I was surprised when this post popped up on Tumblr this morning:
Not because it’s old manga, but because the big bold text at the bottom reads “Lubbock Light” — a reference to a weird meteorological phenomenon in the ’50s which many people take as some sort of evidence of UFOs. More like it was something to do with the nearby Reese Air Force Base or possibly even a light being cast into the clouds from some sort of experimental project out of New Mexico. Growing up in Lubbock, I heard a lot about the Lubbock Lights… mainly because that’s all the city could really claim for itself as a point of interest, besides Buddy Holly.
This marks the second time I’ve stumbled across a reference to Lubbock in old manga, the first of course being this rather fanciful take in Golgo 13: The Ice Lake Hit. Silly Saito Pro, Lubbock doesn’t have any buildings that are taller than six stories! But I can see the appeal of using Lubbock as a locale in manga: It’s a decently large city, more than a quarter of a million people, but no Japanese national in their right mind would ever, ever go there to be able to call foul on its depiction.
What bugs me is seeing a city mischaracterized in a MODERN comic. There was a Deadpool arc a few years back that was ostensibly set in Flagstaff, Arizona that made it look like a Speedy Gonzales cartoon. Which would probably be close enough if they’d said it was Tucson, but Flagstaff is mountains and pine forests, not flat desert and cacti. It was one thing for artists to make those kinds of mistakes from, say, the 1920’s through the 1990’s, but in an era of Google Image Search it’s just lazy.
But it was Deadpool, so…
I didn’t know you grew up in Lubbock. I have relatives that live there. If you’ve ever eaten at Orlandos or Cap Rock Cafe, you’ve eaten at my uncle’s chain of “get fatter, America!” restaurants. The food is amazing, but your gallbladder will hate you for it.
Wow, your uncle owns those places? Wild. Orlando’s was pretty much the only decent Italian in town when I was growing up.
…I wanted to say this before I forget. But, I’m really glad that you decided to start updating 2-dimensions again, Jeremy.
Like, I know you write about video games for a living, but it’s always been your personal observations, the stuff in between and outside of video games that has always made your work so very interesting to read.
Like, even if it’s just writing about episodes of Mad Men, various KitKat bars from Japan or G.I. JOE comics, no one happens to write about how these various mediums fit into and enrich our lives, quite as well as you do.
I’ve found that it was always from something you wrote, which would ask me to look beyond the content that I was consuming.
It really does mean something.
Oh… thanks? I guess it’s good to know someone out there doesn’t think I’m a complete waste of skin.
Aw damn! You have Ice Lake Hit!
I wish I would’ve bought all 4 when they came out…I only got The Ivory Connection.
I dug them up years after the fact (about 10 years, check the archives here). They aren’t too expensive or too hard to find!