Kilroy Was Here

"Kilroy was here." This phrase should be instantly familiar to anyone who lived through World War II and Korea or are students of those tumultuous years. The phrase "Kilroy was here", became famous in the pacific theatre of WWII. It was said that Kilroy was a super-GI because he was always first into the hornet's nest that were the various island atolls that were fought over by the Japanese and the Americans. The Marines landing on the atolls would find the inscription of "Kilroy was here" on trees or coral rocks, alerting all that the super-GI A.K.A. Kilroy had already landed. Of course there was never a Kilroy, though many claim fantastic stories that there was such an individual. Kilroy was an urban legend that grew among the battle weary soldiers of the American forces and was used as a symbol of hope that we could win the war with crafty GIs like Kilroy. Kilroy was every service man, and many soldiers scribbled the famous "Kilroy was here" from the sands of Iwo Jima to the Great Wall of China to the banks of the Yalu river. The phrase was also written on the moon by one of the Apollo astronauts, though no one has ever admitted to writing it. "Kilroy" is still out there making his mark except now he is marching through the dusty plains of ancient Babylon, exploring the deepest ocean trenches, or flying around the world on his own.

Imagine a day when the first human explorers reach Mars, and descending the dusty gantry way from their spacecraft and walking to small hill rock outcropping to plant the flag and finding the scratched phrase "Kilroy Was Here."

Ethnic Heroes

I have been thinking about ethnic superheroes and how they are represented in comics. I have never come across any latin heroes that were not a caricature of their race. Case in point would be heroes like Vibe, El Diablo, and Wildcat II. They are all streetwise, young punks from the hood with humongous chips on their shoulders. They spend their time fighting drug dealers and blaming "the man" for the ills of society. There isn't one of them that I would call a role model to anyone but the most jaded people in the latin community. And don't get me started on black heroes either. Black Lightning, Power Man, Iron Man II, and Falcon. All these guys are strictly one dimensional in their portrayals and the stories that they are featured in.

There are some exceptions to the one dimensional portrayals. The Black Panther is not from the "hood", he is the sovereign of an advanced technocratic society, that ventures into the world under the guise of Black Panther to protect his kingdom from the ills of the primitive outside world. Green Lanter III also known as John Stuart, is an architect that was chosen as Green Lantern due to his remarkable lack of fear and his intelligence to guard sector 2814 alongside Hal Jordan. Both of these examples are positive portrayals of educated powerful black men that I would be proud to share with anyone that wants a good role model.

Unfortunately, there are no current latin equivalents for positive role models in comics. I guess the closest to a latin hero that is a good role model is found in the pages of "Gotham Knights" which is a book that deals with the police force in Gotham City and how they interact with all of the crazies that seemed to be drawn there by the existence of Batman. There is one lead character named Rene Montoya and she is an honest cop with a family and she is portrayed as a strong leader without the "hood-speak" that seems to dog ethnic characters. If I had a daughter, this would be the comic character that I would want her to admire and identify with.

It Ain't Right!

There are some scoundrels out on the internet who will attack anything or anyone that is doing some good be it the President, the Pope, or Superman. Some misguided person has been spreading rumors that Superman is a Superdick! Blasphemous and uncalled for I call it!

Then I got to thinking about the 1960s Superman, specifically the old Lois Lane comic that began in 1954. Those old comics always featured Superman lying, tricking, or making fun of Lois. It is a direct reflection of the attitudes towards women that was pervasive in popular culture in the 50s and 60s. If I take those old 60s Lois Lane stories into account, then maybe Superman was a Superdick to Lois but I think he made up for that by turning back time to save her. Thankfully those stories are a relic of the past and that is where they should remain.