Papa Doc Abraxas' Omnium Gatherum

Howdy, folks! Welcome once again to the Omnium Gatherum. Or, if you’re new here, welcome to the Omnium Gatherum. Back when this column was a regular feature at the Comics Waiting Room, I happened to be writing during the first campaign of then-Senator Barack Obama to become president of these United States. Being the politics junkie that I was and still am, I couldn’t help but write about the politics of that election cycle from time to time. Of course I stole my title from the late, great Hunter S. Thompson, from his book Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trial ’72, with my own artistic modifications. In the years since my fascination with politics hasn’t slackened any, even though my thoughts and feelings as a citizen of these United States did change.  But not in the how, the when, or the why anyone who had been following me on social media might think. I would honestly say my thoughts and feelings as a citizen about our current politics really began to change in 2022, as a result o

Howdy, folks! Welcome once again to the Omnium Gatherum. Or, if you’re new here, welcome to the Omnium Gatherum. If either of the two of you readers are paying attention to these columns, you may notice there’s a jump in the recent numbering with this entry.  Where is column #85? Column #85 is a long in the works and long in length piece about Oxymandias of Watchmen fame. Being a Buddhist and being struck by the notion of compassionate violence from Tantric Buddhism, after learning about it while research my White Whale (another story for another time), I wondered about his actions, particularly as the story concludes there seemingly is no punishment on the horizon for his actions. In technical terms, the person who wins at the end of a superhero story is the hero, he’s the good guy; the villains generally win in the short term but not at the end of a particular story. Not unless it’s one of those so called imaginary stories where the bad guys win because this story is not part of the

Howdy, folks! Welcome once again to the Omnium Gatherum. Or, if you’re new here, welcome to the Omnium Gatherum. Long story short and as a warm up for myself before diving into this column’s topic, the Omnium Gatherum is a column I write, started for and hosted by the late, great Comics Waiting Room website, where I ruminate and cogitate, often using big words, over various topics across pop culture and culture in general. This time around the topic came to me as I was haunted by 3 am thoughts, those sorts of odd ideas that come together when one has either stayed up all night or gotten up from a deep sleep. Starting in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it came to be known dominated the marketplace of pop culture and the box office. The resurgence and completed redemption arc of Robert Downey, Jr., occurred during this time, largely due to his portrayal of Tony Stark, the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist, also known as Iron Man. The stardoms of Chris Evans, Chris Hemswort