Letters to an Absent Father

If you're older than 14 or have some grasp of popular culture over the past decade, then you've heard of Pokemon. You know, that show featuring 150 different pocket monsters (get it? That's why they're called "Poke-Mon") and revolving around the lovable trio of Misty, the fanboy fantasy; Brock, the only minority in all of Kanto; and Ash Ketchum, the loyal if incessantly clumsy protagonist.

I refuse to acknowledge anything beyond 250 Pokemon.

Growing up this was one of my favorite shows and probably the first anime I watched, except for maybe Dragon Ball Z. I was so dedicated to watching a bunch of glorified prepubescent slave owners force their Pokemon to fight to the brink of death that I would get up at 6:50 just to watch the show at 7:00. Kudos to YOU fellow reader if you not only remember those bygone days, but did the same.

But I digress.

Going back to my list of characters, one might even add Ash's mom to the mix since she's practically a recurring character throughout the series. We learn that she's an amazing cook, that she loves Ash, and that she has no problem sending her 10-year-old son to wander the world on his own without even Chris Hansen's protection. And she does all this as a single mother!

None of this to protect Ash's virgin ass.

 But wait..So where's Ash's dad?

Truth be told it is never revealed in the series; but as any child without a father can tell you, the question is constantly whittling away at you, even if they were too young to remember that father. As a boy, the absence of a father figure must have been doubly pressing to a young Ash growing up and the argument can even be made that his quest to become the best stems from his feelings of rejection from an ever absent father.

(click on the image if it gets cut off)

This is the premise behind Maré Odomo's project "Letters to an Absent Father," wherein a fatherless Ash writes letters to his absent father (which he may or may not send). My brother found these comics (there are 16 total) scattered here and there on the Internet before finally finding the original page, which is the link I have shared above with you. Hope you enjoy this read as well.

Cheers,
Touch

Stumble Findings: POKEMON EXTRAVEGANZA!

Well, followers, as my brother has informed you, I have been analized by midterms...AND SURVIVED! At least until next week when I have two more, that is.

But Anyways!

As I'm sure anyone who isn't a loser will know, Pokemon was THE SHIT back in the day. They were all awesome as hell, and everyone thought being a pokemon master was the next best thing to being God himself.

 Being the Glorious Leader of Best Korea comes pretty close, too.

Sadly, they had to screw it all up by creating an orgy of hideous, half-assed monstrosities that don't even come close to the first 150 (who else could name them all at one point in their lives? If you couldn't...you had no childhood). Even the show sucks now (is it even still on?). C'mon, how often can Ash win THE ENTIRE LEAGUE, then go somewhere and be completely unknown? Seriously.

 

Pokemon then.

Pokemon now.

Being the lazy bum that I am, however, I never took the time to collect my thoughts and write down which of these pokemon I particularly loathed--but luckily for me, Steve Bogda at damnlag.com did! And I have to say, I have to agree with him for the most part on his top 10 choices. Except with Jynx. Jynx was hilarious.


Bogda further wrote a FANTASTIC article on the nerdgasm that would be a hypothetical Pokemon MMORPG. How awesome would that be exactly?

 This could be you.

And these could be your pokemon.

Wow. That's pretty goddamn awesome.

Cheers!

Feel.