Category Archives: Immortality

CommentaryBC Pires23 Hrs AgoBC Pires -

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY

BC PIRES

READING HAS saved my life all my life. Today, it might be a book like Andre Alexiss Fifteen Dogs that encourages me to keep repositioning nose to grindstone but, since before I was ten, books have always realigned me. I can chart my development as a reader (and, ergo, writer) by the books that blew me away (and the rough age I was when I read them): The Call of the Wild (11). Kidnapped (12). Great Expectations (13). Miguel Street (14). Animal Farm, 1984, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (15). Catch-22 (16). Slaughterhouse Five, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird (17). The Lonely Londoners, Lord of the Flies, Lolita, A Clockwork Orange, L'Etranger (18). Things Fall Apart, Gullivers Travels, Brighton Rock (19). Crime and Punishment, The Wide Sargasso Sea, Moby Dick, The Dragon Cant Dance (20). Midnights Children, Heart of Darkness (21). The Red and the Black, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Anna Karenina, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (22).

From age 22 onwards: Briefing for a Descent into Hell. Immortality. Steppenwolf. The God of Small Things. Love in the Time of Cholera. The Old Man and the Sea. Times Arrow. The Invention of Solitude. The Cold Six Thousand. Invisible Man. Rebecca. Of Human Bondage. Focus. Nausea. Disgrace. Jude the Obscure. A Confederacy of Dunces. The Butcher Boy. Hunger. The Plot Against America. If This is a Man. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Trainspotting. Netherland. East of Eden. Beware of Pity. The Road. A Brief History of Seven Killings. If on a Winters Night a Traveller. The Enigma of Arrival.

And the biggest ones: The Sound and the Fury. Absalom, Absalom! In Search of Lost Time.

Ive left out many because the list is longbut it began when I was nine, with an 11-year-old English public schoolboy.

Between 1922 and 1969 (and the ages of 22 and 79) Richmal Crompton wrote nearly 40 books about William Brown, her mischievous prepubescent hero of comic adventures mocking the hypocrisy of the adult world. She was copying Mark Twain, to be sure, but she did it exceedingly well.

I devoured all 39 William books repeatedly. I was thrilled by Richmal Cromptons writing but I was also a little jealous: what was it about Trinidad that denied me stories about, say, Kenrick? Or Raj? Or Mikey?

We in Trinidad, I concluded, heartbrokenly, were simply not worthy of being written about. We could be subjects of the queen but not of fiction.

I still dip occasionally into the William books I gave my own son and the writing remains impressive. Even post-Faulkner, -Proust -Joyce and -Hemingway, I cannot take out a word.

The William books are timeless.

But, this week, I was shocked to discover that William himself has aged dreadfully.

My storybook William was cheeky to impudence, committed to nothing but escapist fun it was, indeed, his raison dtre and cared nothing about the grown-up world and its foolish preoccupations. He cared about only himself and his own close friends, the Outlaws, who shared his contemptuous disregard for everyone who wasnt one of them. The grown-up world was Williams plaything, its sacraments to be broken, its highest functionaries to be ridiculed for his amusement. He was sworn to fun, loyal to none, never did his homework, never combed his hair, his shirt tails always out, his shoes scuffed. He couldnt give a flying firetruck for pretensions of gentility and/or maturity.

William Brown was the hero of someone incapable of assessment. A secondary schoolboy who couldnt spell at a kindergarten level and didnt care, he hated girls almost as much as he hated any form of authority. The world could burn, if he could cook a tin of baked beans on it.

And hed do just about anything for a cream bun.

I thought William had died with Richmal Crompton in 1969.

But, this week, when he pretended that 148 of his backbenchers voting against his leadership was, somehow, a great victory for him, and that he could now get on with his work, it was only at that moment that I realised that William Brown, grown up, had turned into Boris Johnson.

BC Pires rote this endline bit in the stile of William Brong eef he had be a Trini which he fadder and dem wooda proberly call him Billy. Read the full version of this column on Saturday at http://www.BCPires.com

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William, BC and Boris - TT Newsday

The Future Games Show is returning this summer, a grand celebration of all things gaming that will showcase over 40games on PC and console at a breakneck pace. The show will be broadcast on Saturday, June 11, kicking off at 12 pm PDT (3:00 pm EDT, 20:00 BST) on Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and GamesRadar.

The Future Games Show comes from PC Gamer sister site GamesRadar+ and our publisher, Future. It will be broadcast on Thursday, March 24 at 15:00 PDT / 18:00 EDT / 22:00 GMT on Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, GamesRadar and Bilibili.

How to Watch the Future Games Show

The show will run for around 75 minutes and is hosted by a familiar pairing: actors Denise Gough (Yennefer in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) and Doug Cockle (Geralt). They'll be introducing a mix of world premieres, developer interviews, trailers and new announcements highlighting the best upcoming games on PC and consoles. I asked the GamesRadar+ lot if they could stick Cockle in a bathtub for us but just got a blank look.

You can follow the show's Twitter (opens in new tab) for more updates, and below is a short highlight reel of previous extravaganzas. This is the second of three planned shows for 2022, with the Spring Showcase having already been and gone, and an Autumnal treat to follow.

The day after the Future Games Show, on Sunday, June 12, our own PC Gaming Show will be back to blow you away at 12:30 pm PDT. Arma 4, Sam Barlow's Immortality, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2, and Victoria 3 are just a few of the biggies, so be sure to tune in.

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How to watch the Future Games Show - PC Gamer

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Patty Gasso finally broke. For the first time in 364 days -- when Oklahoma last won a national championship -- the architect of college softball's premiere program found herself at a loss for words.

She survived the final out of the Women's College Worlds Series win over Texas on Thursday night, marking four titles in the last six tournaments, without letting her emotions get to her.

She survived Jocelyn Alo's curtain call, a touching last goodbye to the best hitter the sport has ever seen.

She survived the confetti, the trophies, the hugs and the team photo in center field.

But after she made her way through the dugout, left the locker room and sat down for the postgame news conference, it began to sink in what happened, which is when the tears finally came pouring out.

And it was a question about the D-word -- dynasty -- that got her. She blinked hard when a reporter asked, "When you hear this program talked about in the same sentence as UConn women's basketball, Alabama football, those sorts of other programs, what does that do in your head?"

"I guess I don't believe it," she said.

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She paused, trying and failing to regain her composure.

"I don't know how to answer," she continued tentatively. "I don't think that way."

It was all so surreal, she said. She found herself watching the postgame celebration like a fan.

"They don't realize how good they are," she said. "I don't realize how good they are."

How good? How about the best ever?

Gasso put the onus on the media for that one, saying, "You guys all have the stats."

Fifty-nine wins and the best batting average and the best ERA in college softball this season speaks for itself. But looking at the WCWS on its own, Oklahoma set a record for home runs (17) and runs (64). Looking at those measly three losses on their own, consider what happened the next time out: The Sooners won all three follow-up games via the run rule and a combined score of 39-0.

"I could rank them very, very high, if not the highest, because everything they do looks so easy to me, and they do it so fast," Gasso said, coughing up her own opinion after all.

Oklahoma's dominance showed up in brilliant flashes -- a 16-1 blowout of Texas in Game 1 that was over before it ever really began, or consecutive four-run innings that took the lead and snatched Texas' soul in Game 2.

It showed up when Jayda Coleman dropped back in center field on Thursday night, ran toward the wall and leaped, pulling back a would-be two-run homer. Afterward, Coleman said, "What's crazy is we practice that all the time."

Pitcher Jordy Bahl said, yeah, she's seen her do it "over and over and over."

"She's robbed me," Alo said, adding nonchalantly, "It's just a normal thing for her."

And therein lies the greatness of this team: how they set the bar so high -- and reached it time and time again -- that the spectacular became routine, expected, normal. Gasso had to admit that when it came to her star slugger, Alo, she even began to anticipate a home run every at-bat. And she wasn't that far off.

But it wasn't just Alo redefining slugging. Texas' top power hitters had 11 and 12 home runs, and no one else was in double-digits. Oklahoma, meanwhile, had six players with 13 or more home runs, including Grace Lyons (23), Tiare Jennings (29) and Alo (34).

Jenny Dalton-Hill was a key part of those all-time great Arizona teams in the mid-1990s. In four seasons, she won three championships. But she points to those big bats as the difference-maker in any theoretical matchups of the best ever.

"I'm always going to say '94 Arizona was better because I was on that team, but I don't know," she said. "I think this team is probably more complete. This team has more power top-to-bottom. I wish we could just say, 'All right, 1994 Arizona, you take on 2022 Oklahoma.' It would have to be a video game because none of us could even run anymore."

She laughed before turning serious again.

"I think this one honestly could go down as the best team in the history of our sport."

WHEN THIS MARCH toward immortality began in the fall of 1994, there was no stadium for Oklahoma softball to call home. There wasn't even a dedicated field. There was only Reaves Park and a dugout so small it couldn't hold all of Gasso's new players after she arrived in Oklahoma after five years at Long Beach City junior college in California.

Before practice, they had to take it upon themselves to pick up spent beer cans from the night before.

"Just trash everywhere," Gasso recalled.

Young and ambitious, having left the center of the softball universe of the West Coast for her first Power 5 job more than 1,300 miles away, Gasso put her head down and went to work scouting junior colleges for a quick infusion of talent. But that was only a temporary solution. So she aimed higher and set her signs on a left-handed pitcher from California named Lana Moran.

Without the benefit of a rich program history and unencumbered by a fear of rejection, Gasso charged ahead. Her attitude: "Make them say no."

Moran was the first big yes.

And then it was on to the likes of Leah Gulla, Amber Flores and Keilani Ricketts.

"I fought like heck to try to get them here," Gasso said, "but that's kind of how it began."

Gasso eventually landed Lauren Chamberlain, who was the most accomplished hitter of all time when she ended her career, and Oklahoma became a destination program.

When the Sooners opened Marita Hynes Field in 1998, they couldn't predict they'd outgrow it before long. Two years later, Gasso led the Sooners to their first WCWS and won it all. After that, they were a mainstay in Oklahoma City.

But in order to become the dynasty they are today, one more change needed to take place. Gasso, who had to be relentless in order to build something from scratch, realized she had to dial it back. She had to learn to coach smarter rather than harder and allow herself to make life about more than softball.

And, wouldn't you know it, by putting her family first, by smoothing out her sharper edges, she created the kind of family atmosphere that would attract a Paige Parker, who would attract a Jocelyn Alo, who would attract a Tiare Jennings. Oklahoma amassed talent like compound interest, spitting out a team this season that's so deep it boggles the mind with a half-dozen All-Americans.

Gasso no longer has to push recruits until they say no.

"The difference that Patty Gasso has is visibility," Dalton-Hill said. "She has built a brand that stands for excellence and stands for a bar that has been raised above others. Because of social media, she's now able to recruit the right kind of athlete before she's ever made it into a face-to-face conversation with them."

Before this year's NCAA tournament began, star freshman Jordy Bahl heard a pop in her right forearm and was immediately sidelined. Without the co-Big 12 Pitcher of the Year, most programs would have gone into a nosedive. But Gasso had already brought in help during the offseason in former North Texas ace Hope Trautwein, a senior transfer who once tossed a 21-strikeout perfect game and was coming off Conference USA Pitcher of the Year honors. Trautwein fit in beautifully at Oklahoma, ending the regular season with an ERA of 0.09, and made the transition from the best No. 2 pitcher in softball to the team's go-to starter.

Bahl's monthlong absence barely registered as a speed bump on the road to back-to-back national championships.

Reaves Park couldn't hold them nearly three decades ago. Now, Marita Hynes Field can barely contain all their star power.

So they're building again. In the parking lot roughly 50 yards beyond the left-field fence, there's a sign touting Love's Field -- a $42 million stadium and softball complex that projects to be ready by 2024 and promises to start with 3,000 seats and keep expanding.

The only question now is how they'll honor Gasso on the new grounds.

Oklahoma's legendary football coaches have statues outside of the football stadium -- Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops -- so a precedent has been set.

"I'm sure that'll happen for Patty," Stoops said, "but I didn't want mine up until I was retired."

Sixty years old and showing no signs of slowing down, there's no telling when Gasso will choose to walk away from the finely tuned machine she has created.

STOOPS WON HIS first national championship in 2000, the same year as Gasso.

"You know, I played in three more and sadly lost all of them," Stoops said, laughing. "She's played in a whole bunch more and won most all of them."

Self-deprecating jokes aside, Stoops knows what greatness looks like. A Hall of Fame coach himself, he knows what playing with the weight of expectations feels like. And to see what Gasso has created and how easy her team makes it look night after night, he can't get over it.

He's no softball expert, he admitted, but he can see how this team never lost its passion for the game and credits Gasso pushing all the right buttons.

"Their emotional state, to me, that's the key," Stoops said.

It's Jayda Coleman starting Game 1 of the championship series with a double and screaming at the dugout in celebration.

It's Alo jogging the bases, her arms stretched out wide like an airplane, diving into a swarm of supportive teammates at home plate.

It's Taylon Snow lining out and telling Jana Johns, "Pick me up."

"She goes out and hits a home run," Snow said. "It's pretty awesome to see those things happen."

But in order to truly appreciate Oklahoma's team dynamic, you can't overlook the senior catcher who has sacrificed for the good of the program.

A three-time captain, Lynnsie Elam was Oklahoma's heartbeat.

Elam came to Oklahoma as a coveted recruit five years ago and played as such, starting as a sophomore and junior. But when Gasso felt the need to split time and get fellow catcher Kinzie Hansen on the field last season, Elam didn't put up a fight. Instead, she embraced a restructured role, made the most of her opportunities with 14 home runs this season and continued to lead whether she was in the starting lineup or not.

Gasso called her "the best leader I've ever had."

Late Thursday night, Gasso took turns praising the five-person "super senior" class. She spoke about how Trautwein stepped up in Bahl's absence; how Jana Johns and Taylon Snow got hot at the right time; how "Joce is Joce."

Then she got to Elam.

"Lynnsie Elam is our captain and has been our captain and is the glue that makes this team stick," Gasso said. "She absolutely is the glue. And what I love about her, she's not always in the game, but she is still our captain in the dugout. What she's done for this program, I don't know how I could ever repay her, but she is one of those players that will be associated with greatness forever."

Alo, who roomed with Elam as freshmen, said she wouldn't have made it this far without her. It was Elam who made sure she woke up on time for morning weight-lifting sessions, who offered to drive her to Walmart when she didn't have a car, who asked time and time again, "Do you want to go to the cages and hit?"

"You won't meet a better person or better player," Alo said, "and she's worked really, really hard for what she's accomplished these past five years, and she deserves every accomplishment that's coming her way."

AS FAR AS what's next for Alo, only time will tell.

Earlier this week, she gave no hint as to which professional league she'll be joining: Athletes Unlimited or WPF.

"I don't know which one I'm playing in yet," she said, "but I know some Sooner fans and fans all over the world are going to continue to follow me."

That feels like a safe bet. The Oklahoma faithful have been in on the Jocelyn Alo Experience for five full years now and aren't ready to let go.

But what she has accomplished this season by shattering the home run record has introduced her to an even wider audience. Tom Brady dropped into her DMs after Monday's games. Texas coach Mike White said she should run for mayor whenever she returns home to Hawai'i.

She's not softball-famous. She's famous-famous.

Gasso compared her to Babe Ruth. With her ability and flair for the dramatic, it's impossible to look away.

All week long in Oklahoma City, she has had the gravitational pull of the sun. Fans put off bathroom breaks and stood at attention -- no matter the score or situation -- when she stepped into the batter's box for fear of missing something special. Little girls have run toward home plate, pressing their iPhones against the screen to try to capture her next towering home run.

Alo said it was cool having girls follow her down the hallway of the team hotel. But at a certain point she had to hang a "Do not disturb" sign on her door.

"They pay to see Jocelyn Alo," Gasso said. "... She keeps saying, 'I want to leave my mark.' She's left her mark. She's done it. Right now it's just icing on the cake for her."

She exits the game with a record 122 career home runs and only five runs off Dalton Hill's record career RBI mark of 328. Her legacy as the greatest hitter of all time is safe -- for now.

Because what's truly terrifying for the rest of college softball is what (or whom) she leaves behind.

"I know the world is in awe of what Jocelyn is doing," Dalton-Hill said. "I know I am. But Tiare Jennings quietly is doing the exact same thing."

Alo put a scare into Dalton-Hill this week that she would catch her career RBI record of 26 years. But Dalton-Hill, who serves as an ESPN analyst, is resigned to the fact that Jennings is over halfway to her RBI record -- with two full seasons to go?

"She had 92 in her first year and almost 90 this year" Dalton-Hill said, "and the career total for the record is 328. So you can't tell me she's not gonna be able to do more than Jocelyn Alo."

Granted, losing Alo's bat will cause a ripple effect throughout the rest of the lineup. But, remember, five of the team's top six hitters are expected to return next season. Bahl should be healthy again, and Nicole May will be back. And that's to say nothing of incoming freshman left-handed pitcher Kierston Deal, Extra Innings Softball's No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2022 class, and whatever star Gasso is able to pull from the transfer portal a la Trautwein a year ago.

The home run queen left the softball capital of the world late Thursday night, heading toward an uncertain future.

But she's confident the team she leaves behind will be making a return trip to Oklahoma City soon.

Sure, Alo said she thought the 2022 Sooners were the best of all-time, but she didn't stop there.

"One thing about Sooner softball -- and I've seen it year in and year out -- is they just continue to get better," Alo said. "I don't know what next year holds, but I know that they could make a run for the best team, too, and years to come."

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How Jocelyn Alo and Oklahoma softball cement themselves as the GOATs - ESPN

This year has been a great one for Pusha-T. He kicked things with his impressive Diet Coke record which featured production from Kanye West and 88-Keys. He followed that up with Neck & Wrist alongside Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z. Both songs later appeared on his fourth studio album Its Almost Dry which became Pushas first No. 1 album of his career and an early favorite for rap album of the year in 2022. The project was his first since 2018s Daytona, but as Pusha tells it, it will be far from his last album. Thats because he seeks one major thing in his career going forward: rap immortality.

During a recent profile with NME, Pusha T shared his desire to prove that he is indeed an immortal rap figure. A lot of our forefathers, the greats, they didnt stand the test of time, he said. As great as they were, I dont know how much they are [still] appreciated. [I want] to show that rap doesnt have to age out. When people look at me, they need to understand that I can do this forever.

Its a tall task for anyone to accomplish, even those as talented as Pusha, but with his steady improvement over the years, Pusha might achieve his goal.

You can read Pushas full profile with NME here.

Its Almost Dry is out now via GOOD Music and Def Jam. You can stream it here.

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Pusha T Wants To Prove His Rap Immortality: 'They Need To Understand That I Can Do This Forever' - UPROXX

Welcome back to The Popes Comics, our regular column by award-winning novelist, poet, and Comic Watch contributor Bethany Pope! Bethany brings a wealth of knowledge on literature, LGBTQIA+ issues history, gender, comics, and so much more. We sincerely hope you enjoy!

To say that Uncanny X-Men #137 is one of the most influential comics ever written is stating the profoundly obvious. The suicide of Phoenix (an entity who, at the time, believed herself to be Jean Grey) in an attempt to save the world from the destruction she brings was almost certainly the first sacrifice of its kind depicted in comics.The trope of the noble suicide (as opposed to the noble sacrifice) is under-explored outside of the boundaries of the horror genre and in a way, it is arguable that the story of Phoenix (at least as Claremont wrote it) is horror at its finest. We are presented with a corrupting, world-destroying force, wrapped up in the body of a young and beautiful woman. This force feeds on life energy, and decimates entire planets. That is a vampire story. And I will almost certainly explore that side of things at a later date.Today, I want to examine an aspect of Claremonts storytelling which is often derided, but which (I feel) is an integral part of what makes this story so enduring: the thought bubbles.Claremonts expository, page-obscuring thought bubbles go against the modern comics (and poetic) ethos of show, dont tell, and they have sharply fallen out of vogue, so that the weight of the narrative is now carried by organic, carefully plotted dialogue (good), visual action (great!), or massive, expository soliloquies (terrible. Bad, bad writers). But Claremonts technique is incredibly valuable to his original run. This is how we get to know the characters: by hearing their thoughts and seeing them as they see themselves. The climax of this fantastic story would have considerably less weight without the insights that this technique grants.As a side note, thought bubbles also allow characters to exhibit hypocrisy: lying to the people theyre interacting with, while cluing the readers into their deceit, as well see Beast doing below.Today Im going to examine the seven key soliloquies that form the ethical, emotional, and philosophical heart of this book. Ill look at them in chronological order, as they appear within the text, and analyze their effect on the story.

Jean Grey

Im referring to the character of Phoenix as Jean Grey even though later retcons demolished that portrayal because thats who the character believes herself to be. We see her, lit by something resembling firelight, or the flame of a votive candle, remembering what she did to the people of DBari. What we see here, both throughout the structure of her thoughts, and portrayed via the dualistic tones of the color art, is a battle between opposites: light and shadow, life and death. All of the thematic elements of her story as phoenix are present, and heightened, as her story is brought to its fiery climax.

Nightcrawler

Contrasting Jeans thoughtful, almost spiritual stillness (more on that, in a bit) is Nightcrawlers dynamism. We see Kurt thinking on the move, bouncing from the odds of victory or defeat, to intimations of the faith he later becomes known for, to moralistic ruminations on right and wrong (flavored by his personal history) while his body hurtles through a series of hoops and chains which are suspended from the ceiling. In a single panel, we are shown much of what makes this character so endlessly fascinating. Theres a lot of substance here, given to us in measures pressed down and running over, but the deep concepts on display are balanced by the gorgeous, physicality of the art and the characters own levity, even as his train of thought is interrupted first by gravity and then by Angels unnecessary rescue.

Wolverine

Byrne used Logans nudity to depict both his animal nature and his unusual (unprecedented, at this time) emotional vulnerability. The light in these panels, and Logans meditative stance, reflect and compliment Jeans earlier soliloquy. His ruminations are empathetic, depicting a man who is aware of the conflict facing him, but who will ultimately side with the person for whom he feels the deepest spiritual and emotional connection. This is a samurai, sworn to a master one whose flashing claws remind us that he can never be separated from his weapon. These panels are, in themselves, a work of art.

Beast

This is where the hypocrisy I mentioned in the introduction comes in. Beast, as he exists in the comics right now, is a creature of amoral ego and unlimited drive. This is a Beast of a very different color. This Beast is logically reasoning with himself, and applying that logic in a way that is both intellectually clear and morally sound. And hes doing it while scrubbing his feet with a loofah. Theres a disconnect between action and thought, playfulness and seriousness, which was integral to the character at this time and which modern writers seem to have forgotten. The thought bubbles which enable him to have these thoughts allow for him to playfully flirt with his bath attendant, underlining the fact that his thoughts and actions are very different things. The only reason that we can enjoy such a delicious, frisson-producing level of complexity is that we have access to both the characters spoken words and mismatched actions.

Colossus

Colossus is also presented in his underwear a sight that is meant to signal emotional vulnerability in the reader and his thoughts are relatively straightforward. He decides, quickly, that if he is to be loyal to himself, he must be loyal to his friends, and is determined to fight for Jean. As he makes this decision, he switches from his human form to that of the Colossus, clothing himself in metal and cutting off all weakness and vulnerability, both physically and metaphorically. Its a brilliant piece of storytelling, and it packs an amazing amount of character into a few brief panels.

Storm

Ororo also begins her vignette in the nude, expressing her discontent with the environment in which she finds herself and longing for an innocence she can never reclaim. She quickly clothes herself in layer after layer of stifling clothes, isolating herself physically, while expressing her desire for solitude, before opening up (via the display of a microstorm) and expressing the deep love and kinship she feels for Jean Grey a woman who she views as her spiritual sister.

Cyclops

Scotts soliloquy is both the longest and the most conflicted. In his opening shot, he is depicted as standing within a transparent bubble of glass which juts out into the cold expanse of space a visual metaphor for the extreme isolation of leadership, and the distance it has planted between him and everyone he loves. He is torn between two views, both of which he believes to be equally valid, and this conflict is driving him away from his friends, his mentor, and the woman he loves. The agreement between the vista and the heros internal monologue contrasts brilliantly with the interludes which have come before. Its a startlingly effective piece of storytelling.

This is a brief examination of an utterly fascinating, emotive piece of storytelling. Hopefully this analysis will encourage you to approach it with new eyes, and foster a deeper appreciation for this brilliant collaborative work.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Grant Tarbard. He was a great poet, and a great friend.

Poet, novelist, fencer, pirate, Za-Za, and Comic Watch regular contributor Bethany Pope lives in China. They also hold an MA and PhD in creative writing. Their latest novel,The Hungry and the Lost, was released December 1, 2021 from Parthian Books. You can follow them on Twitter at @theMasqueWriter.

The Popes Comics: Intimations of Immortality in Uncanny X-Men #137

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The Pope's Comics: Intimations of Immortality in Uncanny X-Men #137 - Comic Watch

Just over a century ago, Cecil Griffiths had a glittering athletic career ahead of him. At just 20 years old, he won gold at the 1920 Olympic games in Antwerp for the 4 x 400m relay, making him to this day the second youngest of all British track and field athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal.

It was no mean feat for the working class Welsh runner, who hailed from a poor family in Neath and had been headhunted by the highly selective Surrey Athletic Club. A contemporary newspaper article later dubbed him "the best runner Wales has produced" - a title which his family believe he still holds to this day.

But three years on from his precocious Olympic triumph, the runner's full opportunity to shine was cruelly taken away from him - all because he had inadvertently broken a rule for amateur athletes as a teenager. The Amateur Athletics Association discovered that six years ago, aged 17 and with no ambitions yet as a runner, he had accepted a couple of pounds as a prize money when running for charity events back home in Neath. It was enough of a contravention that the Association deemed him no longer an amateur, and banned him for life from competing for Great Britain internationally in the sport.

Read more: An 11-year-old girl thought she had a headache but it was a brain tumour

The ban robbed Cecil of further Olympic glory at the pinnacle of his career, as it was instated just before the famous 1924 'Chariots of Fire' Games in Paris. If he had been allowed to compete, there's a chance he would have added to his Olympic medal tally. Just a few weeks before the games, he had "comfortably" beaten his main competitor, Douglas Lowe, in the half-mile race, according to his grandson-in-law and biographer John Hanna.

The ban didn't stop Cecil from succeeding in races at home. But the Great Depression of the 1930s saw him lose his job in a factory and for he sold his gold medals - save for his Olympic one - to provide for himself and his family. But his death aged 45 in 1945 left his wife in poverty, and it was never possible for the family to raise money for a headstone at the Olympian's grave in Edgware, London.

After researching Cecil's life, John and his wife, Vanessa - Cecil's granddaughter - have set out to make sure he is remembered. They have done this by telling his story far and wide, and, most recently, finally marking his grave, almost 80 years after his death. On May 13, a headstone, with the Olympic rings and medal in gold leaf, was unveiled in a moving ceremony at the spot where the runner is buried at St Lawrence's Church in Edgware.

John and Vanessa had originally started crowdfunding for the memorial in August 2021, and donations got the plan in motion. But Mossfords Memorial Masons in Cardiff stepped in and offered to make and donate a headstone, after hearing about Cecil's remarkable story. The unveiling of the stone saw Gwalia Male Welsh Voice choir sing the Welsh National Anthem, as well as Cecil's surviving family members - including his great-great-grandchildren - in attendance to celebrate his life and achievements.

Explaining the decision to erect the headstone after so long, John said: "When I first met Vanessa back in the late 1970s, there was always this tantalising information about her grandfather being an Olympic medal winner who had been banned as a youth for taking money. And this tantalising story stayed with me for lots of years". A major car accident in which John broke his back meant he had time on his hands to research the story - and he found it so fascinating that he decided to write a book on Cecil's life called Only Gold Matters, published in 2014.

"As I found out about his life, I realise what an amazing man he was - what an amazing life he had, how badly he had been treated by the athletics authorities to be banned so early - and I wanted his story to be told. And in telling that story, I realised the situation could be redressed for him being forgotten - because he had been forgotten, by Welsh Athletics and by history." John rectified this with the book, and made pledges within it - to get a blue plaque erected for Cecil, a road named after him, and finally a headstone for his grave.

John and Vanessa succeeded getting the plaque and street name in Neath, before focusing on the grave. Their campaign to make sure Cecil isn't forgotten has seen Welsh Athletics induct him into their hall of fame, and the runner's story has become more known and appreciated by the nation and by athletics.

"I think it's important all families have a tangible connection with their ancestors, and I think it's even more important when their ancestors had achieved so much for their country," said John, adding: "That's why we're so passionate about him being remembered because we we've righted a wrong. This came out loud and clear at the ceremony, last week. So many people said, 'You have done so much to rectify the wrongs done against him.'"

Cecil came from a working class family in Neath and his father died when he was just eight. A natural sportsman, he played for the junior branch of his town's rugby club. He left Neath to join the Army in 1918, and it was this which kickstarted his running career. "He realised he could run and he represented the army. And of course, it probably saved his life - because he won so many races for them, they didn't send him to the Western Front, they kept him back in London to run for them," explained John.

And so Cecil made a name for himself in the sport, and was snapped up by Surrey Athletic Club at the end of the war - the dominant, all-conquering club at the time, which cherry-picked all the best athletes. Part of his package was a new home in London and a job in the club owner's shirt factory, which he stayed working in throughout his career, until it closed down in the Great Depression.

Two years on, at just the start of his career, he achieved success most athletes only dream of - a gold medal in the 1920 Olympic Games. He was integral to his relay's team gold medal, as he put them in the lead right from the start, meaning they were not hampered by the "brutal" first relay change which John says was like a "scrum" in those days as athletes jostled with each other to get into the right position.

"He is the second youngest of all British track and field athletes ever to win an Olympic gold medal. There are about 70 of them - he is the second youngest and only four of them are Welsh," said John. He thinks Cecil's experience of running on unkempt, muddy tracks and rugby fields in Wales served as an "apprenticeship" that put him in good stead for the "awful state" of the track in the Games.

It was just the start for Cecil, who enjoyed the peak of his career in the next few years. "He ran incredibly for three to four years throughout the early 1920s - he broke many records. Some of his Welsh records for the quarter mile and the half mile set in the early 20s weren't beaten until the late 1950s - 30 years those records stood. Nearly 15 years after he died were those records beaten."

And so, he was on track to compete in the 1924 Olympics as the reigning half-mile British champion. But in the midst of the glory, tragedy struck - and, it seems, the decision to cut short Cecil's progression, at least on an international level, was a calculated one. Explaining the context behind the ban, John said that Cecil had taken part in "low-key" running races at charity events in his home town. Such events were put on by local towns, who, anticipating an invasion by Germany in the middle war, had to raise money for their own defence, as this wasn't funded by the government.

"Cecil won three of those events, each winning a couple of pounds. Now, he could have accepted a prize - in those days, you could accept a prize to the value of seven pounds. But you couldn't accept a penny cash," said John. Under the stringent rules of the Amateur Athletics Association, if you accepted money for a sport at any point in your life - even if you were a schoolboy, didn't belong to any club, and didn't run for your country - you were liable to be banned from ever being an amateur again.

"He had no ambitions at that point of ever becoming a runner as a career - that was miles away, that was four years down the line," said John. Asked why the Amateur Athletics Association was ferreting around in Cecil's past six years later, John is quite clear as to the unfortunate reason.

"Because he was a working class lad from the Welsh Valley. He was beating the Oxbridge, and other university, upper class athletes. The Amateur Athletics Association was totally dominated, as were many sports, by the ruling upper class. That period of our history was extremely class-orientated and for Cecil to be beating upper class athletes - this working class lad beating these wealthy, privileged, upper class athletes - they didn't like it. So they had to get him out of their hair."

For Cecil, the decision was devastating, as is clear from a poignant passage in the November 1924 All Sports Weekly article that hailed him was Wales' best runner. "He collapsed when told this, and for weeks was positively ill in mind," it reads. "In the circumstance, it is not surprising that he failed to run with his usual dash in the half mile championships of 1924."

The ban stopped him from competing in the Olympics and other international events, but not from competing entirely. As John puts it, he was allowed to run "in Great Britain, but not for Great Britain". Even after the decision, he was still able to win some big races, notably the British half mile championship in 1923 and 1925. There are records of Cecil running until 1929, and his feats throughout this period are a testament to his status as Wales' - and possibly Great Britain's - best.

"He was in the top three of the British Championships, in either the quarter of a mile or the half mile for every year between 1919 and 1927 - nine consecutive years in the top three at the British Championships," said John. "I have researched every athlete I can find in the modern era and historic era. I can't find anyone that shares that statistic, even near that statistic."

He was badly spiked in the British Championships at Stamford Bridge in London in 1928, causing him a bad leg injury, and he had to be carried off the track, covered in blood. This was his last big event, and his career tailed off soon after. He lost his job in the factory when the Depression hit in the early 1930s, and was forced to sell his valuable medals, many of which were solid gold, in order to keep his family afloat. While his family still treasures many of his silver medals, the only gold one Cecil kept, which they still have, was his Olympic medal.

"We don't know whether that was because he valued it emotionally," said John, "or the fact that it wasn't worth a lot of money in those days, because it's not solid gold - it's silver, and it's got a thin gilt covering on it." In the late 1930s, Cecil got a job with the coal board in London and worked for Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes in London, until his untimely death from a heart attack in 1945.

"He was on his way to work there when he died - actually on Edgware station," John said. "What is very emotional for us is that just three or four days before he died, he wrote a letter to Vanessa's father, arranging to meet him. They were going to meet at Paddington Station the day after he died. He'd gone to work that morning looking forward to meeting his son the next day."

He continued: "It's a very lovely and moving letter. It shows what a wonderful warm, caring loving man he was. That quality is passed down to Vanessa's father and to Vanessa. I loved it about her when I first met her 50 years ago, and that's never changed." Though Vanessa never met her grandfather, she has a particularly strong emotional connection to him. Her father - Cecil's youngest son - continued living in Cecil's house in Edgware after he died, and she was born in the house her grandfather had lived in, nine years after his death.

John says Vanessa, who has a rare terminal cancer, has found the journey to erect the gravestone highly emotional. "Getting her to the graveside was really when the emotion kicked in. To really see that headstone, and be sitting their beside her grandfather's grave was an immensely powerful moment for her." In turn, this has been moving for John: "I knew how important this was going to be for her to see this memorial finished, established, placed, and for her to appreciate it."

Describing a recent visit to Cecil's grave since the unveiling ceremony on May 13, John said the presence of the stone had changed the atmosphere "completely". He said: There was the recognition of his beautiful memorial stone, with all the love and respect paid just a week ago. That atmosphere still lingered and will linger forever for us when we visit that churchyard, because we now know there is a tangible memorial to him."

Continued here:

Wales' forgotten greatest athlete who was robbed of the chance of immortality - Wales Online

This Liverpool team will have stories told about it one day. And when those tales are spoken about, loudly and proudly in the years to come, the month of May 2022 might just feature as prominently as any other.

At its midway point, it's shaping up to be some of the greatest few weeks ever seen, even at a club as decorated and as revered as the one from Anfield.

For the third time since late February, Wembley shook to the Liverpool sound. One kiss is all it takes and under all of the lights they're just so glad that Jurgen is a Red. What an incredible ride this team has taken their supporters on this season. And, just a thought, the best could be yet to come in Paris on May 28 as a seventh European Cup is chased.

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Since reaching the Carabao Cup final in January, Jurgen Klopp and his players have had an uncomfortable millstone hanging around their necks. They might not have felt it themselves as they have blitzed their way to the brink of a treble while still remaining in contention for the Premier League title until the final days, but these months have been critical.

After all, for all the garlands that had been deservedly laid at their feet in recent years, more success was needed - so goes the argument, rightly or wrongly - for them to be considered one of the iconic teams of English football history.

Klopp insisted just a few weeks ago that trophies will not define his time here and given the starring role this charismatic German has played in re-energising, rebuilding and re-asserting Liverpool Football Club as one of the planet's true behemoths, that is a fair assessment to those who have witnessed the revolution first hand since October 2015.

It was a theory he reiterated this week, saying: If we are all only happy when we are really winning in the end when your race finishes, what life would that be? When I say 'enjoy the journey' I mean it. Enjoy the journey as there have been so many great moments already."

That simple directive is certainly being adhered to; they're enjoying this particular journey possibly more than they ever have.

But it is ultimately the silverware haul that will define Klopp's legacy to those outside of the Liverpool bubble in years to come. So an eighth FA Cup means more in the grander scheme of things than simply who the trophies were handed to in the year of 2022.

Klopp made five changes to the side that beat Aston Villa on Tuesday as captain Jordan Henderson stepped in for the hamstrung Fabinho and Andy Robertson returned alongside Mohamed Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Ibrahima Konate.

The outstanding Luis Diaz started like an express train and sent in two dangerous crosses inside the first five minutes before he was denied by Edouard Mendy after being put clear by a gorgeous Trent Alexander-Arnold pass.

Liverpool were rocked shortly after the half-hour mark when Salah was forced off with an injury after going down near the centre circle. Diogo Jota was sent on in his place down the right of the front three.

It's the second time Salah has had the misfortune of being withdrawn through injury during a major final and the irony is it now puts the chances of his own personal redemption story against Real Madrid in the Champions League in serious jeopardy.

Salah's replacement had a great chance to break the deadlock at the end of the half but Jota could only steer Andy Robertson's cute cross over the bar with the outside of his foot.

With 20 minutes of normal time left, Klopp sent on James Milner for Naby Keita and Liverpool's best chances arrived in quick succession. First, Diaz rattled the outside of the post before a stunning break from front to back, involving Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara and Milner, ended with Robertson crashing the ball against the post. It was, by some distance, the best move of the game and deserved to be the winner.

It was the first goalless 90 minutes of an FA Cup final since 2007 and Klopp sent on Joel Matip for Virgil van Dijk as another half-hour beckoned. Roberto Firmino was summoned for an exhausted Diaz eight minutes into extra time as Jota moved out to the right.

The Brazil international was clearly still nowhere near 100% after a recent foot injury and neither side were able to create anything in the final stages as they settled for another dramatic showdown on penalties.

And after Mason Mount missed with the score level at 5-5, it was left to Kostas Tsimikas, on for Robertson in extra time, to rattle home the decisive kick. The 'Greek Scouser' settled it for the thousands of actual Scousers behind him. In a season of disbelieving highs, this was the peak.

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Until Paris that is, when it could yet reach a new level entirely at the Stade de France.

Whether he would care to admit it or not, Klopp is now playing to garnish his Liverpool legacy; to ensure his time at Anfield is referred to as a dynastic one comparable to the finest eras that went before, without the aid of hyperbole or recency bias.

Events between June 2019 and July 2022 - when Liverpool picked up the Champions League, Club World Cup and Premier League - have long cemented Klopp as a legend on Merseyside and the most talismanic figurehead since Sir Kenny Dalglish in the 1980s will surely one day be immortalised outside Anfield with a statue in his honour.

But after signing a new contract a little over two weeks ago, the next four years give him the opportunity to rack up the kind of glittering collection not seen at this club for decades. It must surely bring a rare kind of serenity to Klopp knowing that the aim of the game from here on out is merely to furnish an honours list that now stands at six in as many years.

Klopp can add this FA Cup to his collection, making him the first manager to win all four of the League Cup, FA Cup, European Cup and league championship at Anfield. In fairness, the German can still do all that before the end of this month, such are the times. Add in the fact he is the only Reds boss to lift the Club World Cup and we're talking about a manager whose name belongs in the conversation of the all-time greats of the Liverpool dugout.

And with the biggest game in club football to come in Paris in two weeks' time, what a thought that must be for the planet's elite coach, one who is in possession of one of world football's most enviable squads. These times simply must be savoured.

More:

Jurgen Klopp reaches Liverpool immortality but the best could be still to come - Liverpool Echo

This is not a piece I was dying to write. Its about death. The great equalizer.

The reason I bring up the subject today is that I read a piece recently that scientists are looking seriously at ways to keep us alive forever. No more wakes. No more inflated obituaries. No more people saying nice things to the family about us they really didnt mean. No more squabbling over who gets what in the estate.

Some deep-pocketed moguls seem to think there might be some big bucks in the effort. Big bucks, as in an estimated $610 billion by 2025. According to my abacus, thats two-and-a-half years from now. This tells me that we must be worth more alive than dead. Sorry about that, estate planners.

Heavy hitters like Paul Thiel, co-founder of Pay Pal and Jeff Bezos, Amazons chairman plus whoever is running Google these days are all funding initiatives to figure out a way to keep us and them, I would assume from kicking the bucket. The ideas range from rejuvenating cells to hacking the little boogers in order to recode them. If some nerdy kid locked away in his bedroom can hack my computer, how hard can hacking a cell be?

At a recent conference at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences which I was unable to attend because it occurred the same week I had scheduled to rearrange my sock drawer, director Thomas Fink told a Washington Post reporter that life could be engineered to live longer if we could figure out why we age in the first place. Scientists agree that all organisms degrade over time and eventually break down. That is probably why my knees ache.

Forrest Sheldon, an associate at the institute, thinks that if the aging process is a mechanism inside the cell controlled by a transcription program, we might be able to influence it. Ill take his word for it because I have no idea what he is talking about.

This isnt the only effort at trying to figure out a way to help us achieve immortality which I will say modestly that I think I have already managed to do, thanks to my witty and thought-provoking columns. (Pause for applause.)

There is cryonics where they freeze your body, hoping to figure out how to thaw you out which seems still to be a bit of a problem. And then there is something called mind-loading which involves scanning the brain accurately enough to copy it to a computer in digital form. The computer would then supposedly be able to experience feelings and have a conscience. What it would not be able to do is write witty and thought-provoking columns which, by the way, doesnt require a conscience.

Searching for eternal life on this earth is nothing new. It has been going on for eons and to no avail. Remember Ponce de Leon who came to Florida supposedly looking for the Fountain of Youth? All he found was water that smells like rotten eggs and a tourism industry.

The big question that must be asked is do you really want to live forever? That means if you can, so can a nutcase like Vladimir Putin. And that little fat guy with the bad haircut who runs North Korea. And the Supreme Whoever in Iran that hates Israel and wont let women ride bicycles. Not to mention the woke crowd, Cancel culturists and robocallers.

On the other hand, I would have humor-impaired wingnuts on both ends of the political spectrum to gig into all eternity as well as more tut-tut special interest groups than a yard dog has fleas, assuring me of an endless supply of witty and thought-provoking columns and further immortality. Not to mention a bunch of cranky emails.

I could paint forever and eat banana pudding forever and avoid broccoli forever, hoping the stuff couldnt get its cells hacked and might disappear forever. I could bleed red and black and never run dry and watch You-Know-Where Institute of Technology win three games a year into perpetuity.

Alas, scientists admit all of this is a long way off and might not even happen not the three wins a year for YKWIT, thats a given Im talking about staying alive forever. Evidently, hacking rejuvenated cells isnt as easy as it sounds. Rats.

I guess I will just forget all the science talk and get back to churning out witty and thought-provoking columns. After all, there is more than one way to be immortal.

Dick Yarbrough is a longtime Georgia resident and former public relations executive. Reach him at dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139; or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dickyarb.

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Dick Yarbrough: Who needs to live forever to be immortal? - Daily Citizen

Depending on who you ask, Black Adam of the Shazam family of powers is either an anti-hero or a downright villain. The character is slated to make his big-screen debut this year, played by Dwayne Johnson, but before that happens, he'll star in a new ongoing series written by Christopher Priest, who's known for not just reinventing characters, but challenging the white-centric mythos that accompanies many legacy characters at Marvel and DC.

With his take on Black Adam, Priest is once again pushing the envelope, and he says he's surprised DC is letting him do so much. In addition to dialing in on Black Adam's Egyptian heritage and tackling the more political aspects of the character and his power, Priest is also writing the character strictly as a villain who's well past the point of getting a redemption arc.

Black Adam #1 follows the titular character, aka Theo Teth-Adam, as he chooses a descendent to help him bear the weight of the Shazam power while he's on the brink of death. The series features art by Rafa Sandoval, colors by Matt Herms, and letters by Willie Schubert, and it debuts in June.

We spoke with Priest about his reasons for signing onto the series, why he finds Black Adam interesting, how he and the creative team are evolving the character, and what makes him nervous about seeing the series actually hit shelves.

Samantha Puc for Newsarama: Priest, what most appeals to you about the character of Black Adam?

Christopher Priest: I think in general, what appeals to me about him is kind of that Vandal Savage thing, in that this is a guy who is cursed with immortality. Immortality sounds like a good deal, but it's kind of like retirement. I know some guys who retired and they said to me, 'For the first five, even ten years, it was great. We took vacations. We slept in. We did whatever we wanted to do. And then we realized, oh my god, this is boring.' I think, as I see it, immortality is like this overcoat. A heavy, winter coat that becomes burdensome to wear after a while. You need to take it off every now and then.

In our series, we will see as much of Theo Teth-Adam the man, the human being, as we will of the immortal Black Adam. What would this guy be like? What goes on inside this guy's head? If there was a challenge for me, that would be it.

Nrama: You've talked about being hesitant to take on this series. How did your editor, Paul Kaminski, win you over and convince you?

Priest: I did what I always do, which was open my big mouth. Sometimes I try to say something to scare an editor away. I try to get him to go away, or to explain why I'm the wrong guy for this book. [So I said,] 'If I was going to write a Black Adam series, I would do something like this.' I went into how I would focus more on his ethnicity. I said, 'Look, by the way, Egypt is in Africa. You gotta stop drawing him like a white guy. You gotta stop treating him like a white guy.' There's all this unexplored country within the character's makeup, and DC's never gone there. They've never said, 'OK. This is a guy from the Middle East who lives part-time in America, where he would be subject to a certain level of scrutiny and bigotry.' There would be these political forces around Kahndaq that are pressing on him externally: He's right next door to Jordan and Israel's not that far away, and then the real Egypt is to the west of them.

Then you have internal forces. You have a growing democracy movement. Black Adam's trying to be very progressive. Kahndaq the city is full of all these ancient monuments, but we're also seeing all of these construction cranes dotting the landscape because he's trying to transform it into something more like Wakanda. So he's modernizing and up are going these amazing glass towers, and things like that. The people of Kahndaq are split over that. Some people like that: 'Yes, we'd like a secular government. We like you progressive.' But some want Sharia Law and they want traditionalism. So there's this tension going on there. He can't support a democracy movement, not because he doesn't want his people to be free, but because American-style democracy is a very difficult thing to attain and a very difficult thing to maintain, as we are seeing in our own country. Ironically, I agree with Black Adam, where Black Adam is against democracy in Kahndaq. I think he's right.

These are the kinds of issues that I would want to explore if I was doing a Black Adam book, and I just assumed that Paul Kaminski, my editor, would hang up on me. I'm surprised that he didn't and that we continued having a discussion about it, but I'm even more surprised that this book is actually coming out. I never thought we'd get this far. I just thought somebody, somewhere, in some office, wearing a tie, was going to see this thing and go, 'Oh my God, fire that guy! We can't print this! This is too edgy for what we do here.' But apparently not, so I apologize to DC. I apologize to Paul Kaminski.

Nrama: How much input has the creative team had in shaping this new take on the character?

Priest: I don't want to speak for Rafa [Sandoval, the series artist], but I believe we are really forming a good partnership. There are some things we communicate as a group with Paul and with Matt Herms, our colorist, and Chris Rosa, our assistant editor, but there's an awful lot of one-on-one communications in the middle of the night between Rafa and I where we're talking about character. I feel like the more he understands character, and the more he understands where I'd like the series to go, the better informed his creative choices. A lot of times I'm asking him, 'Do you think better with, or better without?' I'd like to think that we are building a very productive partnership, rather than just, 'Well, I write.'

Nrama: Why was it important for you to create a story about Black Adam and about Theo Teth-Adam that stands on its own?

Priest: First of all, I had assumed that we'd be coming out after the movie. I'm a little nervous no, I'm a lot nervous that the film got delayed. Apparently, all of the VFX houses are all backed up because of what's been going on, so we're out of the gate before the movie, much to my horror. There's so much attention on the movie itself and so the sharks are circling, just looking for something to do while they're waiting for the movie to come out. And they're like, 'Aha! Here's this Black Adam comic. Let's rip that to shreds.' I'm like, 'Please be nice to me!'

Beyond that, I had assumed that people would come out of the Black Adam film and hopefully pick up the Black Adam comic book. I didn't want them to immediately be confused if I had to explain why all the heroes are dead and all this other stuff, and so forth, so our first act of our series the first six issues if you want to place them in continuity, they actually take place just before the Justice League all gets squashed like bugs. Issues #1-6 take place before that, and the events of Dark Crisis and the death of the Justice League will be reflected in issue #7 onward. That way, if you've never read any DC, you don't have to prepare yourself. You don't have to study. You don't have to read anything or learn anything or know anything. If you've never read a comic book in your entire life, you could pick up Black Adam #1 and not feel confused.

Nrama: What changes or evolutions are you most excited about exploring?

Priest: I, personally, have never seen a comic book about a villain where the villain is getting what he deserves. We did a little of that with Deathstroke, where his character flaws led him to be kind of like Wiley Coyote just kept having the anvil dropped on him. Our theme here is that there is no redemption for Black Adam because there really isn't. They've gone too far with the character. He's done too much harm. He's killed too many people. He's dropped too many babies on their heads. This is a bad guy. As much as DC or Warner Bros. or my mom or whoever would like me to turn him around and make him a hero so they can sell lunch boxes with Black Adam on them, this guy is a villain. That's how I see him and that's how I'm going to write him until somebody wises up and fires me.

This is a guy who's obsessed with legacy, and he would like the last years of his history to reflect a better person than the earlier years of his history. He's obsessed with his legacy, but he's trying to clean up his act for the wrong reasons for reasons of ego and building a monument to him or whatever the story is. Superman helps us because Jonathan Kent taught him to help us, because Martha Kent taught him to help us. Black Adam helps us because it looks good on his resume. He's doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

Nrama: What can longtime fans expect from this series?

Priest: There's subtext in the series for longtime fans. There is stuff that they can read between the lines. Obviously, there are characters who pop up who shall remain nameless for now that longtime fans will recognize. New readers won't know who they are, necessarily. There are a couple little Easter eggs for long-term fans, and I hope they will find the Black Adam character recognizable even as we evolve him. It's the same character, but a completely new take on him that I think will make long-term fans say, 'Well this is really interesting, that they found some new ground to explore with the character and take him in this new direction.' Hopefully, they'll be excited and interested to see where we're going and what we have in store. Fingers crossed.

Nrama: What makes you the most nervous about putting this book out, aside from it coming out before the movie?

Priest: How aggressively negative the social media atmosphere is, where it's more fun to tear something down and attack something than it is to give it a chance or give it a thumbs up. I've been driving everybody crazy, and my apologies to my editor and our marketing guy, Nicholas Valente. I'm just biting people's heads off and I'm in a foul mood because I really have high hopes for this book. It would really upset me if the book got shafted before it even got to the stands. I'm at least trying to get it on sale, get it to your comic shop before people start tearing into it.

I'm not sure why, but it feels like a lot of these people who are critics of Marvel or DC but especially DC, people really have a hard-on for DC don't actually buy the books. They've not actually read the books. They've read about the books. Jonathan Kent is bisexual. Attack, attack, attack, attack! Have you actually read the book? It's pretty good! I'm not really sure what the problem is, but this is what I'm talking about. It's not like pre-Internet when we had more control over the marketing. I'm just trying to get the baby delivered into mommy's hands and get a fair shot. I hope the book finds an audience. I'm having so much fun writing it, and believe me, I'm a cynical guy. I'm not a very good liar. If I wasn't enjoying writing the book, I wouldn't say so.

Nrama: Can you tell us about the new character that's introduced in Black Adam #1?

Priest: His name is Malik. The origin story we are using for Black Adam is derived from the New 52, where he kills his nephew Aman and steals the Shazam power. In our series, he comes across a descendent I'm sure he has many, many, many descendants and circumstances bring them together. Eventually, Black Adam grows to see this descendent, this young man, Malik, as kind of a proxy if not a replacement for Aman. The Black Adam power was always meant to be shared between Adam and Aman, but Adam was fearful that Aman would force him to be a nice guy. In the end, he axed the kid. That's the original sin. That's the moment that haunts Black Adam through eternity, and Malik represents a second chance. A second bite of this particular apple. We'll see what happens.

Nrama: What are you hoping readers take away from this series?

Priest: I think we're exploring the nature of heroism and why some people are heroes and some people are not. Being a hero is not as simple as tying a cape around your neck. I really hope readers will see a little of themselves in Black Adam and a little of themselves in Malik, and realize that all of us man, woman, non-binary, Black, white, Asian, Latino, Democrat, Republican we all are sharing this human experience. There are shades of Black Adam and shades of goodness in all of us. It's really about the human struggle and how it's worth being a positive contributor.

Nrama: Is there anything you'd like to add?

Priest: I'm very excited, very hopeful about the book. I think the quality of the book owes as much to my editor, Paul Kaminski, as it does to any single person on the creative team, especially me. I have driven everybody crazy because I'm so neurotic and I really want this book to succeed. I really wanted to carefully control the pre-flight messaging, so we have the best fighting chance of being received. Everybody here is just swinging for the fences. I've never seen better art come from Rafa Sandoval. Matt Herms, the colorist, is someone I did not know until now and wow! Oh, just wow. I'm very hopeful, very thankful to everybody, including our letterer, Willie Schubert. We're just hoping for the best.

Black Adam #1 goes on sale June 21.

If you're not sure who Black Adam is or what his powers are, check out our explainer.

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Black Adam writer Christopher Priest hopes readers give the series a fair shot - Gamesradar

Content Warning Mentions of and Allusions to Depression and Suicide

With it being Mental Health Awareness Month, it has become a time filled with many difficult discussions. Talking about mental health is never easy, whether it be because the topics themselves are triggering or because opening up about ones inner thoughts is easier said than done. When I wrote this poem originally in middle school, I truly didnt understand the complexity of mental health at the time; I was mainly focused on this notion of comparing the idea of gravity with that of suicide and depression. During my poetry class I decided to revisit this poem and tweak it until this middle school thought was fully fleshed out. As it covers a rather sensitive subject, please dont read this lightly.

Gravity

I see you lost your sense of gravity.

There were no farewell speeches, nor bidding

adieu, just a missed call or two,

it rang

and rang

but since when does that end in tragedy?

Youre more like a doll, now not quite Barbie,

but this model comes with scars from cutting

away the string that held you down. Theres nothing included

to provide immortality.

Youve left me behind, just like you used to:

Like at prom, my last soccer game, or that night

when we almost got matching tattoos

with our initials engraved in our thighs.

Now Im standing here

in this crowded room

with those you left behind this year,

who glance around to affirm

that they still have a tight grip on their

sense of gravity.

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Pen and Ink The Lawrentian - The Lawrentian