I had recently reached my 50th birthday the other week, and I have to admit that initially, the day wasn’t all that special. It probably didn’t help that my celebration of this half-century milestone was more of a halfway measure as I was currently halfway around the world from my wife and family. So while my birthday dinner comprised of what I believe to be the best sashimi the Roppongi district has to offer, it was less enjoyable when partaken at a table-for-one. I also splurged on dessert, a lovely honey-lavender pudding that one of my dear aunties managed to bring to me from Hokkaido. However, the evocative taste triggered thoughts of an exquisite delight that I had shared with my absent wife that I am to this day still debating whether the indulgence was more pleasant or painful.
I do suppose one consolation of my then-current solitude was that
it had provided an excellent opportunity for deep self-reflection on the past five
decades of my life – a chance to see how far I had come into this world, and
how far I have yet to go.
But the only “midlife crisis” I wanted to deal with belonged
to my cartooning “altered-ego,” the unabashedly conceited "Professor
Xum," who couldn't help but commemorate the half-life occasion in a recent
“mock comic book cover” submission to "The Line It Is Drawn"
(a feature of the “Comics Should Be Good” blog on ComicBookResources.com [hereinafter
referred to as “The Line”]). The week's theme revolved around a breakout
cartoon programme called “Adventure Time,” of which I could sum up all of my
personal knowledge at the time in this “sketch cover variant.”
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| The summation of my knowledge of "Adventure Time." |
But a little thing like lack of show knowledge wouldn’t stop
the narcissistic Professor – especially since he recently discovered that he is
about the same age as another “Professor Zoom,” who was a recurring
villain in one of his favorite childhood comic books. The idea of having two
fifty-year-old “Professors” squaring off on the comic book cover was too much
to resist, even if it had nothing to do with “Adventure Time.” Fortunately, a
Twitter suggestion happened to request a team-up between a couple of the show’s
characters and Zoom’s four-color arch-nemesis. So all the wily Professor needed
was a few quick Google searches on “Adventure Time” to figure out the creative
shoehorn he needed. The egocentric result can be viewed here.
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| The Epic Confrontation No One Demanded |
Little did the vainglorious Professor know that this would
only be the first “doppelganger duel” on the week of his birth. His long-distant
wife and a few Stateside friends have conspired with the ever-wonderful ShannonFarnon to provide a special birthday surprise to a longtime SuperFriends
fan: a follow-up audio scenario for the one episode that never truly had an ending. And the villain of the audio piece goes to super-extreme measures in
an attempt to eliminate me (as if my head wasn’t swelled enough). Fortunately
Wonder Woman arrives to save me… and the day… in a very unique manner. Of course I can’t keep this wonderful birthday
gift to myself. You can check out this fantastic audio treasure here.
(By the way, it’s possible to hire Shannon Farnon yourself to
create a Wonder Woman recording for your loved one’s birthday, or any special
occasion. Just visit the “Voice Mails for Sale” tab on her website to
find out how.)
