Chaos Weaving into Fantasy and Reality

The moment is mine, the power is mine, the majesty is mine, Galactus said. 

In an instant, a new region sprung into action, when Galactus showed himself to the human race. 

Galactus is neither good, nor evil, yet he must pulverize entire planets in order to survive. He's taller than many metropolitan skyscrapers, shorter than others. He's the only known entity in the universe that existed before the Big Bang, and that's just the beginning of who he is. 

The Silver Surfer was spawned to the masses in 1966 and created by Jack Kirby. Cutting to the case of all the details, the Silver Surfer on several occasions has stopped Galactus from pulverizing the entire Earth with his wits. 

Despite the power to implode every cell in Spider Man and other superheroes with a mere thought, the Silver Surfer's sheer might is nothing compared to Galactus, who gifted the Silver Surfer, aka Chrome Dome with his powers.

"Parable" is a short two part comic book written by Stan Lee and Keith Pollard in 2012. The obvious is clear from the very beginning. I knew Galactus wasn't going to transform Earth into mere space dust, but I had to know exactly how the Surfman was going to stop him this time. 

In "Parable," Galactus presents himself to the world, and when a high profile evangelist, Colton, convivences his followers he himself summoned Galactus to save our souls, its January 6 across the globe.  

 "If you would be saved, do what you will, take what you will. There is no wrong, there is no sin, pleasure is all," Galactus said. 

Galactus is blindly followed by the masses, and violence and destruction becomes the norm in "Parable."   

 "The sound of riots and mayhem disturbs my slumber, I feel no surprise, I have seen much of man's insanity," the Silver Surfer said. 

Many moons earlier, Galactus had made a truce with Chrome Dome to not destroy the Earth. 

"Who can know when reality ends and legend begins? Do we not see with our hearts and minds, as well as our eyes? Galactus plays god, having pledged not to slay the Earth by force, but by guile, the Silver Surfer said. 

The Surfman's poetic prowess embraced my senses almost every time he spoke in "Parable." Only those who believe blindly can be controlled like puppets as they enslave their minds to madness, because they thirst for leadership like a baby craves mothers milk. What has made them desperate to have others show them the way?   

The citizens of the world cease their worship of Galactus and turn to Chrome Dome for divine guidance. The Silver Surfer leaves the Earth once again, and hopes people realize the truest faith is faith in oneself. 

I have known the heady exaltation of victory and the gnawing pain of defeat, but I shall never cease my search for an oasis of sanity in this desert of madness that men call Earth. (Silver Surfer, "Parable," 2012) 

Four stars easy for "Parable" 1 and 2. 

Mark Izzy Schurr 

Injustices of WW II, Another Modern Moron Book Review

Loyalty hearings conducted by the Alien Enemy Control Unit, began for Japanese Americans on Dec, 7, 1941, and they were asked;

"Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the U.S. and faithfully defend the U.S. from any and all attacks foreign and domestic and forswear any form of allegiance or obedience to the Japanese emperor or any other foreign government power or organization?" 

INSTUCTIONS TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY; No Japs out after 8 p.m. No Japs allowed to travel more than five miles from their homes. These words were laden throughout all of America during the devious debacle of World War II. 

Julie Otsuka's 2003 book, "When the Emperor Was Divine," details the sinister reality about WW II on American soil, beginning on Dec. 7, 1941. Otsuka's book is the story of a Japanese American couple and their two young children during this period. 

Otsuka sagaciously gets to the point from beginning to end, without using a single name. On December's dark day in 1941, a Japanese father was arrested simply for being Japanese. Four days after his arrest, his wife and two young children had zero contact with him. By the 5th day, the husband and spouse were allowed to comminate extremely moderately via telegram. 

Prior to that dark day in December, the couple had been living together for 20 years in America as U.S. citizens. The woman and her children were forced to leave their house with only what they could carry, and report to the Civil Control Station. The CCS, upon their arrival, put them on a train to Utah. For the next 41 months, the husband and wife were severed of their joy together.    

The womans daughter was 11-years-old, and her boy was years younger then his sibling, and the three lived in a small room with a single light bulb, a wooden crate, used as a table, three iron cots and a pot bellied stove with no running water, and the bathroom was a block away. The three also had their Zenith radio they brought with them. 

The crystalline intensity of a single family is magnified for all readers in, "When the Emperor was Divine." 

The boy was very young; "I predge arrgiance to the frag, the little Japanese boy chanted against his will. Solly, so so solly, Otsuka translated. The woman and her children lived in their house till the fall of 1942, before the CCS sent them to a Japanese jail in Utah. 

During their 41 months, imprisoned in the desert, they had bamboo splinters shoved in their fingernails, and they were forced to kneel for hours at time. They witnessed other prisoners starve to death, and others doused with gasoline and made into human torches. Sometimes they were ordered to stand at attention and beaten. 

If you want more invidious details, read the book, it's a quick easy read, written in large font, and it's less than 260 pages, thus making it a swift and convenient read for all ages. The harsh reality of unwarranted fear and hatred is brilliantly documented by Otsuka in "When the Emperor was Divine." Despite the books horrid details, there is no profanity, and its appropriate reading for mature young children.  

Four and a half stars easy for this book I acquired at a Sonoma county library. 

Mark Izzy Schurr