This Just In! Mark Childress (in Blurry Photo) on Superman's Pal!

Just when I thought I had stopped blogging... I heard from Mark Childress (pictured, left; he's less blurry in person), renowned author of modern classics like TENDER, CRAZY IN ALABAMA and ONE MISSISSIPPI. Now I feel compelled - nay, charged! - to complete Pt. 2 of my in-depth series about the youthful comic book preferences of our nation's literary elite. My one fear is that it will nudge the picture of me down to the bottom of the page where everyone will forget to look at it. I know I described it in an earlier posting as "simpering," but I was just being humble. Well, today I was working on a new novel and I included a long speech about Richie Rich. Imagine my surprise when Mark Childress, on this very same day, sent me a nice email about his childhood affinity for that selfsame Richie Rich! Mark wrote with equal eloquence on the subject of Jimmy Olsen, Superman's pal, another of his favorite characters. Maybe if I can get permission from him I'll post his whole email. Anyway, in a second astonishing coincidence that is bound to shake the blogging world to its core, just THIS LAST WEEKEND I spent the last of my money on a couple of reprints of Jack Kirby's short-lived stint as the writer-artist on the Jimmy Olsen series. It's some WEIRD Jimmy Olsen! Jimmy Olsen vs. aliens and clones. DON RICKLES (!) appears in two of the stories, no kidding. It's Superman, Jimmy Olsen and Don Rickles fighting aliens. I'm not fooling. Mark also mentioned the Legion of Superheroes, like Tom Bissell in the previous entry. Based on statistical analysis I can state with total accuracy that the Legion of Superheroes is therefore the primary inspiration of our great modern fiction writers - a startling discovery! I will leave you with the opportunity to click on this link to an unappealing Richie Rich rip-off. I think this is what blogging is, right? This thing I'm doing now?