Before I begin, I have to mention that... as my girlfriend pointed out to me... I REALLY should have reserved my "snow/ice characters" entry for today, as Michigan is feeling the PRESSURE of Winter Storm Linus, this day. I have already put in one straight shift of shoveling out her drive and sidewalks for an hour, at about 11 this morning. It's now about 4:30pm, and it honestly looks like I've not even made ANY progress with cleaning up at this point. As if that wasn't amusing enough, I will have to negotiate my way to work for the dying hours of the storm, in probably single to sub-zero temperatures. Thanks for coming back, Winter... I totally missed you, in a not at all fashion.
Today was another day of no real clear designs for initial blog entry plans. HOPEFULLY this coming week at work won't feel as stressful, whereas I'm caught completely with my pants down for the following weekend. (But it will also be a case of careful time management, since this Friday will be my dear Sarah's birthday, and I will want to REALLY celebrate the occasion this Saturday. That means cooking her a dinner all on my own, presents, and etc.) If a recent eBay victory arrives in the mail, this week, that will CERTAINLY influence a particular blog topic I've been tossing around. While shoveling, I came up with a few other topics to expand upon, maybe even holding one over for next weekend in light of a recently released theatrical trailer for a feature film that spotlights a "four" that SHOULD be more "fantastic" than what we're being given, from the trailer I watched. More on that later.
But far be it for me to avoid being a bandwagon rider, so may as well tackle another little-known event for this Sunday night, February 1st. A day that people plan around, for parties and such, since it involves some kinda game whereupon people crash into each other, and throw around a pigskin for multiple measurements of yards to score points. That's right, the befuddling titled "Football" on this 49th Super Bowl! And while this won't be super-detailed as previous examinations, I wanted to highlight certain characters that had a history with the much-celebrated sporting event. (I would give similar treatment to the World Cup... aka "FOOTBALL" for the actual rest of the globe, but I'm at a loss for characters that actually have participated in the Global Sport of "soccer".) So, onto the field!
SUPERMAN: Believe it or not, but the "Quarterback of Steel" has played the Gridiron Game more than a few times in his soon-to-be 77 YEARS of existence! One key story in the Golden Age of comics involved Superman masquerading for an injured player, to find out the root of criminal corruption in the game of Football. (But to play fair, this was also during the time period where Kal-El lacked a good deal of his nigh-divine powers that would increase more in the Silver Age.) Heck, he even crossed paths with Football a few times during the Silver and ESPECIALL Bronze Ages. It was an encounter with the "Phantom Footballer" that we were... ahem... "treated" to the first appearance of that preeminent jerk, Steve Lombard, for the 1970's. After the first "Crisis", in the first issue of the "Man of Steel" reinvention of the character, we found out that Clark Kent wasn't NEARLY as meek in high school as we originally thought, in that he was a championship-level player for his alma-mater! However, Jonathan Kent talked him down from athletic pursuits, due to such factors as his having an "unfair advantage" over other... y'know, human... players, and because if he tackled anyone with his growing powers, that would be akin to a person hitting a titanium wall. Man, Pop Kent, you're certainly a buzzkill, because Kal-El would've been a DREAM draft pick!
THE BEAST: Before Henry McCoy was fully identified as a mutant, or even before he became all cuddly and blue-furred, he made his impact back in his high-school days as a recognized football player! But unfortunately, anti-mutant hysteria killed off his chances of being taken seriously as a continually evolving player that could have gone pro. To be fair, growing to become a student of Charles Xavier, being recognized as an X-Man, a Defender, and even an Avenger, is certainly ANOTHER way of being more recognized. But still, think of all of the fantastic plays Hank could have achieved with his crazy-gripping feet!
GUY GARDNER: That's right; everyone's favorite "idol to manhood" began life as a college football player. If my history involving the "real" Green Lantern still stands up to snuff, an injury sidelined him from the field. But that transitioned over into an interest studying law, and that led to an eventual laywer's practice. But aggression issues, along with being recruited to fill in as Earth's third-favorite ring-slinger by the Guardians of Oa FUTHER sidelined his evolved career path. (I say "third", due to Hal Jordon being quirked into fate to being the primary choice, and John Stewart filling in the secondary replacement shoes.) I won't go fully into the complex history of the Studly Slinger, but suffice to say, Guy certainly gave his pair of field cleats a workout in his college days, and with his aggression issues that carried over into his Green Lantern career, he could have become a football juggernaut. Maybe even used that attitude to snag a few endorsement deals!
THE THING: Football was part of Ben Grimm's first appearance! Reed Richards even recognized him as the "big man on campus" due to his abilities on the football field! But it's also because of Reed that Benjamin Grimm's career path took a VERY drastic turn! Oh sure, they both "went to war" together (And it entirely depends on what era you read the "Fantastic Four" to be able to identify what "war" they exactly fought in), and if it weren't for Reed and the future Susan Richards talking Air Force ace Ben Grimm into flying a certain fated shuttle launch into a band of cosmic rays... All those promotional offers, all those accolades... Faded before those recognizable "blue eyes", because of transforming into the orange-bricked battler of the Fantastic Four. But hey, I guess being the "idol o' millions" because of his super-heroics isn't exactly a step down for recognition.
JOHNNY STORM AND WYATT WINGFOOT: Their college game didn't exactly last too long, and it's NOT the reason why Johnny Storm went to college. Heck, Johnny was ALREADY the Human Torch by that period, but becoming fast friends with Wyatt Wingfoot, who DID enter college via an athletic scholarship... by Football to boot... did connect these fast young friends quickly. But while we didn't see many chronicles of Wyatt's pigskin prowess, we DID see throughout the years how Wyatt became a stout travelling friend... and even partial adventurer... with the Fantastic Four, along with even earning him a relationship with Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk! I don't know about any of you readers, but that's one kind of multi-yardage "green" I would want to play with a bit more than just simple Football!
BRAHMA: Again... Surprised that I COULDN'T resist making a Rob Liefeld character reference? It was dropped, during a story that explained to us WHY we haven't seen Brahma in action after a VERY LONG paused period between Youngblood publishing, that he was apparently a failed football player. Or apparently so his father narrated to us, after he quit the Youngblood team, then later became a member of the vaguely outlined terrorist team, the Four. As for what happened afterwards... he became a member of Youngblood, again, because... lack of logic? And I suppose with a solid build like Brahma possessed, you would think he'd become a pro football ICON! Performance enhancement issues, maybe?
