"Spider-Man: The Clone Saga" / "Miles Morales: The Clone Saga" Comparison

            The following piece is a comparison piece of the Marvel Comics Events “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga” and “Miles Morales: The Clone Saga.”

            Hey, guys, welcome to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! My name just happens to be Tim Cubbin, and I just happen to be the writer of this blog. I might actually let someone else write for this blog, but for today, I’m your host!

            So, we have some fun planned for us right here, right now. To those of you who don’t know, I am a major Marvel Comic Books fan. I’ve been reading regularly since 2001, so by now that’s twenty years (I know, I’m so old). Over the past year, I’ve been doing this blog, posting reviews of Marvel prose and graphic novels. I have done several comparison pieces on graphic and prose novel with the same title and adaptations. This, however, is a first. I’m going to compare two COMIC book stories with similar titles. On July 25, 2021, I did a review of the Marvel Comics event “Spider-Man: The Clone Saga” and a few hours ago on November 16, 2021, I posted a review of the Marvel Comics event “Miles Morales: The Clone Saga.” For those who don’t know, Miles Morales is the new Spider-Man. So these two reviews are the Clone Sagas of two different Spider-Men. If you haven’t read my reviews of the two events yet, I totally have to tell you to break now, then read the reviews by themselves (I gave you the dates posted for this express purpose), then come back and enjoy reading this comparison post. If you do this big favor for me, you are THE BEST!

            Okay, obviously I need to give you a little background on the Clone Sagas I previously wrote, for the purpose of differentiating the two Clone Sagas and preparing my comparison purposes.

            Let’s talk about the two Spider-Men to start this up. We’ll begin with the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Peter was a high school nerd, bullied and ignored by the other kids in his school. He went to a demonstration on radioactivity. While there, a spider got in the way of radioactive rays and became irradiated and bit Peter Parker and Cindy Moon before it died (Cindy Moon is the super hero Silk but has nothing to do with these stories, so she will not be mentioned in this review again). Afterwards, Peter Parker discovered he had spider-related powers. He has adhesive fingertips and toes; the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider; and a precognitive awareness of personal danger he calls “spider-sense.” He was orphaned as a boy and was raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. At first he tried to use his powers for personal gain. One day, he let a burglar run by when Peter could have stopped him. This burglar broke into Peter’s home and shot and killed his Uncle Ben. Peter stopped the burglar, and decided to use his powers to help others. He truly became Spider-Man and lived by the mantra that with great power there must also come great responsibility.

            Miles Morales was a high school student. His Uncle Aaron was a criminal called the Prowler. One day, Aaron stole from Oscorp, and accidentally grabbed a genetically altered spider. While hanging out with his Uncle Aaron, the spider bit Miles. He discovered he had spider-related powers. . He has adhesive fingertips and toes; the proportional speed, strength and agility of a spider; the ability to direct a mild electrical charge he calls “venom blasts;” the ability to turn invisibility; and a precognitive awareness of personal danger he calls “spider-sense.” He decided to use his powers to help others who needed help, like his hero Spider-Man and became the new Spider-Man himself.

            Okay, those are the origins of the two Spider-Men. Let’s talk about the storylines leading up to both Peter and Miles’ Clone Sagas.

            In college, Peter Parker fell in love with fellow student Gwen Stacy. Secretly, their professor Miles Warren also fell in love with Gwen. Gwen was killed by Peter’s super villain enemy the Green Goblin. Warren was a geneticist and became the super villain the Jackal. The Jackal cloned Gwen and Peter. Both clones were presumed dead. Peter’s clone, however, did not die and left New York to live a life of his own as Ben Reilly. The Jackal was able to create more viable clones of Peter and Gwen. When Aunt May had a stroke, Ben returned to New York, and he and Peter originally fought, but were eventually able to live in coexistence.

            As for Miles Morales, Miles was abducted by the Assessor, who studied Miles to the point of torture and created a clone of Miles. Miles faced the clone, but the clone turned out to be inviable and fell apart. However, the Assessor managed to create three semi-viable clones. Miles was lured by his clones who began to commit crimes in his name, including a scientist to create a cure that would stabilize the clones, but not knowing this, Miles destroyed the cure, incurring the wrath of the clones Selim, Mindspinner and Switch.

            For more details of the actual events of the two Clone Sagas, read my reviews of both events (if you haven’t done so already). Okay, now I’ve got to compare the two Clone Sagas. I must say, however, there were almost no similarities between Peter and Miles’ Clone Sagas. Both had clones, and both had clones that were inviable and tried to stabilize themselves. Both had clones that tried to ruin their reputations. Peter’s clone Kaine committed murder and Peter was put on trial after a fingerprint match implicated Peter. Miles’ clone Selim stole equipment and kidnapped a scientist, who Selim went on to murder. And that’s about as far as similarities come.

            Okay, now you’re probably wondering which Clone Saga I preferred. If you read my reviews, you know I score my reviews on a scale of one to ten, one being totally awful, ten being totally awesome. You will also know at the time of writing the reviews, I gave Peter Parker’s Clone Saga a five, while I scored Miles Morales’s Clone Saga at a six. Please note I sometimes have a change of heart after writing my posts. But you may have read that I thought Peter Parker’s Clone Saga was too long, whereas Miles Morales’s Clone Saga was too short. There was just an imbalance on the length of the stories. Peter Parker and Ben Reilly both had solo stories and connecting stories. I felt that Miles Morales’s clone Selim just did not have enough time to be thoroughly established. Granted Selim was an evil clone, I thought more development of Selim, Mindspinner and Switch would have actually been more interesting if each clone actually had a story rather than just being deteriorating. So, yes, my promised preference. This is actually a very tough decision to make. Both had flaws. Both had good points. I have to say that, though being lower scored, Peter Parker’s Clone Saga was my preference, owing to each clone actually having a developed storyline rather than just eight issues solely focusing on Miles. It could have had much potential.

            Now I’ll revisit my accessibility statements in order to give recommendations. If you were to actually read these events, I felt that Peter Parker’s Clone Saga required a good deal of Spidey knowledge for optimal enjoyment, while I said that Miles Morales’s Clone Saga actually felt self-contained. I still, all these months later, stand by both statements. If you’re new to the Spider-Men and want to start a Clone Saga, I’d have to tell you Miles Morales’s is easier to pick up and read. At the same time, I’m not telling you to just read Miles’ Clone Saga as Peter’s was actually rather better developed. I just have to tell you if you either prefer Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider to Miles Morales/Spider-Man, go with whoever you like. Now, let’s get serious about something. I am NOT making your decisions for you. What I may like in comics are things that you have no interest in, or even dislike and hate, while you may like things that I don’t. That is ENTIRELY up to you. If you want to read either, both, or neither of them based on what I write, that’s on you, and I can’t force feed this on you. You make your own decisions. This is From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin, after all, not “From the Mind of One (Insert Your Name Here).” My opinions are my own, I can’t expect you to always agree with me. That’s the magic of free will.

            So if you either have read or go on to read either Clone Sagas, feel free to tell me what YOU think. I’d love to hear it. You can leave a comment on my blog page, message me on Facebook, leave a Tweet on this Twitter page, I’d LOVE to hear your opinions. And feel free to Retweet or Share with your followers and friends, that’d be awesome and you are totally THE BEST! I love the support, this blog is what keeps me going from day-to-day. I’m a certified journalist unable to get a job, which is why I do this. I’m semi-professional with this blog, and I do this just so I can share my opinions and encourage you to read and connect with me. You can also check out more of my blog posts if you enjoyed this. I do plenty more than just reviews and comparison pieces, I do essays about mental health (I happen to have bipolar disorder and am a mental health advocate), editorials about stupid things that bother me, short stories, poetry, and more. I post pretty frequently, so always expect more content, and I’ll say goodbye to you, and, as always, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Miles Morales: The Clone Saga"

 

            The following is a review of the Marvel Comics event “Miles Morales: The Clone Saga” as presented on Marvel Unlimited.

            Welcome to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin. I’m your reviewer Tim Cubbin. If you’ve never read any reviews on this blog before, I’ll tell you how this works. If you’ve read one of my reviews before, you know the rundown, but still read the next few sentences anyway as it might be a little different from my prior reviews. First off, I am a total diehard Marvel Comics fan. I read from Marvel Unlimited pretty much every day and now any events I read I review, so here we are. Anyway, at the start of every one of my reviews, I give my opening shtick (like the one you are reading now). Then I give a brief explanation of the major characters you need to know about as you read this review. Following that, I give a synopsis of the main stories in the event. After that, I give my thoughts, what I liked, what I disliked and why. Following that, I’ll tell you the level of background knowledge I feel you should know before making the commitment to read this event. Then comes the numeric score I give the event. After that, I’ll tell you if I recommend it and to whom I think would like to read this event. Finally, I’ll give my log off message and stop wasting your time.

Well, if you’re still with me at this point and have not been scared off, let’s get right to it. The main character of the event is Miles Morales/Spider-Man. Miles was bitten by a genetically altered spider and gained several powers: adhesive fingertips and toes; the proportional speed, strength, and agility of a spider; the ability to camouflage himself to the point of invisibility; the ability to discharge an electric charge; and a precognitive awareness of personal imminent danger. He also has web shooters. He took on the name of Spider-Man (even though there already IS a Spider-Man, who agreed to share the name with Miles).

Peter Parker/Spider-Man: The original Spidey.

Rio Morales: A nurse; Miles’ mother (knows her son is Spider-Man).

Jefferson Morales (formerly Davis): Former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent; Miles’ father (knows his son is Spider-Man).

Billie Morales: Miles’ newborn baby sister.

Ganke Lee: Miles’ best friend.

Tianna Toomes/Starling: the granddaughter of original Spidey baddie the Vulture. Has a flight suit.

Kamala Khan/Miss Marvel: Size-changing polymorph. Miles’ teammate in the young super team the Champions.

Knull: the King in Black. Malicious god of the symbiotes.

Selim, Mindspinner, and Shift: Clones of Miles (we’ll get to them in a minute, stay with me here).

Okay, these are the main players in this little drama, what say we get right to the synopsis of the event. In the first story, Miles has a team-up with Starling. After a successful rescue, Starling kisses Miles, leaving him the question: does he have feelings for her?

Next is a “King in Black” tie-in. Knull leads a horde of hundreds of thousands of symbiote dragons to Earth. Miles is forced to battle Miss Marvel, but is able to rescue her from Knull’s control. During the chaos, Ganke cowers in fear with Miles’ ex, Barbara, and after Knull’s assault on Earth, the two start dating.

Following that is the main story: “The Clone Saga.” Several months before, a villain called the Assessor kidnapped Miles, assessed him, and created unstable clones of Miles: Selim, the leader, an improvement on Miles; Mindspinner, with a spider form and mental powers, kind of like a psychic screech; and Shift, a gooey creature. Selim committed crimes as Miles, stealing items and kidnapping a scientist in an effort to create a cure for the clones’ instability. Miles, not knowing this, finds the clones’ lair and destroys it, and the clone stability cure. In a rage, Selim trashes Miles’ relationship with Miles’ friends, then Selim, Mindspinner and Shift attack Miles’ parents and kidnap Miles’ baby sister Billie.

I’m stopping here so I don’t spoil the ending. Now we go on to my personal thoughts. The Starling story wasn’t too bad, but I felt like the sparks between Miles and Tianna should have had some more development. “The King in Black” tie-in was my favorite story in the event. “The King in Black” was a whole other event, and I actually enjoyed that event and felt like Miles’ storyline in the whole drama was interesting and exciting, especially the drama of Ganke connecting with Miles’ ex (which actually happened to me, oddly enough) that created friction between Miles and Ganke. As far as “The Clone Saga,” I felt it was mediocre. I didn’t hate it, but if the writer had made the story an issue or two longer to develop the story a little more (such as featuring the full assault on Miles’ parents, more of the clones ruining Miles’ reputation and friendships, and extending the drama of Selim kidnapping Billie), there could have been potential for a slightly better story. As it stood, it wasn’t too bad.

Okay, let’s talk accessibility. For those of you who don’t quite know what I mean, it’s my way to tell you if this is a good jump-on point for new readers or not. I found this story to be relatively self-contained. For those with no Miles experience, I feel you can still pick up this book and be able to understand it.

Okay, now for the score. I go on a one to ten scale. One means this was awful and I only read it for continuity’s sake. Ten means this was awesome and reading it as a whole made sense and I enjoyed it more reading it a second time. Just so you know, I’m a really hard to please guy when it comes to comic scoring, as prior readers will know. Oddly enough, my score will fluctuate. Before I post, I feel like I’ll give it one score, but while a write this, my score might change, and maybe even after this post my score might change. At the moment, I give it a six. For my reasoning behind this, go back two paragraphs and read again because I literally just told you.

Now, I’ll tell you my recommendation. Do I recommend it? If you read comics regularly yet did not read this story in your perusal, I would recommend it to you. Again, the story wasn’t bad, but it could have been better. If you have never read a Miles Morales comic book before but saw the movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and liked it and wanted to find a good place to start reading a Miles Morales comic, this might be for you. If you know absolutely nothing about Miles or have never picked up a comic book before and just want a good storyline to start reading at, it’s a fairly good place to start. Now, I’ll say this: I CANNOT tell you if you’ll like this or not. I might have liked it, but I can’t guarantee you will like it because I am me and you are you. That said, this does get MY recommendation. If you read this review and are now interested in reading it, I say go for it! If you read it, feel free to let me know what you thought about it, this blog site does have a comment option, or you could just Tweet at me if you found this link on Twitter. I’d love to hear from you!

Well, now I guess I’ve gone on long enough. Your brain’s probably on overload. I just have to say, if you read this ENTIRE review, you are THE BEST! I appreciate your effort. I now ask for YOUR support. Please retweet this post, share it, follow me, contact me, whatever you can do, I’d love your input. As far as this blog goes, I’ve done plenty of work. I’ve written over a dozen reviews and will do plenty more. I also do mental health essays, an editorial series called B’ings, short stories and poetry. I’m actually a certified journalist with no job, so to pass my time I read and blog out of the goodness of my heart, getting no money for this, but I love doing this, it gives me purpose, so I just do it. There is plenty of content here and plenty more on the way, I’ll be doing this blog until I can’t do it anymore, so please feel free to check back often. I’m also working on a comparison piece involving this post and a previous post, it’ll be here in a few hours, so please hang on and come back. If you do, you are THE BEST! So I bid you farewell for now, and till next time, Tim Cubbin… out!

"The Amazing Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six" by Charles Vess and David Michelinie

            The following is a review of the graphic novel “The Amazing Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six” written by Charles Vess and David Michelinie.

            So my regulars know the drill, but for the newbies, an explanation of how one of my reviews work is in order. This is a review of a Marvel Epic Collection. An Epic Collection is a graphic novel containing a large number of individual Marvel comics, focusing on a particular storyline and the issues around that storyline ranging from a particular timespan. So in this review, the first thing I’ll do (well, this is the introduction, so I guess it’s the second thing I’ll do) is give a description of the key characters in the book. Then I’ll talk about the synopsis of the book containing as few spoilers as possible. After that, I’ll give my own personal thoughts on the book. Following that, I’ll talk about the accessibility to casual or non-readers to prior stories. Then I’ll give the ever important numerical score. Then I’ll tell you if I recommend the book to others and who I’d recommend it to. Then I’ll wrap up the piece with the traditional Tim Cubbin sign off. So, let’s start.

            Okay, first we’ll talk about our cast of characters in depth. First is Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Peter was orphaned as a child and was raised by his loving Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Peter was bullied in school for being a bookworm. One day, he went to a demonstration in radiology. A spider got irradiated by the radioactive rays, then as it died, it bit Peter. Peter found he had the proportional strength and agility of a spider, adhesive fingertips and toes, and a precognitive warning or imminent personal danger he calls “spider-sense.” He created web shooters that fire adhesives. He kept his powers a secret from everyone by designing a costume. He started a career in show business. One day, he allowed a robber to escape past him, caring only about number one: himself. This robber went on to murder his Uncle Ben. Peter brought the crook to justice, and took Uncle Ben’s wise words to heart: “with great power there must also come great responsibility.” He decided to use his powers to help others, but still kept his identity a secret. He went on to become a super hero, fighting a variety of super villains to protect innocent people. He became a photographer for the tabloid The Daily Bugle, mostly shots of his adventures as Spider-Man. Now he is a college student at Empire State University.

            Okay, we’re going to go past the next characters with just minor details because giving all the history would take forever. It’s just essential to know Spidey’s background to understand this review.

            Mary Jane Watson-Parker: Peter’s wife, and actress on the soap opera “Secret Hospital.”

            May Parker: Peter’s elderly, doting Aunt.

            Nathan Lubinsky: Aunt May’s fiancé.

            Flash Thompson: Peter’s former high school bully now best friend.

            Felicia Hardy: Spider-Man’s ex-girlfriend, former super thief the Black Cat, now Flash Thompson’s girlfriend.

            J. Jonah Jameson: Publisher of The Daily Bugle, a Spidey hater who sells papers on an anti-Spider-Man platform, Peter’s boss.

            Next we’ll talk about the villains, their names and powers.

            Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus: Able to control a contraption of four metal arms that respond to his thoughts.

            Max Dillon/Electro: Able to control and generate electricity.

            Quentin Beck/Mysterio: A stunt coordinator, with all kinds of special effect gimmicks.

            William Baker/Sandman: Able to turn his entire body into sand, and can solidify his body into rock.

            Adrian Toomes/Vulture: Has a contraption that gives his wings and the ability to fly.

            Hobgoblin: A demonic creature. Has devices such as pumpkin bombs, razor bats, electric gloves, and a goblin glider.

            These six form the villain team: The Sinister Six.

            Eddie Brock/Venom: Has a symbiote suit that gives him powers similar to Spider-Man and then some.

            Mac Gargan/Scorpion: Mechanical armor with a stinging tail that can fire acid.

            Aleksei Systevich/Rhino: Has a rhino suit that grants his super strength and invulnerability.

            Dr. Elias Wirtham/Cardiac: Mechanical heart, vibranium armor, energy-firing staff.

            Dmitri Smerdyakov/Chameleon: Can change appearance at will.

            Anton Miguel Rodriguez/Tarantula: Enhanced reflexes and venomous boot spikes.

            Black Fox: Master cat burglar.

            Herman Schultz/Shocker: Vibration causing gauntlets.

            Nicholas Powell/Chance: Gambling mercenary.

            Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom: Ruler of the country of Latveria.

            Cletus Kasady: Eddie Brock’s cellmate, serving eleven consecutive life sentences.

            Yeah, I know, quite a cast. So now let’s talk about the major stories in brief since there is a lot in the book.

            Spirits of the Earth: Mary Jane inherits property in Scotland and she and Peter take a second honeymoon.

            Return of the Sinister Six: Doctor Octopus reforms the Sinister Six in a plan to hold the earth hostage. Unbeknownst to the other five, Doc Ock plans to double-cross them and rule the earth by himself.

            Powerless: The Chameleon in disguise tricks Spider-Man into giving up his powers.

            Venom Returns: Eddie Brock’s Venom symbiote breaks Eddie out of prison. Venom then battles Spidey and takes him to an abandoned mining colony island.

            Also in this book is the underlying story of Cardiac’s attempt to take down Sapirdyne Chemicals whom he feels wronged him, confrontations with the Black Fox and Doctor Doom, and a hint at the birth of Carnage.

            Okay, now it’s time for my thoughts. Okay, I LOVED this book. I didn’t want to put it down and finished it in just over twenty-four hours. BUT! I have two major complaints. First, I disliked the Spirits of the Earth Graphic Novel. I mean, I didn’t hate it, but the book would have been fine without it, and the only reason it was even in this book was due to the time proximity of the main stories. My other complaint is two of the details in the artwork. Nothing truly against Erik Larsen, I thought he did an excellent job, but I felt like he made Peter Parker look too young. He’s supposed to be in college but looks like a sophomore in high school. And I thought he gave the male characters WAY TOO MUCH body hair. I honestly don’t know if women are really into it these days. But then again, I’m a nineties brat, so I don’t know if it was popular back in 1991.

            Okay, next is my accessibility rating. Now, I don’t actually give it a score, I just assess how much background knowledge I feel is appropriate to get optimal reading enjoyment of the book. So, again being a nineties brat, I didn’t read Spider-Man comics back in 1991, so there was history I was unfamiliar with. I didn’t know Aunt May actually had Nathan Lubinsky as a fiancé. I didn’t know Flash Thompson dated Felicia Hardy. I don’t know who Hobgoblin was at the time (there have been several over the years). There were several other background threads I didn’t know. So as a Spider-Man fan, not being privy to some of these details, I feel that there is a slight deal of background knowledge about the characters needed to fully grasp the story tightly. We’ll get back to that in a few paragraphs as to my recommendation.

            Now, all said and done: my numeric score. For those who don’t know how I score, I go on a scale of one to ten. One means I totally hated this book, ten means it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Again, I loved the book, and it had the potential for a nine, even with Spirits of the Earth, but due to the artwork, I have to lower it to an eight.

            Now, as I said before, I’d get back to my recommendation, and I’m keeping that promise. If you love Spider-Man, I would totally tell you that I feel as if this book is worth a read. If you’re a fan of the Sinister Six or any of the members I said in my character introductions, again, I feel this book is worth a read. I thought it was a great Sinister Six book, as well as a great Venom book. When I bought this book, I wasn’t aware that it had a Venom story, so that was a pleasant surprise for me. Now, if you only know Spider-Man from the movies or television shows, I feel you might enjoy this book. In all the Spidey film franchises, almost all of the Sinister Six members in this book have appeared in the films, as well as other villains from this book appeared in the films. Cardiac was a character I had never heard of, but as this book contains his origin story, it isn’t detrimental to casual fans. If you’ve never actually read or seen ANYTHING Spider-Man and want to get into it, this book is a difficult start, as all the villains except for Cardiac and Cletus Kasady have been pretty thoroughly established, have had detailed history and several prior stories. BUT! I’m not saying it’s impossible. The Epic Collections are established to be relatively self-contained, but I can’t in good conscience say every Epic Collection is a jump in. Also, the Epic Collections are not released in chronological order and there are massive gaps in-between the Epic Collections (this book is called Volume 21, but not all of the other 20 volumes have been released). Still, if this review titillates your interest, feel free to visit your library to see if they have it, or if you want, you can try to get a copy in stores or online. My prior readers know I am a very harsh judge on my scores, so an eight (which could have been a nine with another artist) is a pretty good score. So you can do what you will. To read or not to read is all up to you. I can’t GUARANTEE you’ll like it just because I like it, but it has a general recommendation from me.

            Well, you’ve been reading for quite a while if you’re actually still here reading. If you’re still with me, you are (as my prior readers know) THE BEST! I’ve done so many reviews already, but I don’t just do reviews on this blog, so totally feel free to keep looking at my work, and for now, I bid you adieu and everything else I have to say is, Tim Cubbin… out! 

B'ings: Must Watch/Can't Miss

            Howdy, one and all! I welcome you to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! I’m your guide, Tim Cubbin!

            Okay, you have noticed that this post is called “B’ings: Must Watch/Can’t Miss!” For those of you who have never been to this blog before and/or have never read one of my B’ings before, I’ll explain (and if you fit those qualifications, I have no idea how you are here, this has to have been my weakest tags in my entire blogging career, so I will tell you, you are THE BEST!). I keep this blog G-Rated, so B’ing is a shorter version of a word I refuse to use for a blog title. There is absolutely no significance for a B’ing, it’s just me complaining pointlessly for the time it takes me to write this post. What can I say but I’m very opinionated and I like to complain. Speaking of opinions, newbies, a B’ing is all MY opinion. I totally DO NOT expect you to agree with me. I respect that YOU have YOUR OWN opinions. So if you’re reading my blathering, you are THE BEST! I appreciate you. I appreciate all my readers. I know I have several regulars who love my work and keep coming back, and I have family and personal friends who read out of obligation to me, but if you don’t fit either of those billings, again, you are THE BEST! Okay, I think that’s enough thanking you for a few paragraphs, let’s just get to my pointless point.

            Who here watches television? (If you say yes, I can’t hear you, so you probably shouldn’t say “yes” out loud, just think it and let’s go to my next question). Who here watches commercials on television? (I think I’ve just lost 90% of the people who thought yes to my last question, but that question is actually more important than the first, so we might have a hiccup there, but I hope you’ll please just keep reading anyway.) If you mentally said yes to question two, that’s great. Now we have another question: Who here has ever seen a commercial on television that advertises a television show or film? (If you say yes to that, then we’re perfect on this front.) Final question: Who here has ever seen a commercial on television that advertises a television show or film that claims a television show or film is a “must watch” or “can’t miss” or has the word “everyone” in it? (If you can say yes to this question, we’re golden, you’ll actually see where I’m coming from). Okay, say we have a commercial advertising a new television show coming up and say it’s a “must watch” show, or an upcoming movie the announcer says it’s a “can’t miss.” So I have to watch it? So I have to see it? What happens if I don’t? What if when the show airs I don’t turn it on, or don’t DVR it, or watch something else in the same time slot, or don’t go to On Demand or Hulu to watch it if I don’t watch it when it first airs? What if I say that this “can’t miss” film is something I don’t want to see and don’t pay the extravagant ticket price, or I don’t buy the DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Copy, or if I don’t watch it on streaming or television?  What’s going to happen? Will the world end? Will I die? What dire consequences will occur since I decide not to watch it or see it? Why is it imperative to watch or see it? Am I going to be demoted in social standing, or have bad luck, or have something unspeakable happen to the important people in my life? Am I now branded lesser? Will my friends or family shun me? What’s so essential that I have to watch or see it? HONESTLY? WHAT? In my honest opinion, the worst that can happen is I can’t join in the conversation of the show/film, and if I don’t want to watch/see it, why is that of any consequence? WHY? WHYYY? (Okay, that was a tad dramatic, but I just had to sell it.) And in some commercials, they say things like “everyone’s talking about…” So, I’m not everyone? Am I a horrible creature or amoeba or lesser being for not viewing the show/film? I don’t think so. And could someone PLEASE tell me what “Rotten Tomatoes” or “Certified Fresh” even means? (Honestly, leave a comment explaining it if you know what it means, I really want to know.) Why are all these claims important? Why are these baseless taglines put in commercials? They are just not true!

            So let’s get to our conclusion. You might now be wondering “Why did I just waste the past few minutes of my time reading this drivel?” If you are, I honestly don’t blame you. I mean, there’s absolutely NO POINT to what I just wrote. But if you actually read this pointless drivel, then you are THE BEST! You actually stayed to read this whole thing! THANK YOU SO MUCH! But maybe you think that I have a point? Maybe you’ve thought about this the way I have? Maybe you’re thinking “Gee, I never thought of that before. Tim Cubbin is right.” (Okay, honestly I doubt you’re thinking I’m right, but I’m trying to sell this.) But some of you may actually agree with me on this one. If you do, you, gentle reader, are THE BEST! But, like I said at the start of this editorial, I’m just pointlessly complaining. You have your own opinions, this is just mine, I can’t expect you to have even gotten ANYTHING out of our past few minutes together, but whatever. It is what it is. Anyway, if you, by some odd chance, enjoyed this, I have had plenty of other pointless rants you can check out, as well as essays about mental illness (which actually do have a point). I’m a huge Marvel Comics fan and I write tons of reviews about Marvel graphic and prose novels. I’m a writer, I write short fiction and nonfiction and poetry. I’ve done so much for this blog, maybe you’ll find something you’ll enjoy. As for all this, you can React, Comment, Retweet, Share, Follow, whatever you want to do on this site, and I’ll be back. I have three more words to finish this editorial off: Tim Cubbin… out! 

Growing Up With Mental Illness

            Hello all, welcome to “From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin!” My name is Tim Cubbin, and I’ll be your narrator!

            So some of my previous readers know that I have bipolar disorder and am a mental health advocate, topics I discuss very often in this blog. I know it’s a taboo subject, a topic not talked about enough, not mainstream, not understood, and that is why I take it upon myself to fight the stigma. This post is here to discuss my childhood battle with mental illness, up until the point where I became a teenager, and I will likely continue this story in future posts, but for now we’ll talk about my life up until I was diagnosed as bipolar. This is actually very hard for me to write, but I feel SOMEONE has to do this, why shouldn’t it be me? I hope my story will go on to help and inspire youths going through similar difficulties in their lives and make them not ashamed of their diagnoses as honestly there is NOTHING to be ashamed of. So, let’s begin.

            In my first five years of life, I was, let’s say, difficult. I couldn’t sit still for very long, I had nervous ticks such as hair twirling, nose picking, and saliva bubble blowing, and I blurted out things a kid is instilled not to say. I know a lot of kids do similar habits, and that’s what led to my first diagnosis, attention deficit disorder (A.D.D.). My father, apparently didn’t truly believe in mental illness at the time. He just though my actions were things that could be cured with a good ol’ spanking, an hour of silence in the corner, soap in the mouth, denial of privileges, exclusion from meals, and a “go to your room.” (Back then, “go to your room” was a punishment. I didn’t have a television or video game console or computer at the time, so being exiled was difficult, which actually helped develop my love of reading and writing, for lack of anything else to do. I could read third grade level by three years old, not to brag.) I was punished a lot as a child, which my longtime friends know. Day care had several minor complaints about me, which my dad overreacted to with the aforementioned punishments. Finally, when I was five and in kindergarten, my school social worker told my parents to take me to a psychiatrist. My dad, as you can surmise, thought it was a waste of time and money, but my mom acquiesced. After one session, the psychiatrist decided I had A.D.D. and prescribed a bimonthly session and a daily dosage of Ritalin. (This happened all the time for children currently around my age. Any odd behavior meant a snap label of A.D.D. and a bottle of Ritalin. I don’t know how this applies these days, I have no children or any children in my immediate family, but feel free to send me a comment to fill me in, I’d really like to know. No one has ever left me a comment to my blog in my entire career of over a year and I think one is LONG OVERDUE!). Again, my dad thought the medications were a waste of money, he believed they wouldn’t do anything and that it was a quack trying to scam them. His assessment seemed to be right as my “defective” behavior didn’t improve.

My memories of the next few years are a blank due to a head injury fourteen years ago, so I only have a few snippets of my past. I lost my first love Sarah of a brain tumor when I was seven years old. (The general belief of if she were still alive today, we’d be married, successful, and have five amazing kids.) Also, my parents got divorced when I was eight years old. I, of course, at the time thought it was my fault. I believed that if I weren’t so defective, my dad wouldn’t have left and we would have stayed a family. All of my psychiatrists and therapists have told he that the divorce wasn’t because of me, which is what they tell every kid, but it took me a long time to accept it wasn’t due to me. (There is now someone I can attribute it to, but I don’t like to discuss this person as they are a nonentity in my life now and a waste of both my and your time to talk about.) My custody arrangement meant I lived with my mother, but had visitation with my dad every Wednesday, every other weekend, and every other holiday. I had the feelings that many young kids feel: I idealized both my parents and hoped they would get back together. I took me four years to get past that one.

Flash forward several years, as I have very few memories after that until I was in middle school. I was still on meds, there was tension in my family, which blew up when I was thirteen. I was one of the kids who never cleaned his room. One weekend, my dad said if I didn’t clean my room by the next visitation period, he would throw everything on the floor out. Every kid thinks that would be an empty threat… except my dad meant it. As my possessions went in the garbage bag, an argument started, culminating with me saying the words “I never want to see you again!” and him replying “That can be arranged.” Of course, I figured this would be a mad on and he would get over it. I did not see my dad for over a year after that.

Word spread of my father abandoning me, my being on meds, and my odd behavior made school difficult after that. I was heavily bullied, and I acted out a lot. I can’t discuss my life after that due to restrictions of content on this blog site and I’d rather not relive the time too much as it is difficult and painful.

When I was fourteen, my father contacted me online and we reunited, but I got the hard news: he was moving to Texas. His exact words were “There’s nothing keeping me in New York.” This deeply impacted my mental state, and the day before my first day of high school, I had a major breakdown and was sent to a mental hospital for almost a month. That was when the doctors reassessed my condition of A.D.D. being a misdiagnosis and decided I actually have bipolar disorder. My medications were changed completely, and my life massively changed. I was released September 30, 2002, and on October 1, 2002, my new life began.

That’s where we’re going to end. There is a chance we’ll talk more about my teenage years, but just not now. I know I’ve been going on for a while, so if you’re still with me at this point, you are THE BEST! (I say this every time as any of my prior readers will know, but I want you to know that I actually really do mean it.) I hope my story was understandable, that it actually reached you, made you learn about the struggle those with mental illness go through, and maybe even inspired you if you are a youth with mental illness. I totally encourage you to comment or retweet my post or follow me, that would be awesome and I will totally say you are THE BEST! I will follow you if I don’t already follow you! Also, feel free to look at more of my posts on this blog. I talk about other topics of mental illness, but that’s not all. I write essays, short stories, editorials, essays, poetry, book reviews, and more, so please see if anything else hits your fancy. (Does anyone say that anymore, or am I just old?) Anyway, thanks for reading, I’m nowhere near done with this blog, there will be a lot more content coming up, so until next time, Tim Cubbin… out! 

"Normal"

            Howdy, one and all, and welcome to From the Mind of One Tim Cubbin! I am your guide, Tim Cubbin. I figure you were kind of expecting that, though, but, then again, you never know.

            But now, let’s get serious. You saw that the title is “Normal,” and the tags/hashtags attracted your attention, so that’s really great you’re here because this topic is very important to me, and I’m happy you’re taking the time to read this post. So my friends and family, previous readers of this blog, and viewers of my web series “Bipolar Opposites” know my condition: I have bipolar disorder. And I’m not afraid to admit that. It’s part of who I am, it’s what makes me me, and I totally own it. I didn’t choose to have the disorder, it’s not my fault, I didn’t ask for it, it’s just something I was born with. I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve been hospitalized several times over the years, that I’ve been in therapy since I was five years old, and I’m on medications. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with me.

            And this brings me to my point: “normal.” A word I hate when you talk about another human being. I’ve discussed the topic briefly in prior posts, so you might know that already, but this post is dedicated specifically to the topic and to introduce myself to first-time readers. Anyway, let’s talk about the word normal. Some readers know I like to reference dictionary.com for certain terms, and this is no exception. There are several definitions for the word, but the one I’m taking is actually referring to psychology, which is exactly what I want. Here it is: “approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment. free from any mental disorder; sane.” Okay, may I say: I HATE THIS! HOW DARE YOU TAKE THE WORD “NORMAL” AND SAY THIS? I FIND THIS EXTREMELY, AND EVEN BEYOND OFFENSIVE AND INSULTING! SO YOU’RE SAYING I’M BIPOLAR SO I’M NOT “NORMAL?” (Sorry to use flaming, the journalism term for typing in all caps, but I’m in the moment for saying how offended I am.) And I’m sure that EVERY person with mental illness, learning disorders, disabilities, and on the autism spectrum will agree with me that THIS IS OFFENSIVE! So if you hear voices or see things that aren’t there, you are not normal. If you are mentally retarder, you are not normal. If you have borderline personality disorder, you are not normal. If you have bipolar disorder, you are not normal. If you are schizophrenic, you are not normal. If you’ve ever been in a mental hospital, you are not normal. This is THE MOST OFFENSIVE THING I HAVE EVER READ! How can you say WE ARE NOT “NORMAL?” Who decided that? And a psychological definition says this? In a DICTIONARY? WHAT. THE. WHAT? No. Just. NO! I mean. HONESTLY.

            And on top of that, how can you say that ANY human being is “normal?” So there’re specific personality traits that make a person “normal?” EVERY HUMAN BEING IS DIFFERENT! If you don’t fit a paragon of perfection, you’re not “normal?” And you know the phrase, the ONE PHRASE that I hate the most? My dad’s wife said it to me once: “Why can’t you act like a normal human being?” That has to be THE MOST OFFENSIVE THING THAT HAS EVER BEEN SAID TO ME! So what makes her, what gives her the right to say I’m not normal? So I act different than her, I’m not “normal?” Again, I’m bipolar, she’s not, I’m unemployed, she’s a nurse (now retired, but she was a nurse at the time of saying it) I have a tricky memory, she’s got great recall; so she’s normal, I’m not? HONESTLY? I have NEVER been more insulted in my entire life. I was bullied in school because I acted a little “differently” than most of the other students, so I wasn’t “normal?” What is normal? You CANNOT say that ANY ONE person is normal. You just can’t.

            I’d like to return to dictionary.com again. An adjective definition of normal is “conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal.” What is “standard?” What is “the common type?” What is “usual?” What is “not abnormal?” How can you define that? What are the exact traits that fit the profile? How can you apply these words to any human, to any human behavior? I can’t.

            Now, I’ve said this in pretty much every single one of my posts that I can’t expect you to agree with me. Some of you have read to this point and think I’m off base, that my points are invalid, that I’m wrong. I respect that. I respect YOU. But there are those of you who think I’ve made good points, feel the same way, and agree with every single word I’ve said. I you do, that makes me very happy. But you’re entitled to your own opinions. This is my opinion. Some of you may have read this and now feel that I MYSELF am not normal. If you do, that’s fine, that’s all you. Feel how you feel. Whatever you want to think, keep on thinking. If you have anything you’d like to say, feel free to comment on whatever platform you’re reading this on. If you’re on Twitter, please follow me, retweet my posts, whatever you feel like doing. If you like this post, feel free to look at more of my posts, I’ve done over sixty, there’s plenty of other things you can enjoy. I do other editorials and essays like this (being an unemployed certified journalist), prose/graphic novel reviews, short stories, and poetry, so whatever floats your boat, feel free to peruse my work. I’ll be back soon, so until then, I say, Tim Cubbin… out!