June 14, 2005
Week 8 - Impossible Dreams, Prelude 1
Episode 2
Powell prepares to leave for his interview. Rantz steps into his office.
“Well!” Rantz says. “Don’t you look spiffy!”
“Um… Thanks…” Powell says. “I got this jacket specially…”
“You must really respect this Lamont guy…”
“Well, I… I mean… I’ve been reading comic books my whole life, you know? And… not that many people understand that… Most people kind of look down on them…”
“I guess that’s true…”
“But Donald Lamont… I mean… he’s a real smart man… he figured out a way to make wind power commercial when a hundred guys before him gave up, you know? But he… he devoted everything to building his collection… to people like me, he’s a hero.”
“I guess I understand…”
“I mean… it’s going to be so great to meet someone who takes comic books seriously…”
“These are comic books we’re talking about, right? Buff guys in crazy costumes whacking each other over the head with cars….”
“Yeah, but there’s a lot more to them then that… there’s all sorts of social issues they deal with… and some really… really profound plots, if you look at them without prejudging them… some really, just… good writing… they’re really a lot less silly then people think…”
“I'll take your word for that… do you have a big collection yourself?”
“Well… not really anything to speak of… I do have one thing I’m proud of…”
“What is it?”
“Superboy Number 76… I paid almost a thousand dollars for it…”
“Wow! Why’s it worth so much? Is it important in comic book history?”
“You bet it is!”
“How so?”
“It’s from 1959… It’s the first appearance of Beppo the Super Monkey!”