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| Copyright DC COMICS |
You may remember me mentioning one of my childhood friends dying recently (October 21st), though we weren't exactly on talking terms at the time of his sad expiration from Lupus. However, the pal of his who's been tasked with clearing out his flat invited me round to help myself to just about anything I might like or want that wasn't already taken, so I found myself in a place I haven't stepped inside in approximately 6 or 7 years, going through the belongings of the departed one. Joe (for that was his name) was a bit of a hoarder, so it's going to be a huge undertaking for his pal to empty the flat as every room is filled to overflowing with stuff Joe had accumulated from diverse sources over his limited lifetime.
With an occasional exception I mainly restricted myself to things I myself had given Joe over a period of several years, but there was one item I'd recommended to him just before we'd fallen out (again) that caught my eye, which was the stonkingly huge Jack Kirby Fourth World Omnibus published a few years back. Apparently, the first printing had a howling error, in that a Jimmy Olsen page had been printed twice, resulting in another page being omitted. DC recalled the book and issued a second printing which was error-free and fired the person responsible for the blunder in the first version. No, I don't know his name, but I'll bet he's kicking himself for his oversight. Thankfully, it was the corrected edition Joe had.
I already own all the tales in their original form and also in previous reprints, but the book is an extremely impressive publication which I'm glad to have. Death tends to wipe the slate clean when it comes to the 'trespasses' of friends, so I'm going to imagine the book is a Christmas gift to me from Joe as, out of all his friends, I'm pretty sure he'd prefer me to have it - and none of them were into comics anyway. He was only 64, so died far too young as he should've had at least another 20-odd years ahead of him. It would probably take that long to read the Omnibus - did I mention how stonkingly huge it is? Anyway, Joe, thanks for the present and a Merry Christmas to you wherever you are. Sadly, there's no point in wishing you a Happy New Year.
Below, Joe in 1981, sometime around February or March, in the front room of 103 Boulton Road, Southsea, Portsmouth. This is the way I prefer to remember him, as the kind of life he led in the ensuing years sadly took their toll on him. However, in memory he'll be forever young.
For most of human history it would have been a huge achievement to live to the grand old age of 64 and it's only in fairly recent times that we've come to expect a very long life.
ReplyDeleteWell, according to the Old Testament, some people lived for hundreds of years, CJ, though I know you don't believe that sort of thing. However, I was speaking from the perspective of 'now' in relation to Joe's death, not that of 'most of human history'.
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ReplyDeleteNobody has lived for hundreds of years, Kid, but some people in the distant past did live very long lives - for example the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II lived to about 90 but reaching 60 would have been a big deal for most humans until the 20th Century. By the way, the Old Testament famously mentions "three score years and ten" as the ideal lifespan.
It also attributes a hundreds-of-years lifespan to certain individuals, CJ. There you go cherry-picking again. Adam is supposed to have lived for 930 years, Seth for 912, and Noah lived for 950. There are others, though lifespans began to shorten after the flood.
DeleteI'm sure you're in there somewhere as well, Kid. 'Merry Christmas', in advance, just incase my number comes up between now and then?
ReplyDeleteI want to live forever, AAW, so put in a good word for me with the Grim Reaper and ask him to spare me when my time comes. And a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.
DeleteYou forgot about Methuselah, Kid! Anyway it's a good job everyone doesn't live to 950 nowadays otherwise it would be a total disaster for the environment. On the subject of ageing - did you know that Kylie Minogue has this year's Christmas Number One (called XMAS)? Kylie was only 19 when she had her first UK #1 and now she's 57.
ReplyDeleteMethuselah was covered by 'there are others', CJ. As for Kylie, most women usually knock a few years off their age, so she's probably really 157. (With a talented make-up assistant.)
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