About a year ago, I ventured out to the movie theater to see a film I had been anticipating, Bloodshot, a superhero movie about a soldier who has nanites in his bloodstream which help protect him and rebuild him if he’s injured. It was based on a comic book series that’s been published off and on since the early 90s, and the parent company, Valiant, hoped it would be the springboard to a franchise of movies based on its comic book properties.
Then the world shut down. Covid-19 arrived in full force. Movie theaters were among those businesses that were shuttered, and the box office take for Bloodshot was very low. It was only an average movie anyway, but I wonder what the numbers would have looked like in a normal time.
Ah, a normal time. How we all long for that again! As I get older, I realize that time moves both more quickly and more slowly, all at once. It sure seemed like the lockdown time of April and May of 2020 would never end. But when we look back and realize it’s been a year since we shut down schools after an ominous Friday the 13th, it seems like it can’t have been 365 days.
Over half a million people have died in the United States from Covid. Around the world, the numbers are even larger and still growing. But as more people are vaccinated, we can start to breathe a sigh of relief, though we can’t quite remove our masks yet.
I have had both doses of the Moderna version of the vaccine, and I encourage you to get yours, as long as your doctor doesn’t advise against it, when your turn in line arrives. The government or the tech companies or whoever aren’t going to track you through the vaccine, as some conspiracy theories posit. Why would they have to? They have all the info they need about you from your phone already!
I had a stronger reaction to my second dose, but nothing that would have kept me from work, except for an evening of chills and a temperature that broke overnight. Some people are really knocked out for a day or two, but that seems worth it to avoid the potential of very serious complications from the virus.
The character of Bloodshot was created with the idea of the nanites in his bloodstream being able to react to things like invading viruses and other dangers to the body. He was part of a popular line of comics that included characters like Magnus (a fighter of robots), Solar (a hero created in a nuclear reaction), and Turok (a hunter of dinosaurs). Those three characters were originally published by Gold Key Comics, but Valiant also created many new heroes like X-O Manowar (an ancient warrior in an alien armor), Shadowman (a voodoo hero), and Ninjak (a ninja spy).
They were a small company that grew to third in popularity behind only Marvel and DC, the two powerhouses. After a while, they were bought out by Acclaim Entertainment, which hoped to go multimedia with video games for the comics. However, that company fell apart in the early 2000s. Eventually, most of the characters were reformed under a new Valiant banner about ten years ago.
And that company grew again, though they limited themselves to about 8-9 comics a month. But after a shutdown that also affected new comic books, Valiant has been slow to revive. I’m sure their liquid assets were affected, and now there may be plenty of collectors who just can’t afford to get all the comics they used to receive. In a typical month, I now get two Valiant comics.
I have confidence they’ll rebound, but they’re trying to play it smart and do what they can to stay afloat right now, as are so many other small businesses. The deaths are catastrophic, but the impact of Covid on small businesses will also impact us for years to come. I hope we can all continue to support them as best we can so people can keep their jobs and pay their bills, and so we can continue to enjoy the benefits offered by those businesses for many years.
One year. Depending on when you read this, you were still living in that normal world or were just beginning to adjust to life at home. On March 12, we attended a 5-12 band concert a year ago. The gym was packed and the kids performed well. The next day was our last day with students in the building until September, and it’s been a roller-coaster ride since then.
On March 5 of this year, we got to attend our first live concert since that fateful day. The kids were distanced and so were the audience members. But it was glorious to hear that music again!
Now I think I need to get back to the movie theater.
Word of the Week: This week’s word is Turveydropian, which means overly concerned with one’s appearance, as in, “The lady stopped being so Turveydropian once she got used to working from home in her sweatpants.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!