David Michael Newstead's Blog, page 14
July 19, 2023
The Death of Superman Revisited
David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving
For the last six months, I’ve been letting it sink in and trying to really process the passage of time and everything that means. In a saga that played out throughout 1992 and 1993, Superman died. It seemed monumental then. There were long lines and a surprising amount of news coverage. This was before superheroes achieved the same cultural status they have today. Still, The Death of Superman felt like a viral moment before the internet, leaving a big imprint on my childhood. The artwork. The story. The significance. My Dad and I parked the car on a side street lined with trees and walked from a nearby doctor’s office to our local comic book store to pick up the latest release. In the aftermath of Superman’s death, there were funerals, conspiracies, and imposters. The action practically leapt off the page, all leading to the hero’s glorious and inevitable return. Today, it would be easy enough to flip through those issues and maybe lose sight of that moment in time and what it meant to people. Isn’t this just another comic book after all? I’ve spent six months thinking through that, how 30 years went by. Last fall, I went back to my hometown and parked for a minute where the comic book store used to be. I reminded myself that time passes and things change. But if there’s a deeper moral to The Death of Superman, it might be this. What if the things you take for granted were suddenly gone? What would you do? How would you feel? And how do you move forward in their absence?
July 12, 2023
Things I’ve Found in Used Books
David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving
Follow-up to Lost and Found from 2022.
A dot matrix printout from 1989.A handwritten letter a woman wrote to her mother apologizing for her temper.A bookmark advertising the release of the 2000 film, Battlefield Earth.A wallet-sized, Autumn-themed studio photo of an adult man in a sweater vest with his small dog.A card inside a book about the American Civil War that reads “Congratulations and best wishes on your term as Commander-in-Chief.”A newspaper obituary for the author of the book that I was holding.A $3.00 receipt from a bookstore in South Bend, Indiana from February 1967 that’s been inserted in the book for so long that it’s permanently stained the pages around it with its outline.Another apology.A postcard.Post-Its.A 1995 letter from the Ford Foundation about women in China.The tattered remains of the book jacket from many years ago.July 5, 2023
Brecht
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.
June 26, 2023
May 9, 2023
May 6, 2023
May 4, 2023
Breaking News!
LIVE UPDATESWorld Leaders React to Ongoing Crisis in Yaharza
Updated 4:07 p.m., CET, May 4, 2023
What we’re covering
In the aftermath of a contentious presidential election, mass protests have taken place across Yaharza. This week, government security forces have begun a violent crackdown against demonstrators. In a viral video on social media, Yaharzan author and dissident Jeremiah Yonla has called on the international community to do more to support Yaharzan democracy and sanction those responsible for violence. See how world leaders are responding.In a statement, the White House Press Secretary said, “We are currently monitoring the unrest taking place in Yaharza and urge all sides to seek a peaceful resolution to this crisis,” echoing the sentiments of many Western governments.During a Q&A session at a conference in Dubai on Monday, the Chinese Foreign Minister commented that “… Yaharza must be allowed to find its own path. The international community must respect Yaharzan sovereignty.”Meanwhile, in Brussels, a spokesman for the European Union released a statement late last night that reads, “The brutality of the ongoing crackdown is likely to cause the E.U. to seriously reassess its ties with Yaharza in the weeks and months ahead.”April 25, 2023
The Press Guardian #16
David Michael Newstead | The Philosophy of Shaving
The aftermath.
The vote’s aftermath was seismic.
A million protesters congregated in the street and the city finally woke up for the first time in decades.
The capital became a living, breathing thing: vast and complex with ordinary people flowing through its veins.
These long processions were the city’s limbs reaching out. They were its collective will powered by thousands of beating hearts.
Demonstrators were everywhere, occupying every corner and chanting in any public square.
The atmosphere was tense, their anger palpable.
But there was also a unity among them: a shared sense of purpose.
As she marched alongside countless others, Cynthia Blake realized she was witnessing the beginning of something truly historic.
But only the beginning.
Democracy was re-asserting itself in the country.
Perhaps, it was too late, she thought.
Perhaps, the regime would be intractable, impossible to ever dislodge now.
But here, all around her, were the faces of everyday opposition.
These people had seen passed the propaganda and the lies.
They craved the truth.
And all hope for the future was in their hands.
The Press Guardian will return in our next thrilling adventure, The Press Guardian #17!
