Boys And Comic Books

I remember having a conversation with my son where I explained that if you are really lucky your work isn’t considered a job- it is just something fun and rewarding that happens to pay the bills. He looked at me and asked if I could say that about myself. I gave him a wistful grin and said, “not yet.”

He looked at me and said that he had faith in me. I refused the urge to ruffle his hair and or scream and smiled instead. It was a genuine smile and he deserved it. And then I pulled him into a giant bear hug and told him that we never give up or stop fighting for our dreams.

It wasn’t false advertising on my part or anything that I don’t try to live up to. I am a dreamer but I am also an active participant in my life and I work hard to try to turn the dreams into my reality. So when I was asked to host a Green Lantern party for Mattel and MomSelect. there was a certain amount of synchronicity between the past, the present and the future.

That boy who lives inside me remembers reading comic books and arguing with his friends about what superheroes were the coolest and most powerful. I remember watching the cartoons and wondering why grownups weren’t smart enough to make live action adventure films. Funny thing is that eventually they did and we wound up with the Incredible Hulk Fighting Thor.

As you can see the special effects aren’t anything to write home about but there is a part of me that can’t help but smile because the memories of that time are special to me. And that is part of why I found myself hosting a room full of 1,098 ten year-olds. I sat next to my son and watched an animated version of the Green Lantern story and recited the pledge.

In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil’s might,
Beware my power… Green Lantern’s light!
The Green Lantern Pledge

Some of the boys were familiar with Green Lantern, but not all. There were oohs and ahs and an assortment of comments about what kind of powers the ring gave him. It was sort of a surreal moment for me because I realized that as a father I liked Green Lantern because his powers were limited solely by the imagination of the ring holder. And it was something that was borne out by the actions of the boys. I say that because after the movie they received a variety of Green Lantern toys to play with. There were rings, action figures and a Colossal Cannon that couldn’t penetrate the amazing force field constructed by the father that used his jedi mind tricks upon the boys.

Don’t talk to me about integrating Star Wars into comic books because it is natural fit. That reminds me, if you haven’t had the Star Wars talk with your kids maybe you should.

If you ask me what my favorite age is I will probably tell you that it is whatever age my children happen to be. But I have to qualify that again and say that there is something to be said for ten. Ten is old enough to do some more grown up type stuff but still young enough to not be embarrassed or upset at having dad hang out with you and your friends. While I wouldn’t say that I want to make a group of ten year-old my normal playmates I can say that it was fun talking about Green Lantern and other superheroes.

It was kind of funny to watch their eyes get wide when they realized that I knew as much or more about comic book characters and superheroes in general as they did.  But the best part bar none was seeing the huge smile on my son’s face because that truly was worth the price of admission.

BTW if you haven’t heard they made a new Green Lantern movie that isn’t subjected to the special effects of the seventies.

Just take a look at the trailer below.

Disclosure: I received compensation in the form of toys, the movie and the comic books but none of those compare to my son’s smile.