[Groop]Groo-ish Tales (OT)

[Chris Schechner]

Groopsters,

I must STRONGLY concur with Gary. I bought Mark's book a few weeks 
ago and have THOROUGHLY enjoyed reading it. Now, you must take into 
account here that I am not really into comics. In fact, I don't 
really like comics all that much (Groo excepted). I really am a fan 
of cartooning, not comics. Anyway, despite this fact and the fact 
that I don't know about many of the people he talks about, the 
stories are a delight to read. Go out to your favorite comic book 
store and buy it now.

I haven't read the story that Gary talks about, but I am going to 
have to go read it. I'm seeing some scary parallels! I was born on 
March 1, 1951. Mark was born on March 3, 1952 (I think). I skipped 
2nd grade because of my reading abilities. I was lousy at sports. 
Hmmmm. well, at least Mark has done something constructive with his 
life...  *sigh*

Chris



>Hi Folks!
>
>Those you you who have not yet purchased Mark's book, "Comic Books and Other
>Necessities of Life" should do so immediately.  It is a great read.  And
>because it is a compilation of his POV articles, you can flip around and
>read things at random, which works out great for a lot of us.
>
>I just read a great little piece in which Mark puts forth the idea that we
>are all Clark Kent with Superman fantasises of one kind or another.  (and
>since it's Clark the gawky nerd-boy that we all relate to, making him hip,
>cool, rich, and or famous as he has been in some incarnations doesn't work
>for Mark.)  In this article he tells a great self-depreciating tale of how,
>having been forced to skip second grade because of his extraordinary [comic
>book
>reading induced] abilities in reading and writing, he is faced with social
>ostracism because he can't hit a "sock ball."  Sock ball of course being a
>game that everyone learned in the second grade.