Lost Horizons and
Lost Generations: Part One
The SHOCKING, True Story BEHIND the Story of the RESURRECTION of
THE GREEN LAMA—
and why you should like him as much as I do!
by James Ritchey
"The one-L lama, he's a priest.
The two-L llama, he's a beast.
But I will bet a silk pajama
There isn't any three-L lllama."
--Ogden Nash
If you've gotten this far, then you're probably terrified for the character, Associate Professor of Anthropology Rupert Sovine—his expedition slaughtered, deep in the jungles of Peru, abducted and strapped to a table by the evil Escaped Nazi War Criminal, Doctor Joseph Mengele. The syringe in Mengele's hand is filled, the needle dripping, with a strange, glowing, green liquid, derived from Gamma-irradiated Llama DNA...
Just so we're clear, when I briefly met the Dalai Lama when I worked at Emory University in 1998, he wasn't a fuzzy, cute Camelid, but a very nice man, and seeming every bit the great spiritual leader he is, in a yellow sarong—the latter being tell-tale signs in eastern culture of someone who is a priest.
So—there. Now that we've got that settled, we can talk about why we're here. I've written and drawn a comic book, featuring one—and several--of my very favorite characters in pulp magazine and comics history, transposed to modern day/alternate reality. It is a Science Fantasy Story. The character is perhaps the greatest creation of an extremely underrated author (with a certain genius for making you believe his characters were in a particular locale—his research was so meticulous), and flawed man named Kendall Foster Crossen. I won't sully his memory here—this would be better left to a professional biographer, and I, personally am in no position to cast judgment, having made poor decisions, myself on occasion. By all accounts a personable man, I would like to think that if he were my publisher right now, he would have both liked and appreciated the bizarre direction I've taken his character —for which my inspiration owes as much to Madame Blavatsky, Robert Anton Wilson, Michael Moorcock, (oddly) Frank Miller, Bill Black, Steve Gerber, Zecharias Sitchin, Alan Watts, Roger Zelazny, Carl Jung, Hermann Hesse, Joseph Campbell or Philip K. Dick as it does to himself.
1. This Ain't Yer Grandpa's Green Lama--
--Or is it?
I've tried not to alter the our hero's inherent dignity, and frankly, unusually emotionally mature (for an action hero), ethical strength in any way, only to enhance, flesh out, and give him more of a back story--to make him more real, (besides making him truer to his mystical origin)—and to add a dichotomy within the reincarnation theme (never used in the original diverse versions) that perhaps he's perhaps stronger or weaker, more or less violent, depending upon his training, or 'nurture' in any given incarnation--but that he's always born a good man, drawn to doing the right thing.
Now there have been some grumblings that this version of the Green Lama isn't THE Green Lama—often from the same minds that can sit and be completely engrossed in an episode of Smallville—and not subject it to the same rigorous standard, of perhaps Clark Kent ONLY belonging in the late 1930's. A product of my own age, I can't be a Ken Crossen, E.E. "Doc" Smith, or Robert E. Howard, and it would be a sign of rigid thinking and a lack of creative imagination to even try to use their voices. I have friends who do it well, brilliantly, in fact—but I'm not them. I can't tell the story of wish-fulfillment-based Ubermensche. I write what I know—and I personally am neither Superman or the 'Terror-filled Coward', of the Lovecraftian model. For me, true Heroism doesn't arise from those who are fearless. We'd all like to be fearless, but the only people in real life who typify that sort of Heroism (note capital"H"), are invariably in mental institutions—or belong there. Nope. Real Heroism comes from the man or woman who is afraid, whether for him/herself, or those he or she loves—someone that, despite the responsibilities being overwhelming, does his or her best. This is that kind of story, and it's nothing new. When the first written piece of fiction, Gilgamesh, was finally found complete on clay tablets in a man's back yard in Iraq, it didn't just tell the story of an invincible superman—it also injected this character with serious fears, neuroses and insecurities—fear of mortality being the defining motivation for the entire story. In the early 1960's, Stan Lee didn't invent having heroes with real problems--he attempted to do away with a bizarre, 20th Century aberration peculiar to American Comic Books, and Totalitarian Political Movements—that of the perfect and effortless hero, someone to be worshiped. On a side-note, I've particularly enjoyed catching up on AC's Modern, different version of Atoman, as a pompous parody of that kind of 'Gung-Ho' hero that some of the 'GA' community feel that Green Lama should be.
2. Geb, and the Archetype—and added stuff
I've tried to put everyone in the mindset I experienced when I first saw the Green Lama at age 12—the first figure on the cover of Steranko's History of Comics. He didn't seem as much as a superhero, as he was a living, breathing archetype/religious icon—a Jesus on his cross, a Buddha sitting under the Baobab Tree.
Thirty years later, I embarked on a retelling of the continually changing story of The Green Man, a figure in every culture since the dawn of humanity. A little known writer named Alan Moore explored a highly Anglo/Celt-centric version in the early 1980's in the pages of Swamp Thing—the peculiarly English/Northern European, pagan Animist version which has much in common with Mescalito from the Hopi Indian religion--being a plant-man.. This is by far not the most common version, historically or culturally—but even the earliest post-hunter-gatherer societies had aspects of it, so it may very well be the earliest form.
Geb, one of the first gods in Egyptian Myth, and said by ancients to be the first god actually born on Earth, the first, founding King of 'Khem (that which those backward ancestors erroneously called what we now know as Egypt)', was literally a half alien/half man, often depicted with green skin, and was the original father of the 4 major players in the Egyptian Pantheon—Osiris, Isis, Set and Nephthys—also the children of his wife, Nuit. Or Enki from Sumerian Religion. Pan. The Fool in the Tarot. Point is, there's always been a Green Man, and he is most often a god manifest fully in human form, beneficial to humanity—with coincidentally similar behavior to The Green Lama.
There is a word in Sanskrit, a holy language of Tibetan Buddhism, and Buddhism, in general--Siddhi—it means 'Superpowers'--literally. Crossen knew his bidness. This is, at it's root in all versions, a story about 'Mind over Matter'--the 'Holy Fire' that drives everyone towards perfection; and the unavoidable fact of the mind's operation on matter and energy on the Quantum Level. REAL, Esoteric Tibetan Buddhists know this is something as real as a Ham Sandwich. I've kept Dumont's powers much as they were, classically—as 'Siddhi'--Strength, Telekinesis (flight), hypnotic ability, invulnerability, super-speed and bolts of electricity on occasion (from the pulps) –moving into stuff that people claim they can really do, not comic book magic. He's a warrior-'bodhisattva' , not a sorcerer.
The original Jethro Dumont story is of a man who's reached the limits of his ability to gain 'Knowledge (the West's tendency towards pure logic—and rigid application)'--he finds it isn't enough, and has to "Journey To The East" to gather what completes an individual—flexible, intuitive thinking, instinct, compassion—and true 'Wisdom'--pure awareness unfettered by judgment. This is by no means a new idea—it's in what the Gnostics practiced—it's the Grail Quest, the story of The Fisher King, Gilgamesh; it's Tammuz rescuing Ishtar from the Gates of Hell. Even Christ is said to have journeyed to India and Tibet, in search of insight. Ken Crossen was no stranger to these ideas—at the very least, on an intuitive level. I've made my Green Lama someone who must make this journey time and again—is reborn before major horrors, in order to either prevent the worst, or heal the world. World War Two was such a horror.
What worse could the world need healing from than a nuclear war--albeit 'LITE'?
3. My 'Spark Universe' take on 'AC Universe'.
Only some of the 'True-Blue', die-hard comics historians will know some of these characters from Double Detective, Prize Comics and Spark Publications' three series, Green Lama, Atoman and Golden Lad. Some are in their original form, some are reborn, but all follow very similar behavior, as I am a purist. Gone only is the 'old paper' smell--the 'Confirmed Bachelor' status of the lead character, and I've given him a few new worries. The Boy Champions are there, the pulp's Magga-combined with Spark's Magga the Magnificent is there--a lead character. Jean Parker. Tsarong. Stopwach is the ultimate villain he was meant to be, the presaged 'Mordo' to his 'Doctor Strange'.
I've made this universe a 'mutable' one, deliberately—any hero from AC, my own Conspiracyverse, Friendly Creators, or the Public Domain can show up, at any time—major things the main characters do can actually change the time line and dimension. You know—like when you and a friend witness something, but tell the story completely differently, later on? What if reality actually changed for one of you? It's that feeling I'll try to invoke. Keep a look out for Atoman, Golden Lad, Golden Girl, Swift Arrow, Shaman and Flame—crazy ones like Angus Mac Erc and Lt. Hercules, even more esoteric characters (Sean Taylor has a wonderful idea for The Blue Lady from Centaur I'm set to develop with him), and even more familiar, often used AC Comics/GA characters like Miss Masque and Red Devil.
This all depends on you--If you like this story, like my ideas, and would like to see more, please tell your friends about it. I've got dozens of ideas for this AC/Spark Universe, but only you, by altering market forces and expectations on a grassroots level can let me do them. To quote an old, sappy TV cartoon—"The Power is Yours!".
Your Fellow Green Lama and Golden Age Fan,
James Ritchey
p.s. VERY Special Thanks (in no particular order)
to Bill Black, Mark Heike, Dave Newton, Nat Jones, Paul Monsky, Jeff Austin, Danny Donovan, Sean Taylor, Chad Porter, Brian Stelfreeze,"Cash_Gorman"& Darrin Wiltshire (who both helped me find Golden Girl and Stopwach), Phil Latter, all of the Golden Age, 'Comicspace' , 'YABS' and the Independent Comics Communities, who have been so very helpful and supportive.
This issue is dedicated to the memory of the late Alex Toth, my favorite comic book storyteller—ever.