For better or worse, if it weren't for the success of "Superman" the present onslaught of comic book movies (Spider-Man, X-Men, The Hulk, Batman, Hellboy, Blade, The Punisher, Daredevil, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, etc) would never have happened if Christopher Reeve hadn't convinced audiences back in 1978 that a man could fly.

Christopher Reeve passed away Sunday. He was 52. In part from the Associated Press:

BEDFORD, N.Y. - Christopher Reeve, the star of the "Superman" movies whose near-fatal riding accident nine years ago turned him into a worldwide advocate for spinal cord research, died Sunday of heart failure, his publicist said. He was 52.

Reeve fell into a coma Saturday after going into cardiac arrest while at his New York home, his publicist, Wesley Combs told The Associated Press by phone from Washington, D.C., on Sunday night.

Reeve was being treated at Northern Westchester Hospital for a pressure wound, a common complication for people living with paralysis. In the past week, the wound had become severely infected, resulting in a serious systemic infection.

"On behalf of my entire family, I want to thank Northern Westchester Hospital for the excellent care they provided to my husband," Dana Reeve, Christopher's wife, said in a statement. "I also want to thank his personal staff of nurses and aides, as well as the millions of fans from around the world who have supported and loved my husband over the years."

Reeve broke his neck in May 1995 when he was thrown from his horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper, Va.

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20041011/D85L31R81.html

I don't want to put a partisan political slant to Reeve's passing, but I would like to mention that Reeve was a supporter of stem-cell research and was mentioned by name by John Kerry during the second presidential debate.

There's no real question for debate here. I just felt badly that a man who gave so many people happiness and enjoyment during his career had to endure such a sad and painful end.

God bless Christopher Reeve.

I won't put in a partisan political slant to this either, we can debate the stem cell issue elsewhere. I join with Nighttimer in expressing my sadness over the passing of Christopher Reeve. He fought one hell of a fight and was an inspiration to many.

Rest in peace Superman.

Kerry said that Reeve believed he would walk again. While he didn't make it, he didn't give up and that should be a lesson for all of us.

It’s been a hard week. We lost Rodney Dangerfield last Tuesday and also Fort Worth bluesman U. P. Wilson, whom I saw live several times, passed away in France.

http://www.tobacco.org/news/177329.html

When we lose those who entertain us, make us laugh (Dangerfield) or dance (Wilson) or fantasize and inspire, (Reeve) we lose some of ourselves.

Aye he was an inspiration to everyone with a spinal cord injury. He will be missed.

I will miss Christopher Reeve. He was so hopeful that he would walk again. Maybe he really can fly where he is now. One can hope so. Rest in peace.

He was a good man, and I was encouraged by his courage in face of an overwhelming obstacle.

May he rest in everlasting peace.

"But most will remember this sad day as the day the proudest, most noble man they ever knew finally fell. For those who loved him -- one who would call him husband, one who would be his pal, or those who would call him son -- this is the darkest day they could ever imagine. They raised him to be a hero: to know the value of sacrifice, to know the value of life. For a city to live, a man had given his all and more. But it's too late. For this is the day that a Superman died."
- Superman #75, 1992 (written by Dan Jurgens)

Christopher Reeve showed the world why he was exactly the right choice for Superman, years after he hung up the cape.

Seeing all that he went through, made me feel bad for complaining about anything. Thanks Chris, you were the real thing. God Bless...

Ohhh, no!! I hadn't heard that. What a shame. He was such an inspiration. He was truly a super man. My heart goes out to his family and all those whose lives he touched. Rest in Peace, Christopher.

I was pleased to hear my radio station play one of my favorite obscure songs in tribute on the way to work today.

"Superman's Song" by The Crash Test Dummies

And sometimes I despair the world we never see again a man like him.

Superman's Song

I also was tremendously saddened to hear this news this morning. A true inspiration if ever there was one, we should all hope to show the courage this man did when faced with adversity.

I also read that Ken Caminitti died today. He was only 41 years old...one year older than I am. Just 8 short years ago, he was the Most Valuable Player of the National League in Major League Baseball. Its particularly ironic that he died today as 2 of his closest friends and former teammates...Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell... attempt to finally win a playoff series for Houston today. I know this will be a very difficult day for them.

My thoughts are with all family and friends of both of the VERY young men taken from us too soon.

Very sad day.....

Today as I stood in line at the supermarket I saw his picture in the upper
corner of one of the TV Guide-like magazines (a story that was to be told
about the living man). It apparently came out more than two days ago.
And, hearing John Kerry mention Christopher Reeve in the debate.....
it's hard to believe he's gone....

He was a very brave, humble and strong individual. Though he will be greatly
missed, it is a joyous time knowing that his spirit is now free from the confines
of his difficult physical limitations.

Very sad indeed. However, I think that I would rather be dead than be paralyzed from the neck down. He's in a better place now.

He once garnered criticism for being in a commercial that had him, with the aid of computer generated imagery, walk again. For why, I couldn't say. Perhaps it was the fact that he refused to let others claim that the hope he held to achieve that goal was a bit over his head. But if you look deeper, that commercial visualized the passion, the intensity, the drive that this man had to some day be able to cross a stage on his own two legs.

When he suffered that accident in 1995 that cost him the abilities we all take for granted, the Man of Steel weighed his options. He could either commit suicide, and end this painful existence, or live to fight another day. When lesser men would have chosen death, he thought of those who needed him, and chose to fight. And what he did was an understatement. Always fighting, to regain control of his body, to search for cures to his injuries and other people with them, to be an inspiration to those who have befallen a similar fate, he never once showed any self-pity. Any sorrowful attitude. To him, walking again was never an "if", but a "when", and therefore feeling sorry for himself was a waste of time.

Throughout the Superman series, we've all seen his exploits. Battling evil doers, saving people in distress, even flying around the world as to change its rotation and turn back time. And one can't help to wish, if only for a second, that anyone of us could run into a phone booth, don the red and blue, and turn back time for him. Unfortunately we can't, but this tragic fact proves one great thing in the end...

That there was only one true Man of Steel....



...till we meet again....

It comes for us all...

Very tacky, very stupid.

"If we do the work that we can do in this country, the work that we will do when John Kerry is president, people like Christopher Reeve will get up out of that wheelchair and walk again," Edwards said.

Good night, Superman.

"I find it opportunistic to use the death of someone like Christopher Reeve -- I think it is shameful -- in order to mislead the American people," Frist said. "We should be offering people hope, but neither physicians, scientists, public servants or trial lawyers like John Edwards should be offering hype."

The body wasn't even cold and the Vice Presidential hopeful was jabbing it with a stick. Offering the nation a since of fear. The image that people in wheelchairs will walk if they elect Kerry is absurd. How can Edwards even propose such a thing? It just goes to show the how novice Edwards truely is, and the total lack of class he poses.

Let the third Superman die in peace.