amusement in Asterix and Obelix, Tintin, Mad Magazine,
and Archie comics. When I went back as an adult and
reread some of the old issues, I was amazed to see how
intelligently written these comics were, with many jokes
and gags ranging from the subtly humorous to the downright
hysterical. Archie comics, of course, remain as brainless
as ever, and I have a good mind of writing to the editors
that Archie and the gang should convert to Islam so
that Archie can just marry both Betty and Veronica and
get it over with.
As I got older, I enjoy the American childhood
classics, most particularly the Little
House on the Prairie series that describes the
life of Laura IngallsWilderas a girl growing up in the
age of pioneers. The books were much more lively and
entertaining than the cheesy television series, and
I loved the illustration by Garth Williams almost as
much as the words themselves. I was disappointed to
find out later that Wilder was quite a monster in real
life, as opposed to the gentle, adventurous little girl
she portrayed herself as in her books.
Two other series that I loved were
Lousia May (Alcott's) Little
Women books, and a set of books by John
Fitzgerald called The Great Brain. Everyone
is familiar with Alcott's story of four girls growing
up in post Civil War Boston and how they relied on each
other to get through the hard times and poverty. Not
every one may be familiar, though, with the "Great
Brain", a Catholic boy in a family of four brothers
living amongst Mormons in nineteenth century Utah. The
Great Brain earned his nickname because he always came
up with money making schemes that were completely dishonest
in nature, some that he got away with, and
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