This poor girl keeps ending up with weirdos. Stacy has clearly broken up with her warlock boyfriend, only to move on to badly dressed vampires. Ugh…men!

Apparently Stacy, the girl who dates weird supernatural men, is a recurring character now.

I seriously don’t know how vampires in modern films manage to keep themselves so well groomed when they don’t have reflections. There must be a lot of vampire barbers or personal assistants that help them get ready every night, but that has to get expensive…

I know this is a silly joke, but I just love vampires and all the random bits of lore attached to them. They’re one of those pervasive concepts, like dragons, that have a very clear progression from their place in folklore to more modern literary usage. It’s fun to nitpick at all the odd little characteristics they’ve acquired over the years. At least, I think it is!

Either way, being a vampire can’t be easy but dating a vampire is obviously no picnic, either. For instance, you can’t even have a proper picnic. Such a shame! In my lifetime, I’ve figured out that most of the point of having a relationship is to go out on picnics. If you are not picnicking, what are you doing together? You should probably examine your priorities and see if you are really supposed to be with one another. The quality of a relationship corresponds directly to the quality of the picnics the two individuals in question share together.

That’s just good relationship advice, vampires or not.

Okay, I started out thinking I’d write a blog post about vampires and have now begun to talk about the importance of picnics in human relationships. Whatever illness has been eating away at my body for the last four days has clearly made its way to my mind. I will have to go lie down before any lasting damage is done.

At least I got the comic up on time today!

Just to be clear, none of the bullet points in the strip actually happened.

I’m not saying that Väinämöinen, hero of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, is a sissy. I’m just saying that compared to the heroes of other cultures, he may look a little…dainty.

I am kidding, of course. My sincere apologies to Finland, you know I love you guys and your national epic.

Väinämöinen, the eternal bard, has cropped up in the strip before, as has the smith, Ilmarinen. He is, to say the least, a different kind of hero. While the strip may paint him in a comical light, he’s really quite interesting. Unlike most other heroes, his quest isn’t merely to kill a bunch of monsters or set some political wrong to rights. Rather, the majority of the Kalevala is about the trials he suffers in search of companionship. His quest is, in many ways, much more human than the stories of his fictional peers. Heracles, despite the superhuman strength, does suffer from his own failings and his own human trials, but there’s something we can relate to very easily in Väinämöinen. All he wants is to be loved.

Of course, the trials of Väinämöinen are, by no means, simple ones. He is constantly traveling, running into some nasty situations here and there, being stuck at sea, getting into deals with sketchy witches, and there is some fighting. The character himself, however, is drawn more toward the magical, toward singing, and toward wisdom.

There is a little confusion about Väinämöinen, however. He seems to have been a god of sorts for the Finnish people before the Kalevala was compiled from oral stories and written down in the 1800′s by Elias Lonnrot. With the writing of the tale, however, he became something different. Not quite a man, not quite a god, and with some interesting parallels to the figure of Jesus in the Bible, particularly in his claim that he shall return to the land of Finland at some unspecified date after he departs the world at the end of the story.

Either way, it’s still a very interesting read with some lovely language use, though many editions can be difficult to follow if you’re not paying attention. This ain’t Harry Potter.

Väinämöinen is an intriguing figure and he is a uniquely Finnish creation. The emphasis on magic and singing in the stories sets him apart from other heroes and it is his wisdom, his wit, and his magic that secure his victories. As with other great heroes (like Heracles), he is also deeply flawed. The end of his adventure isn’t exactly a happy one, but it is poignant and powerful, nonetheless.

I realize that schools today (here in the US) don’t necessarily have time to teach world mythology or poetry beyond a few tidbits here and there, but it has long struck me as a little sad that many people in the US and Europe are completely unaware of the existence of this book. The stories of Heracles or Jason and the Argonauts are wonderful, to be sure, and we owe a great deal to the Greeks (in literature, government, and philosophy), but their tales are, in many ways, inherently familiar to us. They are the basis for many of the modern stories we tell today. Reading the Kalevala, on the other hand, or even just familiarizing oneself with the basic plot, is a different experience entirely. It is, in many ways, a European book, it features many of the literary devices we are familiar with but the characters and the atmosphere are unique and beautiful. They are at once familiar and alien.

There’s something terribly pleasing about that.

Hopefully, some time in the future, we will come to appreciate the mythologies of the world more and to view the literature that surrounds them as valuable to the minds of students. I remember being in English classes for four long years and the times I felt most interested were those in which we discussed mythology. Maybe I’m completely off here, but it seemed my peers also brightened up a bit during those lectures.

Maybe the spirit of old Väinämöinen, the eternal bard, could lift children from their boredom-induced comas and breathe a little life into the class room.

If anyone could, I think it’d be him.

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that sharks are totally awesome, unless maybe you were a shark attack victim, in which case you are excused. They have been the apex predators of the sea for ages, ruling their watery domain like a ferocious Poseidon if Poseidon ever did anything like a shark (he didn’t). I had long thought it sad that human activities have been so devastating to such an intriguing creature and if the commercials I’d seen on the TV were any indication, so had other people.

That is until I tuned in to Shark Week on Discovery Channel.

Now I can’t stay far enough away from the ocean. I’m afraid these things will come up on the beach and try to sell me some fake rolex watches or that their young will dress up like ragamuffins and pickpocket me. I’m afraid to go to the bank just in case a shark decides to rob one.

Anything seems plausible after you’ve heard about sharks de-limbing a surfer. I mean, come on, that is a surfer. If popular culture has taught us anything, it is that surfers are almost painfully cool.

But in all seriousness, I find it a bit strange that Discovery Channel decides to air the “Save the Sharks” commercial before showing an hour’s worth of people being half-digested by sharks. While they try to talk about how misunderstood these creatures are, they are rolling footage of shark feeding frenzies. There’s a bit of mixed message there to say the least.

Personally, I’ve always felt sharks were beautiful creatures. Certainly not the kind of creature I would have a beer with (I can’t even drink beer) but definitely worthy of respect and attention. They’re a key component in many undersea food chains and it’s questionable whether they’ll be around for much longer with the changes happening in the ocean. If it isn’t human predation, it’s warming sea waters and changing pH balances threatening the poor bastards. Most people are probably okay with that, but that seems awfully myopic. Maybe I’m biased, I don’t even like swimming in the ocean.

I guess that’s why I have a lot of respect for the people trying to save the sharks. They sort of remind me of Sisyphus, the Greek king doomed to roll an immense rock up a hill for all eternity. Every time it gets close to the top, it would roll back down. It’s like, “Yeah, good luck with that, guys.”

There will be more mythology comics next week!

The people (creatures) of Sirius 3639 are a reasonable bunch. When Y’orglaxis descended from on high and told them to maybe chill out and possibly, you know, love thy neighbor, they waited a few days before looking for something to nail him to. Unfortunately, living in an ecology that supports the growth of dense fungal forests rather than trees meant that it there wasn’t much in the way of sturdy materials for crucifixion.

They chose to simply tie him up to one of the mushroom-like fungi nearby for a while. Eventually, he stopped jabbering about peace and love, and everyone went about their business.

Several thousand years later, the majority of the betentacled creatures of Sirius 3639 adhere to several faiths rooted in the teachings of Y’orglaxis and his prophetic predecessors. These creatures, like many people here on earth, also choose to ignore most of the things their prophets taught.

Like us, they received the words of the Star-Father on a couple of pieces of what passes for rocks on their planet. Chief among them was the commandment to really, just stop all the killing. Some of the Sirians looked at these words and thought, “Yeah, I guess,” and stuck to that for a couple of years before starting another war with their neighbors. A thousand years after the death of Y’orglaxis, holy war was declared against the monsters of Perseus 5421 (creatures that look an awful lot like giant earth-rodents) when they dared to mention, rather casually, that they too had a prophet and that he had some quite wonderful things to tell them.

The Sirians didn’t like the sound of that.

A thousand destructive star-battles left the Perseans on a ruined world.

It’s really too bad that we live in a universe of uncertainties or the whole thing could have been avoided, seeing as it was Y’orglaxis himself that had also visited the Perseans.

Not only had the great prophet visited the rodent-people many years before, he had also delivered the same message of peace before being tied up to one of the many stalactites in their subterranean city. Like their hated enemies, they too had started religions based on this incredible figure and then largely chosen to ignore his teachings.

Meanwhile, Y’orglaxis, the real victim in all this, continues his way across the universe, trying to talk some sense into people and getting nailed up to pieces of wood, crushed under rocks, and stuffed in methane fissures for it.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that you probably shouldn’t go around trying to get people to talk it out instead of murdering one another, it only gets you killed, deified, and then subsequently ignored.

A note to those browsing at work or school: links in the blog may be NSFW. The Tanuki is always shown with large testicles! You have been warned!

As discussed in the blog post about shintoism, posted a couple of months ago, the Japanese people have long held nature spirits and animals in reverence and featured them in stories. Among the various creatures in folklore, few are as widely recognized as the Tanuki, and for good reason. He has a few incredible traits that make him stand out from the rest of his animal brethren, but there is one that really catches the eye.

I’m talking about his ability to transform.

Also he has gigantic balls.

How does he even manage to transform those things? I don’t think he can.

It’s genitalia week here at Happle Tea apparently. Exploring all things ding-dong. Tell your friends.

Like many other cultures throughout history, the Japanese have used animals as symbols and characters for storytelling, and like other cultures, they have had favourites; animals that return in story after story that are easily recognizable and that have remained as icons even in modern times. Like its cousin, the Fox, the Japanese Raccoon Dog, or Tanuki, is still a modern cultural touchstone in Japan, even making its way into commercials. Both the Tanuki and the Fox are seen as trickster spirits, the sort of creatures that can make life difficult just as often as they can make it easier for the humans that tangle with them, though the Tanuki is generally seen as a more positive creature. It has long been shown as having a large belly, a smiling face, and humorously large testicles, among other things, all of which are potent symbols in their own way.

I’m fairly certain the giant balls are mostly for laughs.

The Tanuki is well known as a trickster spirit, often using his transformative powers to fool unsuspecting humans or other animals. He is a silly sort of creature in most stories, rarely acting with serious violence toward others and often being quite helpful with his clever tricks. There is a story in which a Tanuki is caught in a trap and is found by a poor Merchant who sets him free. The Tanuki, in order to help the man, transforms into a tea kettle and tells the merchant to sell him, which he does. A monk purchases him and sets him on the fire to boil some water. Unable to stand the heat, the Tanuki jumps up and runs out, half transformed. The tanuki runs back to the poor merchant with a new plan. The two set up a roadside attraction where the half transformed Tanuki (now a tea pot with legs) walks a tight rope. The plan is a success and the monk is no longer poor while the Tanuki has a friend and a home.

To the Japanese, the Tanuki is a clever and humorous creature, a powerful cultural touchstone that has survived since ancient times. He is proudly displayed in anime, manga, and even commercials, waving his huge testicles like some kind of banner.

While we here in the United States might find this a bit strange, sexuality of this nature is largely a non-issue in Japan. The stories of the Tanuki have very little to do with this particular facet of description, and much more to do with his trickster nature, though old illustrations are often more concerned with his giant balls than the stories seem to be. Some of them are a little over the top.

Though some in the west may find this strange creature a little offensive, Japan has always known what children have known forever:

It’s really cool when things transform into other things.

Also giant balls are hilarious.

You can read a few tanuki stories from Andrew Lang here(the first three).

And what major deity wouldn’t have a play place for himself to unwind in? I’ll tell you: A very stressed out and unpleasant one.

Hades, Greek god of the underworld, is a confusing figure to many of us nowadays. Not only is there a problem with much of Greek mythology being muddy and inconsistent due to the many writers all expressing dissimilar thoughts on hundreds of mythological topics, there is also the issue of pop culture (a recurring theme here) getting in the way. To many of us living in the largely Christian nations of the west, the ruler of the underworld should have many traits in common with the Christian devil, but this is not the case. The classic concept of good and evil, evil residing below and heaven above, evil being connected with the dead and good with life, are tragically off base when dealing with much of the pre-Christian world.

You see, the while death has long been considered a rather terrifying prospect by the living for thousands of years, there was something else attached to those seen as ruling over it in Greece, Egypt, and other ancient super powers: respect. Hades, though it is unlikely he was worshipped in the same capacity as other, less spooky deities, was never viewed as directly evil. Instead, he was a ruler in the same way as Zeus or Poseidon, a god to be respected and feared for his power, not necessarily for his particular place. Hades was, surprisingly enough, a rather dashing figure that was known to seduce young ladies, much like his younger brother, Zeus.

Unfortunately, thanks to Disney and the black and white notions of good and evil that came from Zoroastrianism and later from Christianity, Hades has been seen as something a bit more scary and villainous than originally intended. The animated film Hercules comes to mind, depicting Hades as a monster and a real bastard out to destroy the son of his brother for ridiculous reasons. Of all the films that give mythology a bad name, I’d have to say Hercules is one of the worst. I know it’s meant to be simple entertainment but it simply doesn’t do the source text any justice.

Where ancient mythologies often offer many shades of gray (even great heroes have their flaws, as shown by figures like Hercules), modern pop culture tends to give us sugar coated nonsense filled with the stark contrast of light and dark. It doesn’t do storytelling any justice and it certainly doesn’t reflect the complicated nature of humanity.

Hades, for example, the god of the dead, ruler of the underworld, is a frightening character. Yet, in most myths that feature him, he is one of the more level-headed and respectful gods with regards to humans. He allows Hercules the chance to redeem himself after the psychotic murder of his own family by giving him the opportunity to capture Cerberus as his final task of purification. He even gives Orpheus the chance to reclaim his wife after she is cruelly killed after their marriage, though Orpheus fails to keep his eyes ahead and not look back to see if she is there, causing her to be taken back to the realm of the dead until he joins her there for eternity.

Thus Hades rules over his realm, justly and not cruelly. He is a figure deserving of respect and interest in mythology and the study of religion in general, becoming the basis for more modern rulers of the dead.

Despite the dreary surroundings, I can’t help but imagine he must have had some fun to keep him going. Hanging out in the ball pit in his play area, enjoying a good round of the Game of Life, and maybe reading a good book, though spoilers may ruin them from time to time. Nothing is outside the realm of possibility for the Lord of the Dead.

Hey, did you guys hear? Osama Bin Laden’s dead! All across the globe, former thralls of the “original” terrorist are waking up as if from a deep sleep. Somewhere in Pakistan a man wakes up in a desert cave and wonders aloud, “Where am I? Where are my wife and children?” He feels something in his pocket, a somewhat ragged and dirty photo he must have been carrying for some time. Pulling it out, he takes a closer look and immediately regrets it. Here is an image of himself standing with the Al Queda mastermind himself in front of a banner reading, “Death to America”. He cries out and throws the photo screaming, “What have I done!?”

The camera pans up to the sky.

This is a tough topic of discussion, one that I didn’t think I really had an angle on for a comic and one I wasn’t sure I wanted to write a blog post about, but it’s big news and I can’t help but try for humor even in difficult situations. The last few days have been strange for much of America now that their personal boogieman is dead. Reactions have ranged from stunned confusion to outright jubilation to not studying for finals (take that terrorists!). It’s all a bit bizarre from my perspective, but then again I wasn’t there when the shit went down, so to speak. I guess I can’t know how people that were directly impacted by the events that happened 10 years ago feel about the whole thing and I would never presume to tell people how they should feel. Let’s just leave it at that.

Either way, the world is certainly a better place for lacking a figure like Bin Laden, whatever his role was in the waning years of what passed for a life. Whether he was a figurehead or not is up for debate, but regardless, it’s nice to think that the world is free from the tentacles of a sociopath like him for at least a little while.

The media here in the States, however, would like to get us worried about the next villain (or villains) right away. There’s certainly no rest for the wicked, as they say.

History is full of terrible individuals out to ruin life for other people. It’s sad to think that this is a cycle that will, likely, continue into the future. While human beings continue to misunderstand one another and see their fellow humans as “other”, this shit will go on.

My hope (hey, I’m an idealist) is that sooner or later, we’ll get it through our heads that the divisions we create between ourselves and others are largely fictitious. We all share this world together and we’re all just trying to get by. Being cognizant of the strengths and flaws of the human spirit is invaluable if you’re trying to lead a sane and healthy life. It’s hard to maintain a positive outlook when faced with people that want to murder you simply for living in a different place under a different culture, but it’s one of the few things we have to hold on to. Demonizing other nations, other faiths, or other beliefs leads nowhere good.

We can disagree without starting a war or setting off bombs.

We can just sit down and have a discussion and solve our problems. It’s really that easy.

I propose that if we really need to compete for something, we should meet on the internet to duke it out, then at least no one would have to die. I hear Starcraft 2 is pretty great.

Unfortunately, the South Koreans would win every negotiation ever.

Move over China and the US. A new challenger approaches.

Oh I have a little gift for those of you interested in how I do the artwork for the strip! I livestreamed my work on the strip for today so if you want to watch it you can. It apparently was recording through my microphone so it has some ridiculous mix of music on there. Don’t judge me. It’s two hours long and I’m planning to compress it for youtube probably down to 10 minutes. If you’re an artist the slower version might be interesting to you! Check it out here.

EDIT: Here’s the 10 minute version! Youtube cut the second song I added which was “Satellite” by Guster. Apparently I can’t use that

Have you seen the trailer for this movie “Red Riding Hood”? Brought to you by the director of Twilight, the film seems hell bent on destroying fairy tales the way Twilight destroyed vampires. Not content to sit on their laurels, I’m sure they’ve already begun contemplating their next cash cow. Or should I say, cash bears?

While I’m a big believer in everyone’s right to like whatever they want, I’m also a big believer in the fact that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I’ve sure as shit got one of those. I talked about the Vampires thing before in a strip about Van Helsing, but this movie “Red Riding Hood” is taking it to the hoop in a big way, and by “hoop” I mean the dumpster and by “it” I mean classic storytelling. Yes, I understand, people do re imaginings all the time. I get it. You’re so damn creative because you took one story and made it something slightly different. BRILLIANT. Yes, I understand that even original stories typically utilize the elements and tropes of stories past, but this is personal and it’s evil.

Fairy Tales and Mythology are a vital part of any culture, whether you realize it or not. Your life (and everyone else’s, really) is affected by the stories that came along hundreds, sometimes thousands, of years ago and worked their way into the subconscious of your society. These stories (like Goldilocks, Red Riding Hood, The Bible, popular Greek myths, and the writings of Mark Twain to name a few) have helped to shape who we are today in subtle but powerful ways. Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood were popular tales meant to caution youths about the danger of setting off alone or dealing with strange places and people. Greek and Egyptian mythology shaped many later religions and made them what they are today. Things like these are incredibly important to us and we, stupidly, look at them as a society and think them worthless. We can learn from them, our children can learn even more. Unfortunately, the vast library of mythological and fairy tale storytelling are looked at merely as being remnants left to us from silly frivolous morons from the past. The reality is that the people that wrote these tales, whether they lived a hundred years ago or several thousand, were very much like us and and very much as intelligent.

The stories the people of the past have left us are part of the rich history of humanity and they have a context and a meaning that was important then and that remains important now. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with using some of the concepts contained within them or using them to create new stories, utilizing them as some kind of farm for capitalizing on silly trends is a huge disservice to them and to us. Never mind the fact that the entire film industry (and who are we kidding, the entertainment industry in general) are simply doing the least amount of conceptual work in order to create the most profit. Red Riding Hood is Twilight. All those Teen Supernatural Romance novels are Twilight. It’s not wrong, but it’s like candy. You shouldn’t eat too much or you’re going to get sick.

Only in this metaphor (simile, whatever), instead of throwing up, your brain melts.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

What I’m advocating for here isn’t the complete annihilation of Twilight or books and films that follow the trend. What I’m looking for is some balance. Kids hear these stories when they’re little or learn them in school when they talk about the Ancient Greeks or the Ancient Egyptians, but rarely does anyone take these tales seriously or look at them as viable reading material. We have huge book stores with whole aisles dedicated to supernatural teen romance books and a single small shelf with a few mythology or fairy tale books tucked away in a corner. We go crazy for science fiction, fantasy, spy thrillers, or supernatural teen romance novels that all read like the same story with a few words moved around. These things shape us, and not always for the best. I know, I’ve been there, I read a ton of fantasy books when I was a kid. I’m here to tell you, I would have been much better off picking up a book on Greek myths or an Andrew Lang collection of Fairy Tales every once in a while.

These things have substance in a way that many modern novels don’t. These stories weren’t JUST entertainment, they were lessons for the people that heard them and that’s important. We should be able to kick back and enjoy a novel sometimes, but we should also broaden our horizons and expand our minds while we’re entertained other times.

Sooner or later we have to recognize when we’re being manipulated, and unfortunately, most media today is manipulation. How do I sell to you and do as little actual thinking as possible? We expect it from commercials and TV, but even writers and artists are guilty of it as well.

So rather than reading the same stuff over and over again, why not try something new (really old)? Grab some mythology books, the fun ones that just tell you the stories, and read them. Get an Andrew Lang collection and read the fairy tales he gathered. I think you’ll be surprised at how entertaining they can be.

I think you’ll also be surprised at just how much you might learn about yourself and about the people that helped pave the way for the lives we lead today.

Even if you don’t, at least you won’t have to read about girls dating abusive vampire boys or moody, upright bears.

OTHER STUFF: Hey the links are working again! Hooray! Stumble Upon and other outside links should be working properly!

SITE NEWS: Coe of Coe’s Quest fame has done it again. Once more he has entered the breach and dragged the site from server hell to a better place. The site should be running a lot more quickly and reliably now! If you notice anything weird, let me know and I’ll fix it up. I know the store is messed up, I’ll fix that this week.

BLOG POST

Everything nowadays is regulated. Vehicles are handled by the DMV, you’ve got your building permits, your residential neighborhoods, your income tax, and so on. Sometimes it feels like the rules never end. China is here to see that this vague feeling becomes a hard and fast reality. While religion may get a free pass in the United States and many other nations, China has decided it’s time to start regulating who gets reincarnated and where. Big brother is watching, everybody! Watching you die and live through the cycle of samsara until you break free to enlightenment!

For those of you unfamiliar with the ridiculousness of the Chinese Government, you’re in for a treat. A few years back, China decided that it was sick and tired of Buddhists always reincarnating in China. I’m sure we can all relate. I had buddhists reincarnating in my walls for YEARS, it was a huge pain in the ass. You’ve got to walk them through the enlightenment process over generations so they can finally be rid of their delusions before you can get some sleep. Those damn throat chants really put a damper on my sleeping schedule…

Anyway, rather than going through the trouble of becoming an enlightened teacher or calling pest control, China has opted to begin regulating reincarnation. How they aim to do this remains a mystery, though a hilarious one. Do they have to wait in line? Fill out forms? “Excuse me, but what form will you take in your next life, sir?”

Insanity.

China’s real aims are, unfortunately and unsurprisingly, rather more insidious than the comedy side would at first make them appear. Rather than just another silly exercise in control, the Chinese government is attempting to stamp out Buddhism within its borders. This includes (and is aimed at) Tibet. The Chinese government despises the Dalai Lama and, being rather powerless to deal with him at this point, has opted to deal with his successor instead. China hops to find its own officially sanctioned puppet-lama that they can use to control the Buddhists that remain in Tibet and other parts of China. By pointing out the fact that they have banned people from reincarnating, China can say, “Hey check it out, nobody’s allowed to reincarnate without our permission! We gave THIS guy permission, he’s the Dalai Lama and he’s working with us. He has seen the error of his ways.” Thus they hope to either eradicate Buddhism or to, at the very least, control it the way they control everything: through coercion and fear.

Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, is irrelevant in this. If reincarnation does exist, this is just a silly thing that won’t stop an expert in the first place. It’s said that powerful Lamas are perfectly capable of controlling where they are reincarnated and the Dalai Lama has already expressed the fact that he will NOT be reincarnated in China. If reincarnation doesn’t exist, this is all just ludicrous. The exiled Tibetans will find their new leader and China will find theirs and we’ll have competing brands of Dalai Lama.

I’m willing to bet the Tibetans’ Lama will feature 50% more compassion than their competitor’s. That will sure be impressive.

My personal feeling on this is that I happen to like the Dalai Lama. He’s a smart guy and surprisingly realistic and down to earth. The things he asks for are not unreasonable and the fact that China has stamped down so hard on him and his people just further proves that the Chinese Government has a lot things all wrong. These people don’t even TRY to appear like the good guys like most western governments.

I mean, they’re all idiots, but at least give us a show, right?

Poor 1920′s America, destroyed from within by the yellow peril. It’s hard to imagine what the soul-crushing experience of watching an influx of delicious food, new cultural ideals, and assistance building the railroads was like. Thankfully, horror writers like Robert E. Howard and HP Lovecraft help us relive the terrifying experience that was their daily lives with vivid clarity.

We are all indebted to them.

Well, white supremacists everywhere probably owe them a lot more.

For the record, I’m being sarcastic. Extremely sarcastic.

Racism is a bigger part of literature (and even some mythology) than most people would like to admit. The beginnings of globalization in the early 1900′s lead to some pretty awkward moments in writing history. Over the last few weeks, people have been talking about the racially charged language of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn (which is absolutely ridiculous), but there are bigger fish to fry. Love him or hate him, most people know the name HP Lovecraft. While his writing style is, sometimes, marvelous, there are elements to his work that aren’t often discussed, namely the xenophobic bits that tend to pin everything together. While the guy never wrote essays in major publications condemning people different from himself, most of his stories feature an undercurrent of mindless fear toward other cultures. There is actually a tale that reads very similarly to the strip above. The lurking horror in town? Asians. Someone call the police.

He really is the master of horror.

It’s pretty obvious from his correspondence with other writers like Robert E. Howard, that Lovecraft was worried about the fabric of American society being torn apart by what he thought of as inferior races. It’s all sort of sad and strange. The hell of it is (for him anyway) that the really xenophobic stuff both of these men wrote were easily the worst writing they ever did. Not only has it not aged well due to cultural shifts, but the writing itself doesn’t stand up very well either. I guess that’s what you get for employing hacky tricks to instill fear, rather than exercising your writing skills and creativity.

With the Cthulhu mythos and the Necronomicon, Lovecraft was building a rather interesting modern mythology that has, strangely, had a bit of a revival in recent years. The man was capable of writing some truly intense and horrifying scenes. Unfortunately for him (fortunately for the rest of us), the things he cared about in his actual life (exclusion of other people, especially Asians) never lasted.

Cultural norms shift with time and the ridiculous and hurtful things that people sometimes think really matter are soon forgotten and looked back on with shame. The same sort of fear mongering is still taking place today with gay couples. It’s nice to know that sometime soon even that will be at an end. It makes me wonder what the hell people are going to hate on next. Racism still exists but it’s far less noticeable today and definitely less acceptable to engage in. You’d think that, by now, hatred against people for superficial things they didn’t choose would be at an end, especially in the United States. It should be painfully obvious by now that the influx of other cultures and different beliefs across this country have made us stronger rather than weaker.

Without Asian immigrants we’d have no railroads, no pad thai, and (gasp) no manga.

Who the hell would want to live in a world like that? Certainly not me.