After spending most of Saturday and Sunday at my mother’s with my nephews, Alex (13) and Stan (11), I headed home with the elder nephew in tow. Alex spent the next couple of days with me and Brandy.
Visiting the Geek Compound during the summer has become a regular thing for Alex. Between playing games, watching movies, and reading comics, Brandy and I try to expose him to foods he doesn’t normally try. Last year it was Indian food (which he loved) and this year we introduced him to Vietnamese food and veggie burgers. Both proved successes.
On Sunday night we played another two games of Dominion and then we chatted. Alex and I always seem to have late night talks when he visits, primarily of a geeky nature. This time we focused on comic books.
Steve Ditko’s Spider-man
Alex innocently mentioned that Stan Lee created Spider-man and the Fantastic Four. As most serious comic book fans can tell you, Lee co-created the iconic characters. I proceeded to educate the nephew. I showed him the collections of the Ditko Spider-mans. He noted how much the they looked like the movies. (I, of course corrected him. The movies looked like the comics.) Then I told him about Jack Kirby and the Fantastic Four. He actually muttered, "Jack who?" *sigh* Teaching the next geek generation is never done.
Jack Kirby from 2001: A Space Odyssey
I attempted the impossible task of explaining The King, when I decided it’d be easier to just show him. I pulled a copy of Mark Evanier’s loving memoir Kirby: King of Comics off the shelf. Alex opened the book. His eyes went wide, and he managed a weak "Wow." He flipped through the book, stunned by what he saw. He couldn’t believe the quality; how utterly cool it was; the detail; the excitement. He’d never seen anything quite like it. It blew his young mind. The whole sequence warmed my geeky heart.
I left the stunned Alex flipping through the gorgeous book and wandered off to bed.
The following morning, we continued our game playing frenzy with Memoir ’44, but that’s a story for the next installment.