Of persistence and and passionate love for an idea that culminates into a movie all in the span of a lifetime, this is the DC and Marvel comics greatness. In the 60s the name Stan Lee and Rip Kirby were only known to the few who could afford a comic book subscription every month and my eldest brother was one of those. Being a English Teacher at the high school that and my twin brother attended in our teen age years, my eldest brother thought that one of the best ways to get children to read is through comic books and for us and the rest of the family it worked. My twin and I graduated rom comics to novels and my brother Razali or better know as Spike among his friends and collogue or Cikgu Razali Abd. Mutalib, for the more normal kampung folks and his students. Spike was the disciplinary teacher at Sultan Sulaiman Secondary School, located in Kuala Terengganu adjacent to the Istana Tengku Badariah which sits along the Batu Buruk Road in front and the South China Sea behind as one heads towards town. Sekolah Sultan Sulaiman or better known as SS among the students nationwide. SS was The School along the East Coast in those days perhaps still is. We had among the best teachers in the country, teachers who had just returned from England after spending their training in London Brimsford Lodge or at Kirby Teachers training College started their teaching career at SS. Among them was Names like the late Artist. Redza Piyadasa,Christoppher Lai, Mr. Andrew Heng , Mr. Anthony Thomas and Yeo Jin Leng... were among the faculty members at the school. This was my Brother, Spike's gift for me as part of the tools for me to face the future without forcing it on my or my brother, we took to reading like fish take to water. There was time while in High School I was also tutoring the grandchildren of the Sultan at the palace in English.
It is an incredible and amazing thing to be able to watch the and become a part of the evolution of the X-Men or the Spider Man from their inception in the first issue till today where at local theaters yet another Marvel comic character is being debut and it is another hit "The Blue Beetle." The Blue Beetle has evolved from Dan Garret, to Ted Kord and presently Jaime Reyes as the main character. The original comic was started in the 1940s and till today. The amazing part of the story is how an art so simple as comic making can today become a great entertainment if not one hell of a money maker? How many minds have been involved in the long processes over the years in order to have such an end product so captivating in the entertainment industry. This is what I believe to be the product of a Creative Collective Consciousness through time. Triggered by one or two creative geniuses the whole comic to movie industry has morphed into the most sophisticated form of Art in the history of Art. On the individual level the master piece was conceived by the man who first laid down the idea on paper to etch out an image from his own consciousness and imagination...a "Superman" was born. And through the mastery of creativity and technique the one became two where words and stories are added turning out series of continuous issues to entertain the hungry minds.
My gratitude to my eldest Brother, on this morning while i am typing out the post and the whole family owes you a weight of gratitude for your strength in holding the family together despite all odds on a teacher's salary. I fully acknowledge all your sacrifices made on my behalf in the course of my teenage years into becoming an adult, Thanks for the comics and the suitcases full of heavy reading from Play Boy to the Odissi of Homer. from Alistair MacLaine to Robert Ludlam, you name it we read it, Chesapeake, Hawaii, Taipan; you fed my imagination when it was needed with the right wands and tools to face the life that I have faced thus far; Thank you. My brother, you have done very well by your family, I am proud in more than one ways of having such a gentle giant as my eldest. Thank you for allowing me to grow into who I am even when sometimes it was not an easy thing for you to do. I appreciate to this very moment in time which is 6am. Saturday morning the fact that I was in your care for a while in my life for which I will never forget; Thank you.
I realize you would never read this my brother, but it is my intention to remind myself that I owe a debt of gratitude to someone in the past. I might never be able to repay this debt in this lifetime but I hope that I and my family am eternally grateful for being there when you were needed.
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