Superheroes, from Ancient Greece to Norse mythology, man has always been fascinated by the allure of beings possessing powers beyond human imagination. Something about gods and demigods brings awe, hope, and envy to our imagination. You may have heard of Spider-Man, The Hulk, Thor, etc. But did you ever hear about the Sub Mariner, or Street Poet Ray? Enter the imagination of the man, the myth, the legend, Stan Lee and his empire of heroes and villains in various universes. I will attempt to chronicle the humble start of Stan Lee’s comic empire to prove that it’s nothing less than the ‘super’ billing it’s given. Without further ado, let’s dive in, going back 85 years to 1939. World War II was slowly escalating, but, stateside, thanks to the so-called ‘protective bubble’ Woodrow Wilson had spread from sea to shining sea. In a country reeling from the aftermath of Prohibition and the Great Depression, with Nazi Germany a looming threat, heroes were needed, and one of the first, published in 1938’s Action Comics No.1, was a certain caped alien with a weakness to green rock. Meanwhile, a rival company, one Timely Comics, watched from afar. They had seen their rivals succeed with spandex-clad, muscle-bound heroes, so it was only natural for them to do the same. The first of these was designed by an obscure artist by the name of Bill Everett. Though his name holds little significance in history, his creation, Namor, the Sub Mariner, a pale-skinned, half Atlantean who wielded a trident, and for some odd reason, had wings on his ankles. (It is important to note, however, that this came from DC’s much more vaunted but similarly-themed Aquaman.) His first public appearance came in Marvel Comics No 1., a full year after Superman, and just a few short months after Detective Comics, which gave the world its first look at Batman, and inspired National Comics to unofficially be renamed DC. But still, in a world where superheroes were still the new fad, there was a cordial reception to the fishy fiend, which inspired Timely to work on others, like the Human Torch, an android with no relation to the Fantastic Four character that would appear 20 years later. Eventually, their big break came in 1941: a star-spangled, boot-wearing guy with underwear on the outside–Captain America. Designed by an all-star writing team, and some guy called Stan, this was the killer comic. And on the front of issue number one? Cap socking Hitler. In the noggin. This was controversial, mainly because the USA hadn’t even joined the war yet. In fact, the New York police had to intervene, and Mayor La Guardia had to issue an official statement to the enraged packs of America-Firsters trying to swarm into the Timely offices. They had struck gold; there was no doubt about it. And, save for a brief dark age in the ‘50s, that was what propelled Marvel on its road to fame. And so, in the famous words of Stan Lee, “‘Nuff Said!”
The Rise of Nintendo by Schamil Saeed, 11
Nintendo. The console that changed the world, for 40 years and still going, there’s no escaping that video games have influenced multiple generations. We’ve all seen the ads; Mario’s mustachioed visage is as familiar to us as Santa Claus or Uncle Sam. But how exactly did this come to be? To figure this out, we have to go back to the year 1981, in the city of Kyoto, the headquarters of Nintendo Japan. The company was a sort of jack-of-all-trades, having dabbled in (successively), playing cards, hotels, and even a taxi service. Their most recent pursuit was electronics, buoyed by the success of their handheld gaming line, the Game & Watch, which was selling like hotcakes in their home country. Recently, however, President Hiroshi Yamauchi, whose great-grandfather had founded the company, had been thinking about trying to reach North American audiences. He soon learned that they preferred the full color, heart-racing action of arcades. Seeing how fellow company Taito had burst onto the scene with Space Invaders, Yamauchi asked his R&D group to develop another space shoot-em-up; the result was Radar Scope, a semi 3-D adventure where you pilot a starship. While the results were positive within the land of the rising sun, the USA release was a disaster. Shipped to the newly founded, short-staffed Nintendo of America in New York City, it had the misfortune to release around the same time as the likes of Pac-Man, and paid the price, with only around a third of the cabinets being sold. Dismayed, Yamauchi asked a new hire to the company, one Shigeru Miyamoto, to come up with a game to quickly reprogram the unsold cabinets with. A year later, he promptly came up with one, featuring Popeye navigating mazes, but the project hit a bump when the company wouldn’t give licensing. No matter, however; Miyamoto quickly replaced series antagonist Bluto with a giant, muscular ape, and Popeye himself turned into a mustachioed man you may have heard of. To prevent animating his hair, our hero got a red cap; and soon the maze was replaced with a rickety construction site filled with barrels. And so Donkey Kong was created, and a star was born. Soon, they couldn’t keep up demand, and the money kept flowing. Sequels poured in; and nothing could stop them, not even a lawsuit from Universal on America’s new favorite ape. Looking forward from arcades, Nintendo saw a new horizon: the console. This came at an especially opportune time in gaming, as, in 1983, the gaming market imploded in America. Atari’s massive stock market crash meant that the field was free of challengers. So, starting in Japan, the same brilliant brainstormers behind Nintendo’s arcade successes devised the Family Computer, or Famicom, coming in an elegant red and yellow color scheme, in 1984. It was an overnight success; but the real greatness would come with the US release. Renamed and redesigned, this would prove to be what put the company in the history books, and it was proven with every timeout hero, with his new, well ‘super’ look, stomped on that Goomba. That much is indisputable. So next time you see, hear, or play Super Mario, or any of Nintendo’s other games just remember it’s not just a game, ‘it’s-a him, a-Mario!’
Scythe, Reviewed by Emily Ke, 12
I know. To think about the end of life, death, is a topic that everyone is scared to talk about. It is depressing to be honest, but after I read the sci-fi page-turner Scythe by Neal Shusterman, I wasn’t scared anymore. In fact, it made me appreciate life more. Through this book, I went into a temporary escape to a world governed by two corporations that run MidMerica (Future USA): Thunderhead, the governing body, and Scythedom, the army. Here, people don’t die of old age, or anything that involves physical damage to the human body, like jumping off a skyscraper. The only way for a life to end is to have a Scythe glean you. I love this word, and this is the alternative synonym from now on. So what does this mean? It’s a chosen method, a ritual, by the Scythe, and how you glean tells a lot about who you are. Now enter the two main characters, Citra and Rowan, who are to be chosen by Scythe Brahms, an honorable old (probably the oldest) sage, to be his apprentices. The funny thing is…neither of them WANTS to be a scythe, so they’re agitated deep inside. Only one of them can become a true Scythe, and they work to NOT be the chosen ones, but let’s not spoil the book about who becomes the ‘unlucky’ one. I could write a whole new book review about what it means to run away from your fate but come to accept it. Sometimes we have to be courageous and rise up to the situation, but this book review is about gleaning, and an equally thought-provoking question came to mind as I was grabbing the pages tighter. That is, who determines the gleaning—us or the ones with power? In this world, they might not have the freedom to choose how to be gleaned, and in the real world, I think we have similar limitations. Then, I started asking my family and friends around me. How would you like to be gleaned (after explaining what that meant)? Everyone had different answers. One said going into a deep, happy sleep where pain is no longer felt, and then drift off into another dimension. I like that one. The other said having one big party with everyone you love with an unforgettable feast, and then entering a door that says ‘Yay, you made it to the other side!” What I realized is that when you give people freedom as to how they want to be gleaned, it’s positive, which makes us positive creatures. When we think about the end, we want happiness and joy not only for us, but for the people around us. As soon as there is control, then we turn into negativity. This is always the central message of dystopian novels, it seems like. The reason I love this book, and why everyone should read it is because thinking about gleaning is a part of life and what it means to be free. We live on this Earth not knowing what’s going to happen next, but we know that we are more likely to suffer psychologically if we get gleaned in a way that we dislike. This is also important in difficult areas like capital punishment or euthanasia rights or just giving people the right to close the life chapter with a smile. So, don’t be afraid to give this book a try. You’ll see that the end of life is just as important as how you live the best life now. Scythe by Neal Schusterman. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2017. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
