I suppose that many folks who read my stuff are old enough to remember the toy known as Stretch Armstrong. You could yank on any part of him and stretch him way out. You could let him snap back, although he did not snap that well. Kids liked him especially those who had read Plastic Man or the Elongated Man in the comic books. The latter two could stretch their bodies anywhere and would soon have the villains trapped. They were popular, of course, before the advent of the digital games. They also followed the truth and justice path which probably isn’t too prevalent in the digital games of today. It is a different world today, my friends. Not necessarily better, but definitely different.
I never was able to ascertain if Stretch was related to Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy. Jack goes back so far that you had to listen to him on the radio. There were no recordings – unless they did a repeat. Repeats did not happen that much as the kids would have known immediately that they had heard it before.
They would have complained and indicated that they would not eat their Wheaties (Jack’s sponsor) unless there was a return to new adventures. Back then sponsors would respond to listeners complaints. Of course, part of the reason was that writing a new script for somebody to read was easier than changing an expensive video.
Being of a certain age, I can exercise my memory banks and go back in time ever further. Prior to Jack, there was Frank Merriwell. Frank was the greatest athlete around. He could play any sport better than anyone else. For example, he could play any position in baseball. One day he was throwing a no hitter when a batted ball caromed off his right arm. (The ball was caught by his brother Dick, playing shortstop. Thus, the no hitter was preserved.). Frank shook his arm a little bit. Thought for a moment and then switched arms and finished the no hitter. Frank never heard of pickle ball, but if he were still around, he would be the best. If he played doubles with his brother Dick, they would be undefeated until they retired at 90.
A couple of contemporaries of Frank were Doc Savage and The Shadow. They both had many adventures in the pulp magazines of the day. Doc had several helpers – all of whom were tops in their fields. That is, they were tops if you didn’t count Doc. Doc was the world’s greatest surgeon. He was also the best engineer, scientist etc. His first name was Clark and he had a fortress of solitude like a subsequent hero – although he couldn’t fly like Superman. However, he did design and build the best and fastest airplanes. When he captured bad guys, he did not turn them over to the police (Horrors!). Instead, he took them to a secret place in upstate New York where they went through a program that turned them into caring law-abiding citizens who returned to live out a good life.
The Shadow was more limited in his approach. He was smart and could cloud men’s minds. However, unlike Doc Savage he was not out to change the bad guys into good guys. He was more often likely to use his guns on them. In one joint adventure with Doc, this caused a big problem. Doc did not like The Shadow’s methods. They finally worked something out, but it was hit and miss for some time. Heroes usually work matters out.
Is it possible that we could use more old-fashioned heroes in today’s world?
Barry Evans is a columnist for Villages-News.com
