As is traditional for blog posts of this type, I must start with an apology. It’s been a hot minute since I posted here, and that’s on me. I haven’t been lazy, but I have been struggling to come up with meaningful things to say on topics that matter to me. It’s hard to find ways to discuss current events without simply screaming. 

But I will persevere. I will also set more regular hours for my writing, which should translate into more regular posts. Asking for consistency from a writer is coaxing blood from a stone, but it’s necessary for me.

I’ve also been thinking about the future of this blog. I want to continue posting unrelated entries as they come to me, but I also recognize that I lack momentum. I’ll complement the random essays with themed series to coax readers back regularly.

I have two ideas for a series, and I’ll leave it up to a vote to decide which one to pursue. Both would take a long, long time, if ever, to finish. But provided no tragedies or societal collapses occur, I am willing to commit to the long haul. It might even be fun.

The poll will be held over on this blog’s Discord server, so if you want to have a say, you’ll have to join. I assure you, this is not (only) a ploy to increase the number of members over there. Anyway, the series ideas I have are described below. Read them over well before you make your choice!

The Greats

Throughout history, there have been many people – primarily men – known as “the Great.” The title began as a suffix for the Persian emperors (they didn’t have the word “emperor” back then). Over time, the title became a nickname of sorts, bestowed on extraordinary people.

This series would be biographies of every single person recorded as “[Their Name] The Great.” It would start with mythological figures, such as Ajax the Great and Yu the Great.” Once we were done with the somewhat-historical, we would move on to actual history. Here we begin with Sargon of Akkad and end with Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand from 1946 to 2016.

But it won’t be a simple, straight biography. I want to use each of these people as a lens to understand why they were named the Great. Society gave some the title in their lifetimes, while others received it afterwards. Some used to be called “the Great”, but are not anymore. I want to reflect on what this title meant to the people who received it. 

The list is a more varied one than you might expect, with some shocking commissions. Julius Caesar isn’t on the list, but his rival Pompey is. Napoleon isn’t, but Kamehameha, the first King of Hawaii, the “Napoleon of the Pacific”, is. Despite its position as the world’s modern superpower, there are no Americans on the list.

(There is one Canadian. Wayne Gretzky, a hockey player.)

Trials of the Century

You’ve probably heard the term “Trial of the Century” before. You might’ve assumed it was about one trial, and that every time the term is used, it refers to the same trial. But, it doesn’t. There have been many “Trials of the Century”, stretching from the 19th to the 21st century.

It is a title used for only special trials: a sensationalizing term for a sensational story. It refers to murder trials, presidential impeachments, and heinous crimes against humanity. Through a telling of these trials in chronological order, a story of the modern world forms.

In opposition to The Greats, where there are no Americans, they abound in Trials of the Century. The title is a uniquely American term, born of a culture that was coming of age in a time of mass media. But there are non-American trials included: the Dreyfuss Trials and Nuremberg, among others.

Also, unlike “the Greats”, the vast majority of the Trials of the Century received that title in their day. They thus serve as ways to understand the societal anxieties of that moment, in that moment. They are stories that embody things that both attracted and repulsed the masses.

This would be a series describing the various trials in detail. They’ll have to incorporate biographies of those involved. There will also be digressions into contemporary historical events. This would take as long as “The Greats”; “The Greats” has more essays, but entries for “Trials of the Century” are longer.

Final Crisis on Infinite Flashpoints

Both the Big Two comic companies (DC and Marvel) have run various “event comics” over the years. The most famous examples of these are DC’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” and Marvel’s “Secret Wars”. From infrequent rumblings, they have expanded, and many event comics appear every year.

There are hundreds of these “event” comics: Wikipedia lists 150 for DC and 308 for Marvel. Many of them consist of at least 12 issues, with some spanning hundreds, even thousands, of pages. Almost all span many issues, and several writing teams are involved.

Reading one crisis event is at least a month-long commitment. Some tasks take less time, while others take more. And I am going to read them all, in chronological order, jumping back and forth between DC and Marvel. I am going to read through almost all the crucial events in modern comic books.

I’m going to read some of the best that comic books have to offer. I will also read some of the worst trash to ever grace the medium. Event comics are complex epics, often too complicated for the writers and artists. Sometimes they can make everything work together; other times, you get “Identity Crisis”.

Why do this? Comic books are inseparable from pop culture. In the ’80s and ’90s, they were an incredible mirror of the mass culture around them. Over time, comics became central to mass culture, influencing it in ways other media never did. To understand American pop culture, you need to understand DC and Marvel.

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Here is a link to the Discord server. The poll will be live as soon as this post is.

https://discord.gg/NQSYbhz9