LNH: Easily-Discovered Man #54

[EDMLite]

On Sep 24, 4:10 pm, Andrew Perron <pwer... at gmail.com> wrote:

> >      I rolled, then whipped around, driving the spatula
> > with both hands into the creature's back leg like I was
> > swinging a baseball bat.  Something in the leg gave, and
> > the zombie went down.
>
> AND good action. Jeez man. >:/

Thank you!  I had to throw in at least one action
scene, given that almost all of the last four issues
(including this one) have been given over to
long, exposition-heavy conversations.

> >      "True," she said.  "But it's important -- literally a
> > matter of life and death -- that you understand that's what
> > you are, Hector, and that being just an ordinary guy is
> > all you'll ever need to be.  Because one of these days
> > you're going to find yourself up against something you can't
> > punch, or kick, or joke your way out of.  And when that
> > happens, the super-hero in you is going to freeze.
>
> >      "But the ordinary guy is going to kick some ass,"
> > she added.  "If you let him."
>
> Interesting. Not sure I understand it, mind.

You know, in my younger days I always wished more
comics writers would show super-heroes taking on
"real world" problems like hunger, poverty and
homelessness.  (Think William Messner-Loebs' runs
on "The Flash" and "Doctor Fate," or Ann Nocenti's
"Daredevil" run).

These days, however, I'm more and more convinced
that even (and perhaps especially) with the best of
intentions, super-powered beings intervening in world
affairs would tend to do more harm than good.

For example, I've long had in mind a story in which
the LNH tries to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict
by creating a tesseract that allows two identical
versions of the disputed territory to exist
simultaneously.

What would happen then?  Would both sides
occupy their respective realities in peace?  Or
would each try to destroy the other so that only
one, true version of the territory could exist?

Or would both realities be swamped with
eschatalogical pilgrims convinced that the
LNH has literally created Heaven and Hell on
earth (and vehemently disputing with each
other over which reality is which)?

Or would disputants in other global crises
demand the same treatment from the LNH,
leading to a situation in which the entire
world became a honeycomb of
isolated realities inhabited by like-minded
individuals?

And then, upon investigation, would the LNH
discover that this had all happened before...
and that it was, in fact, how the various
newsgroups had emerged from rec.arts.comics
in the first place...?

(Okay, now I kind of want to write this story).

The point is, though, that even someone like
Lite -- who is, at best, a well-meaning though
essentially selfish individual -- tends to do
less damage, and have more perspective,
than a super-powered person.  Or, for
that matter, a superpower...

> >      I arrived in Net.ropolis with a powerful ache in my
> > neck -- the result of fourteen hours on the bus in a series
> > of unfortunate positions -- and a firm resolve to make
> > something better of myself, to take things just a little
> > more seriously and behave, for once, as an adult.
>
> >      Both conditions evaporated within twenty-eight
> > seconds of my leaving the bus.
>
> Londonbroil seems to be a pretty good chiropractor!

Perhaps two large pains in the neck automatically
cancel each other out...

--Rob Rogers
--Should really avoid talking about Middle Eastern
conflicts on the Internet