A day off with the world's strongest man: remembering Dad on his birthday

My recent date at Putt Putt made me remember my visits there in 1981. Thinking of those times has taken me back to a special day that year. Dad asked if I'd like to go somewhere, just me and him. Off we went that afternoon to Riverbend Mall, during a spell his sister and her three kids – four, there was a baby!- had moved in with us. Mom thought I might be lonely to get a bit of Dad’s attention- I probably admitted as much, glumly. (OR it could've been something else and I liked her guess? It made sense?) I was a fun lovin' kid, but I'd also sat beside a small bin of garbage and cried when I was three or four. The trash was done being part of our lives, you see. I knew it was going somewhere it'd never see us again..

Back when I watched G-Force and Spidey each afternoon, you find the days my young father would show me his muscles. So impressed, I was, with his ability to toss me and crush my hand in a handshake! I remember asking if he was the strongest man in the world. He always seemed able to lift anything, open anything. He didn't mind my speculation and questions. He never showed off the bigger feats like lifting cars and buildings, because, he said, he didn't want to- maybe later!

> Here's the original page that inspired most of the Reel B battle, set up with Doc's tragic origin and Spidey's mysterious, almost sinister peep into the facility before the battle at the end of Reel A.


I clicked through the story, bereft of Stan Lee’s script and captions, funky and quirky drawings so different than the usual commercial way I saw Spidey represented. I didn’t explore the entirety of the View Master Stereo-scope experience- I see they produced some amazing slides for the clunky plastic 3-D handheld toy of my childhood. Eames, Kaplan and Wright’s amazing nature and architecture. Did I also have the booklet? Funny what you don’t recall! More I think about it, I had to have read it.
My two heroes, side by side in 1979.

I do know I got a cool Hulk slide set later. I eventually tracked down a reprint copy of Hulk #125, think it is, where Hulk battles a very formidable Absorbing Man. My most vivid memory was figuring out that one side had the triumphant green Crusher Creel holding the boulder to crush Hulk, his foot absorbing Hulk's strength. But ViewMaster was a vivid way to experience the Banner/ Hulk transformation! Sapped of his power, the Hulk was changing back to his human alter ego. The villain strained as he also absorbed the change, now becoming human, too! In the other side of the slide- one for each eye- he was turning human. The Hulk's great secret spelled the unexpected downfall of the Absorbing Man! It's from a great action story, complete with Banner heroically piloting an experimental plane, only to pick up a deadly passenger and return them both to Earth in spectacular fashion. Reel C's climatic battle enthralled me.

I imagine I had Rocky Road when we stopped in Baskin Robbins’ 31 flavors with Dad. The trip renewed a bond with him I will never forget. There is something special about being little, being loved, walking beside your big adult and feeling wanted. It seems crazy now to think it was ever so hazy, recalling how much I loved and admired him and Mom. I guess you have to go through enough changes that you, bored, think will never come.

If your Dad wasn’t the Strongest Man in the World, I don’t envy you.

HEre's to all the STrongest Men in the World.