Whether you celebrate the day by joyously raising the flag of the workers and saluting the mighty and glorious five-year plan for heavy-iron tractor production:
cover of [Uncanny] X-Men (1963 series) #124 (Marvel, August 1979), pencils by Dave Cockrum, inks by Terry Austin, letters by Danny Crespi
...or by smashing the Godless Commies and giving Uncle Josef a belt of all-American might and right between his beady red eyes:
cover of Captain America (1954 series) #78 (Marvel/Atlas, September 1954), pencils and inks by John Romita, Sr., colors by Stan Goldberg
...well, either way, have a happy May Day, Comrade!
Oh! And while I don't intend to turn this blog into "all Wodehouse, all the time," here's an especially apt passage from The Inimitable Jeeves that might help you choose what side you're on:
'Where did you meet her?'
'On top of a bus. Her name is Charlotte Corday Rowbotham.'
'My God!'
'It's not her fault, poor child. Her father had her christened that because he's all for the Revolution, and it seems that the original Charlotte Corday used to go about stabbing oppressors in their baths, which entitles her to consideration and respect. You must meet old Rowbotham, Bertie. A delightful chap. Wants to massacre the bourgeoisie, sack Park Lane, and disembowel the hereditary aristocracy. Well, nothing could be fairer than that, what?'
What, indeed! Sign me up and hand me my Junior Bolshevist card so I can at last be a card-carrying communist, please!
I love the way Wodehouse portrayed extremist politics, so expertly poking fun at their ridiculousness. (Though perhaps he should have taken them a bit more seriously in real life, given how he managed to get interned by the Nazis when France fell.)
ReplyDeleteI especially love Roderick Spode, would-be fascist dictator of Britain, who founds the "Black Shorts" because all the good shirts were taken:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roderick_Spode
Spode IS a hoot. And Bertie is indeed my favorite.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but if you're over at Spode's of a week-end, don't bring up "Eulalie"!
ReplyDeleteYour quote from the Inimitable Jeeves makes me wonder - has there ever been a spoof done of the Batman/Alfred relationship where things are a *lot* more like Wooster and Jeeves? As in Bruce Wayne actually only being competent at the physical stuff, only thinking he's a great detective, and Alfred constantly having to feed him clues? 'Cause that would be hilarious.
ReplyDeleteScott, I've read a number of wonderful Wodehouse parodies (the H. P. Lovecrafty Scream for Jeeves comes to mind), but I can't remember a Batman one. Which doesn't mean it's not out there.
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting is that you can trade modern-day acerbic Alfred right back to Jeeves. The dry-witted and sardonic Alfred (especially well done in the animated series) had its origins in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns. I remember an interview with him at the time where he said that his Alfred would be reminiscent of the dry disparaging wit of John Gielgud's character in the movie Arthur, which is often regarded as a modern-day updating and salute to the Jeeves and Bertie stories.
It all comes back to Wodehouse, as I like to say!