LORHP

I have noticed recently that, while there are many wonderful comic book blogs of astonishly catholic tastes, there are also a growing number that focus on one particular genre or company.

This is a natural part of the evolution of knowledge. Once upon a time, it was possible for an intelligent man of leisure to know pretty much all that humanity knew.

But so far has civilization's accumulation of information broadened and its understanding of topics deepened that it's all one can do nowadays to remember the real names and home planets of all the Legionnaires. I myself have had to forgo offers to lecture on the structure of Propertius' Monobiblos in order simply to have time to contemplate the nature of Night Girl's hair. Life is full of difficult choices.

Still, as the more universalist bloggers never tire of reminding, it is important to maintain a breadth of knowledge across disciplines. One need read no further than James Gleick's famous Chaos, to understand how much can miss if one is too narrowly focused. Indeed, think how much sooner Complexity and Chaos Theory would have been uncovered had more scientists had Hawkman or Aquaman in their subs.

Nevertheless, for those of narrow intellect (such as I) focusing on one company is enough; the DCUniverse is enough for me to handle without adding Marvel's Manhattan on top.

Oh, many's the time I traipsed innocently about the blogosphere, scouting for signs of others who might call for the return of the Penny Plunderer, when, WHAMMO!, I would blindly turn a corner and find myself in the dark and sinister alleys of a Marvel-focused blog, staring down the barrel of a post on Baron Zemo. Save me, Joe Chill!

If only there were some signpost of security, some "Johnny DC" like symbol to let me know that I was safe and sound on a comics blog centered squarely in the wholesomeness of the good ol' DCU. Won't someone protect the children?

And so (at someone's insistence), I offer this symbol:


Look for the sign of the Loyal Order of the Rolling Head of Pantha before you read a blog too closely! When you see it, you'll know that you're safe with a blogger who understands that even the rolling head of Pantha has more iconic resonance and character potential than the entire X-Men roster.

With FWMP as our by-word, we members of the LORHP salute the DCUniverse, where every minor character, no matter how ill-conceived or obscure, brims over with the latent potential to become famous and beloved nearly overnight, a symbol of All That Is Right (Or Wrong) With Comics Today.

Much like the rolling head of Pantha. Who'da thunk it?