The core of the two worlds is still the heroic struggles of the demigods (DC) and the human struggles of the heroes (Marvel). Neither ethos is absolutely uniform in-world, and there are many degrees of difference even within the different suburbs of each shared comic universe.

Like the Zodiac Killer, Frodo’s true identity is an unknown, though he does leave clues. Ever since this charming enigma entered our lives, I’ve tried to understand him, but the mystery has only deepened over time.

Isn’t it usually the case that a new style emerges precisely among a relatively small number of artists, writers, musicians, athletes, or thinkers? It is from these small unities that ingredients of a larger unity grow and flower. What we call culture is in fact that the product of many small “gardens.”

Most of us realize we’re too afraid, and that we’re making our children live in the same, persnickety terror. Some of us try to fight back, a little. We ignore the sign at the playground, and let our kids climb up the slide…

The wholesome post-postmodern man will approach the world like a small child who, whenever he comes across a good thing, picks it up, and tastes it, and smells it, and admires it, and stores it away “for later.”

In my opinion, it’s always better to take the good you find, when you find it. The real problem for us is that taking the good is insufficient. After you find a dollop of virtue, you need to put it somewhere.