The Golden Age of Comic BooksThe Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought as lasting from the 1930s until the late 1940s, during which comic books enjoyed a surge of popularity, the archetype of the superhero was created and defined, and many of the most famous superheroes debuted. The period saw the arrival of the comic book as a mainstream art form, and the defining of the medium’s artistic vocabulary and creative conventions by its first generation of writers, artists, and editors. Doubtless, L. Ron Hubbard was a reader of comic books during this time. This was also the period he began his own work of fiction, called Dianetics … which has been soundly rejected by recognized scientific and medical organizations to this day as Pseudoscience.
The fantastic claims of Hubbard have never achieved ANY general acceptance as a bona fide scientific theory … ZERO. The MEDLINE database ONLY records two independent scientific studies on Dianetics, both of these conducted in the 1950s by New York University. Harvey Jay Fischer tested Dianetics therapy on the basis of three claims made by proponents and found that it did NOT affect any significant change in intellectual functioning, mathematical ability, or the degree of personality conflicts. Also, Jack Fox tested Hubbard’s thesis about the recall of engrams, with the assistance of the Dianetic Research Foundation, and could not substantiate it. Current practitioners of Dianetics typically believe that charges of pseudoscience are irrelevant, emphasizing that their own experience of the therapy’s “workability” is far more important to them than the imprimatur of official science. Hence, we present the next comic book metaphor.
Bizarro World
The Bizarro World (also known as Htrae – earth spelled backwards) is a fictional planet in the DC comics universe. Introduced in the early 1960s, Htrae is a cube-shaped planet, home to Bizarro and his companions, all of whom were initially Bizarro versions of Superman, Lois Lane, and their children. Later, other Bizarros were created to add to the population including Bizarro Flash, “the Yellow Lantern”, Bizarro-Kltpzyxm, and Batzarro, the World’s Worst Detective. Everyone views the Bizarro people as strange and weird … except THEM!
In the Bizarro world of “Htrae,” society is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!”. In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: “Guaranteed to lose money for you”. Later, the mayor appoints Bizarro #1 to investigate a crime, “Because you are stupider than the entire Bizarro police force put together”. This is intended and taken as a great compliment. And now, after just a few paragraphs of explanation, you understand precisely what Scientology is all about.
We will now move on to more advanced knowledge, deeper into the archives to visit a tale that is older than man himself … and please be careful: having this knowledge could kill you if you are not already a “believer.”
The Guardians evolved on the planet Maltus, among the universe’s first intelligent life forms. At this time they were tall greyish-blue humanoids with black hair. They became scientists and thinkers, experimenting on the worlds around them. One experiment led to the creation of a new species, the Psions. In a pivotal moment, billions of years ago, a Maltusian named Krona used time-bending technology to observe the beginning of the Universe. This experiment flooded the beginning of the Universe with entropy causing it “to be born old”. (This is a retcon; originally, the experiment created evil and splintered the Universe into the Multiverse).
Feeling responsible for this, the evolved Maltusians relocated to the planet Oa (at “the center of the Universe”) and became the Guardians. Their goal was simple: combat evil and create an orderly universe. And they acted quickly on that goal. During this period they also changed to their current appearance. They serve as the administrators of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar police force that patrols the universe.
So now you know.
But wait … there’s MORE! What you didn’t know is that comic book characters are deeply religious. That’s right! These are characters who go beyond simply exhibiting positive religious values, charity, and heroism, but who openly exhibit religiosity tied to an organized religious affiliation, through prayer, verbally sharing their faith, worship service attendance, and other means. And this INCLUDES Scientologist comic characters … Ling-Ling is one, but my favorite is L-Ron. He is the perfect metaphor for the followers of this so-called religion … for L-Ron is a ROBOT.
The authors of the above site are unaware of any instance in which the robot L-Ron has overtly stated that he is a Scientologist. This classification is based primarily on his name. The character is used primarily as comic relief. Perhaps writers Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatties, the creators of the “L-Ron” character thought that the robot’s sardonic and ingratiating behavior reflected their concept of how Scientologists behave. Or perhaps they just thought it was funny to name a robot after L. Ron Hubbard. Given the fact that L-Ron is a very science-fictional character – a robot from a space-faring culture, the character’s name may simply be an homage to a popular science-fiction writer.
Don’t miss our next exciting episode of … Scionautics — The Revenge of the Ocean People. Hey, what a great idea for a new web domain name (SCIONAUTICS.COM – it’s available – act now and maybe you can start your own religion).