Trump is the Big Loser!

The Strangest Adventures is, for the first time, making a  political prediction. The crazy election of 2016 is almost over-time for Donald Trump to lose! But let’s examine some events of this election season. Trump beat sixteen other Republican candidates to became the nominee, even though he was arguably the least qualified Republican, though Ben Carson or Carly Florin were just as unqualified. Quite an accomplishment for someone with no experience in government service in any way and having the lowest favorability ratings in US political ratings.Trump began his run by asserting that Mexico is sending illegal immigrants to the US. That is just one of many things Trump has said, many things that have been challenged by the facts. Mr. Trump has gathered many followers based on his xenophobic message, even being supported by the Kiu Klux Klan’s official newspaper, The Crusader. Also Trump receives support from his wife. his children, and Mike Pence, but not of the Republican party. Paul Ryan won’t even say Trump’s name!

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is his opponent, and seems to be the eventual victor on election day and the next President of the USA despite also having low favorability ratings among the electorate as well. For balance, the electorate can examine her lies as well, then decide. Hillary also has people supporting her run too. Her husband, former President  of the United States plus President Obama, Al Gore, former rival Bernie Sanders even Jay-Zee, Beyonce and Bruce Springsteen. Clinton’s main problems seem to revolved around her using a private email server. server while secretary of State.   The FBI decided, with only ten days until the election, to investigate her emails found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. Anthony is the separated, soon to be ex husband of Huma Abedin, who is Hillary’s top aide. Three days before the election, the FBI ended their investigation, resulting in a stock market surge.  The Stock market had been weakened based on fears of a Trump presidency. 

At The Strangest Adventures we’ve been amused by Trump but we’re not amused to hear the possibility that he’s merely a puppet of Russia’s leader, Vladimir Putin. We were not amused at his hidden mike moment with Billy Bush! It was not amusing, either when he proposed banning all people of a single religion from entering the USA. We’ll be glad to see him off of the national stage though Trump does have a large following, mostly people that would in a normal year vote Republican. We are entering a new era-what is to become of the Republican Party in this post-Trump Era? It promises to be another Strange Adventure!

The Fastest Man Alive!

Here at the Strangest Adventures, we have mentioned our fondness for DC Comics super-hero The Flash, The Fastest Man Alive, a few times in the past here and here. Police scientist Barry Allen has a lab accident with chemicals; a bolt of lightening hits them and splashes them on Barry. This gives him the power of super-speed!

The big news about The Flash is beginning this year, 2014, he’s in a brand new TV show. It stars Grant Gustin and airs Tuesday night at 8 P.M. on The CW Television Network. The Flash is actually a spin off of the CW show Arrow, featuring a Green Arrow for the 21^st Century.  Arrow is…ok, I watch it any time a new episode comes on. It’s a bit too much drama for my taste. But The Flash is what I’m excited about. In my opinion the world of super-heroes on both the small and large screen tend too much towards the grim and gritty now. However, The Flash returns the viewer to the days of wonder, dare I say it, it feels like The Silver Age-this is as faithful to the source for a modern interpretation of Flash that we’ll ever likely see.

Nice try, 1990 The Flash TVseries; the uniform was more faithful to the comic but it seemed a bit off; the villains seemed to be watered down versions of themselves except for an over the top performance by Mark “Luke Skywalker” Hamill as The Trickster. In that series, The Flash was played by John Wesley Shipp, who by the way plays Barry Allen’s father in the new series!

In this new Flash series, Barry Allen actually enjoys having super powers unlike, say, the Hulk or the X-Men. The Flash likes helping people and has already fought four foes straight from the comics, Weather Wizard, Multiplex, The Mist, and Captain Cold. There’s a lot of foreshadowing and some characters have familiar names. This seems to be aimed to fan boys as well as casual viewers. Firestorm The Nuclear Man has been cast and will be featured and one character could potentially be Killer Frost. Crisis on Infinite Earths will occur in his future, we’ve already seen a newspaper from 2024.  And there was a scene featuring a broken cage with a plaque reading “GRODD”. Oh Gorilla Grodd, you simian genius!

I was inspired to recreate Showcase #4, from 1956, which introduced The Silver Age Flash but using the modern Flash in his stead. I’ve seen spoiler images of Professor Zoom, The Reverse-Flash so I thought he and the Grant Gustin Flash should appear on the cover of Flash #139 which featured Zoom’s first appearance. I dislike how Zoom's costume is no longer merely a yellow version of Barry's costume however I made the logo match Zoom's color scheme!  I haven’t forgotten the “real” Flash either; here he appears in issue #21 of Secret Society of Super-Villains being attacked by Blackrock, while The Calculator, The Shade, Black Hand, Lex Luthor, and Black Manta look on.  The SSOSV was another favorite of mine but that’s a story for another day.

Superman Saves Obama But…

President Barack Obama has more than his share of troubles; before he was even sworn in, he was being accused of being a Kenyan, a Muslim, a Communist, the list goes on and on. And when he finally did take the oath of office the economy was in free fall with the stock market crashing and leaving everyone to compare that economy to that of The Great Depression. And then the various tea parties arose, whose sole purpose seemed to be to oppose anything Obama was in favor of. I’m not going to cover everything that has happened since Obama took office, but he managed to get reelected in 2012 and this year seems to be crisis after crisis. Now as we approach his last two years in office I’m sure he’s concerned about his legacy.

But one thing is clear, while history will be the judge of his presidency, Obama’s legacy is strong in the world of comic books; he has appeared in more comics than Ronald Reagan, who was the previous modern president to appear most in comics, even having his own title, Reagans Rangers!

One of the strangest homages, (even stranger than Super LBJ!) in my opinion, is a particular character first seen in 2008 in Final Crisis #7, Calvin Ellis, President Superman of Earth 23, an obvious homage to Obama. This was in 2008 when optimism for Obama was at its highest point. At the end of that issue he appeared as a member of an army of alternate universe Supermen.

He reappears in Action Comics #9, published in 2012, where he has to fight a twisted version of Superman from another reality. The story seems to be a commentary on the comic book industry, the other worldly Superman is being used to sell products, sound familiar?

Plus there is much there about the rights of comic book creators, and how they can lose those rights, like Superman’s creators Siegel and Shuster did, for instance. And, finally the “controversy” about Obama’s birthplace is addressed. Great Rao!