Writer ponders ink, imagination and understanding
Thinking Out Loud
Accomplishments in engineering and technology, no matter how crude or simple for the time, have been a part of man’s evolving need to improve himself and his surroundings for as long as we’ve existed, and I imagine they always will – or should, less we become complacent and believe our curiosities finished.
I begin my thoughts with Johannes Guttenberg, born in Germany somewhere around 1400, give or take. He invented the first printing press, incredibly fast for its day, and with it, revolutionized the exchange of intellectual reasoning and knowledge – good, bad or indifferent, and the subsequent imaginations of humankind, no matter how ludicrous or far-fetched.
He printed the first bible around 1455, now known as the Guttenberg Bible, and propelled Christianity into the spotlight, even though spotlights didn’t exist as such back then. It was a far better means of communication than traveling monks, Crusaders, or hermit like Theologians desiring to spread the news of Jesus Christ.
As the decades and centuries ticked by, revisions and new versions of the bible were written, printed and distributed. Each one began with the Creation and ends with the Revelation, when Jesus returns as the King and the Judge who cleanses the earth from all evil. Everything that happens between day one and our final day is a story or a parable about events that occurred, can or will occur, and how best to choose our personal journey toward acceptance into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is up to us to decide for ourselves.
There are thousands of laws on the books in legally binding text that tell each culture or society the offenses against another individual which can lead to imprisonment or death. The last word on a person’s guilt or innocence on our mortal plain is handled through the legal system and the courts, and thusly the exoneration or punishment to be given.
When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he carried two stone tablets. On these tablets were the Ten Commandments, written by the hand of God. They contained somewhere in the neighborhood of 313 words depending upon which version of the commandments a person follows, but it’s a good average. So in retrospect, we’ve convoluted and cultivated ten simple rules into a labyrinth of twisted rhetoric to prosecute and/or defend that which is short and simple. We have the habit of muddying the upstream waters so no one can drink from below.
And now look what I have done. I have muddied the upstream waters; let me an attempt to clarify. My original thoughts about Guttenberg and the printing press were going to lead us into a tale about the first comic book, called “The Adventures of Mr. Obadiah Oldbuck,” written by a Swiss author named Rodolph Topffer in the 1830’s.
Obadiah longed for love and pursued the heart of a young maiden who had high demands and many other gentleman suitors. The relentless setbacks and opposition did not dissuade him and he eventually won her hand.
It’s an ageless story is it not?
And again as decades and another century ticked by, comic books became fabulous yarns about super hero’s defeating super villains against impossible odds, preforming impossible feats of bravery and strength and powers beyond the norm. Thank you, Johannes, for making it all possible.
But the real kicker is someone who appeared on the scene thousands of years prior. He was born in a manger. He was the original Super Hero; everyone knows his name. Humble and demur through most of his life, he had compassion and comprehension unbeknownst to many back then and to not enough now. His powers are without equal, and he shares them with us daily if we choose to accept them.
Modern day fiction is whimsical fantasy, escapism into that which is not real, only make believe. My Guy, our Guy, he is real. He receives far too little adulation or press for what he has done or is capable of.
He is the true Marvel. No one else comes close, in colorful animation or otherwise.
Bill Ryan lives in Osmond and writes an occasional column for the Northeast Neb. News Co.