial..."
>        "What? You should have said you were going! I could have organised
> some coverage from the local papers, get some face time on TV, perhaps
> even-"
>        Before PR Kid could even blink, Special Bonding Boy had moved. PR
> Kid was slammed against a wall, and could do no more than stare into
> SBB's eyes.
>        "No. More. Press," SBB hissed. "We are fragile creatures, making
> our way across this world, reaching out to others, wanting to be loved,
> to experience joy, to live out our lives without being hounded or made
>> into a public spectacle. We in the LNH choose this life. Cho Seung-Hui
> choose his. And as a human being, he was just as fragile as everyone
> else. And in his fragile state, people died that day, an event we can
> only mourn.
>        "But what we will not do is prey upon those emotions. We will not
> use those people as an excuse to vent rabid ideas that condemn groups of
> people just because they shared some biological trait with that poor
> man. We will not show images of mourning thousands just to lead the news
> and make sure ratings are high.
>        "We will not judge those involved. But we will judge ourselves. Is
> there something more we could have done? If one person had had a kinder
> word for him, would this have happened? If our culture wasn't so screwed
> up, would he still be here?
>        "Maybe. Maybe not. The answers are not easy. But they are for us
> to search for, and not fodder for prime time."

>From the San Francisco Chronicle, the morning after the shootings:

>That was what left all of us parents reaching out to touch our kids.
>Duncan says her "poor daughter Molly is getting hugged 50 times a
>day," and you know that same hug-a-thon is taking place all over
>the country.

Leave it to Jamas not only to write a thoughtful, moving response
to these events, but to come up with a way to address them,
in-story, in a way that made sense.

Writing about current events isn't easy, especially when you're
doing so in a comedy (and there are lots and lots of funny
moments in this issue of LNHCP, particularly the bits with
Steak-and-Potatoes Man and Obnoxious Ame.rec.a Boy
hugging trees).  After reading this story, my first response
was to nod my head, over and over, and say, "Yeah.
I'm glad somebody decided to say that."

Kudos on a very well-done story.

--Easily-Discovered Man Lite
--Master and Commander of the LNH