Comic Book Wednesday

I think my favorite case of a character coming to life to confront it's author has to be the oft repeated tale of an unsuspecting Alan Moore, sitting there in a North Hampton pub, when all of a sudden John Constantine strolls in and whispers to him the secret of magick - "Any cunt can do it!"

However there have been other cases of fictional characters taking on a life of their own beyond their creator's control:

- Richard Bach, during a rather troubling spell of writer's block, was once visited by Jonathan Livingston Seagull who flew in through an opened kitchen window one early spring morning. Mister Seagull tried to remind the author of the glorious secrets of reality manipulation... only to have Mister Bach promptly bludgeon the loquacious bird over the head with a frying pan and then consume him for his afternoon lunch. As the old adage goes - "If you meet the Buddha on the road, knock him unconscious and devour him whole!"

- A year after the death of William Burroughs, Doctor Benway was reportedly still writing 'scripts for the dwindling junkies and dharma bums that populated Manhattan's Lower East Side. Recently he has been seen hanging out with Doctor Gonzo trading war stories of the Aquarius Revolution and snorting Phantom Cocaine in an abandoned fun house off the Jersey shore. The two doctor's have also been said to have opened up an underground clinic for escaped tulpas and other imaginary friends.

- The ghost of Tom Joad indeed kept his promise to be "wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat.... wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy", frequently appearing invisibly at Civil Rights rallies and marching unseen with the anti-war movement of the 60's. Sadly in the early 80's the ghost of Tom Joad was 'sanctioned with extreme prejudice' by a special PSY-OP division of the CIA who specialized in the extermination of spectral political agitators. The last ectoplasmic remains of poor old Tom Joad remain in a jar rumored to be in possession of Dick Cheney.

- Jack "KING" Kirby frequently enjoyed a fine cigar and all night poker sessions with the various four color deities his art breathed epic life into. One can only imagine the King sitting there in his studio bluffing Asgardians, Eternals and Apocalyptians with the magnanimous grace he was famous for.

- Though they aren't on speaking terms anymore - Ziggy Stardust, Halloween Jack and David Bowie once indulged in a sordid, narcotic fueled three-way that ended in blood and tears. This was when Bowie was still in Berlin finishing up post-production work on his seminal HEROES album. Taking the whole 'making love to his ego' thing way to far, the affair was truncated when an enraged Bowie discovered that Ziggy was seeing Iggy Pop behind his back.