The Ol' Ball Game

So, Jim Lee is throwing out the first pitch at the Orioles' game tomorrow to kick off the Baltimore Comic Con. This is a really great idea. I'm not really a huge fan of Lee's work or anything, I mean he's cool but maybe too cool. It's idea of combining comics and baseball that's exciting. Comics and baseball have always sort occupied the same sort of space in my brain. This sort of vision of America where kids play backyard baseball and talk about super heroes along the way. They invoke sort of this quintessential feeling of America, of innocence, and childhood. When you are a kid you look up to sports players the same way you would a super hero. You memorize positions, powers, stats, teams, and super teams.

It's no coincidence that when Superman Returns showcases the Superman-saves-plane scene that he sets the plane down in a baseball stadium. It's a classic scene in comics, and by using baseball the movie shows us that they are playing with the classic myths of Superman and not trying to update him entirely. The roar of the crowd for Superman is the same feeling people have when they cheer their favorite player. The movie uses it sincerely and it gets at the heart of what makes Superman a great character.

There was also this cover on Sport Illustrated during the summer. It's a weird joke to make because it's making the assumption is that most of the readers know Bizzaro Superman. At the very least it's comfortable that they will safe in the connection between baseball players and super heroes having something in common in our minds.

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