My (Super) Hero

A few months ago, my son, Jonathan (16) breathlessly runs in.

"Mom, you've got to see this!" He then proceeds to show me the following movie trailer:

Explosions! People in peril! ! MARVEL SUPERHEROES ! ! (Win.Win.WIN!)

He knows (because I've told him repeatedly, as I have all four of my kids) that I was a nerdy comic-book-loving kid. That's right. Little known fun fact.

{WARNING: Over-sharing-Uber-nerd Alert!}

My dad used to take me to the local drugstore on weekends and let me pick out 3 or 4 comic books every week. It's how I learned to read in English. This probably flies in the face of all kinds of English as a second language research, but, whatever....

I would very carefully choose a variety of comic books, from the Harvey classics, like Richie Rich to the "teen" comedy, Archie (for the record, I was always very pro-Betty, but that's not important right now). I also really loved the action/adventure Marvel comics.

Thor was my favorite of the Avengers. Mostly because he said cool things like:  

"WE'LL NEVER BE BEATEN! FOR WE ARE...THE AVENGERS!"

(By the way, the only time you should EVER use the Comic Sans font is in a comic book. There. I said it.)

Back to the Avengers. And specifically to Thor. The Mighty Thor. I loved Thor. He had the hammer. The cool Viking vibe. When I was in high school we were The Mighty Vikings. It like one big cosmic Thor Love-fest.

In fact, when Adam was three, I dressed him as Thor for Halloween. I did. I swear. (Excuse me while I go dig up some proof.....)

Ta-da!

Hey! Superheroes come in all sizes (and my son has since forgiven me). But that's not important right now.

As I got older, my comic book consumption diminished, but my love of all things Marvel did not. In the late 70's, I religiously watched Bill Bixby/Dr. Bruce Banner turn into Lou Ferrigno/The Incredible Hulk . (Who didn't?)

So back to Jonathan and The Avengers Movie Trailer....

1. I am thrilled that my 16 year old and I have such awesome common ground.
2. We are out-of-our-skin excited to see the film. In theaters everywhere on May 4th.

Were doubly excited that the makers of LEGO are also aboard the Avengers-train. Embrace the awesomeness:

And so is Target. This is seriously the cutest ad ever. Watch. And love.

We are definitely going to be following the Awesomeness that is The Avengers on Facebook. And counting down to May 4th. (Thanks, Disney Pictures!)

I don't know about you, but in our family, nerdiness does not skip a generation.

So, any other uber-nerds out there? I know there are. Come on. Talk to me.

Comments

[Nancy Vera]

I get such a kick out of reading your blog! My comic book experience was a mirror image of yours. I was born in Miami, 1961. My parents used to also let me choose a couple of comic books. The kicker was they had to be in Spanish. My favorites were Tom and Jerry (yes they spoke and in Spanish), Superman, and The Archies (Betty rocked). This is how I learned how to read in Spanish.

My kids ages 23, almost 18, and 15 are also very excited about this movie...too funny.

[Shawn Lopez]

I'm surrounded by comic book nerds and they love all the movies too. We only go to the movies to see comic book movies and YES we are breathlessly waiting for The Avengers. Love my Cuban nerds!

[Alexandra Lanc]

What a cute post! I am very excited for The Avengers as well (and am also a Thor fan. Nice to see another one!). I didn't start reading comics until a short while ago, but I have always loved the TV shows and movies.

May cannot get here fast enough!

Alexandra~

[Nancy Johnson]

Love that Target ad. My boys played He-man and Masters of the Universe in pre-school...hilarious!

[Marta M. Darby]

So glad we have so much in common! In Spanish? GUAO! Impressive!

[Marta M. Darby]

Cuban nerds? The BEST kind!

xoxo.

[Marta M. Darby]

Jon wanted me to install a countdown clock on here. Tempted..... ;-)

[Marta M. Darby]

"By the power of Greyskull!"
Brings back memories. My Amy always wanted to be She-Ra, Princess of Power. LOL!

[Maribel]

Marta,

Are you kidding me?! Of course we're out here! I used to wake up at 6 AM when I was little to watch Batman & Robin AND Spider-Man on TV. My parents would get up and start their morning routines and I would crawl into their bed and enjoy my supers! But wait! Then there was Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman! You couldn't tear me away from the TV when that show was on! An invisible plane, the lasso of truth, those awesome gold bullet-deflecting bands...who couldn't use a little of that magic nowadays?

I'm a (little) older now but I still have a Spider-Man watch and vintage Wonder Woman notecards (that of course, will NEVER be used). Here's to a little superness :)

[Marta M. Darby]

Maribel, you super-nerd!

Thanks so much for sharing. Who couldn't use a Lasso of Truth every now and then? LOL!

Besos,
Marta

[Lourdes M]

I live with my daughter and son in law and teenage son & our house is pretty geeky too... This is what my son-in-law listed as an event and invited everyone on his FB page: "Avengers Aassemble: With only a month to go until the movie of the year is released we will watch all 5 films leading up to The Avengers. This film has been 4 years in the making, but comic book fans have waited A LOT LONGER than that. Never in the history of film franchises have they come together as one to create such a spectacle. I have never been more excited to see a movie in my entire life.
Starting on Easter, April 8,we will be watching a movie a week until on May 3rd, we will watch the final film before going to see the midnight showing of The Avengers!"
I imagine we will have a house full...

[Marta M. Darby]

Lourdes,

Your people are GENIUS! I mentioned your Avenger-movie-a-week idea to my kids and got a great, big, collective "YES!" (With fist-pulls and high fives.)

Love that we have that in common. Thanks so much for sharing!

Besos,
Marta and the Darby Uber-Geeks ;-)

[Marta M. Darby]

We started with The Incredible Hulk and have scheduled the rest. Thank you, again for the awesome suggestion!

Besos,
Marta