Who He Is and How He Came to Be

All this month, we’ll be helping Children’s Hospital Los Angeles‘ Make March Matter campaign, which aims to raise over a million dollars in March alone for CHLA through the efforts of its corporate partners, among which we are proud to be numbered. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles sees over 528,000 patient visits annually, and is the top ranked pediatric hospital in California by US News & World Report. You can help Make March Matter by simply attending one of the many events or participating in one of the many initiatives being offered by CHLA’s partners (including our event on Saturday, March 17), all listed at www.makemarchmatter.org.

 To help remind us all to Make March Matter to support children’s health, we’ll be focusing on kids’ comics and childhood favorites, because we firmly believe that escaping into literature is just as important in keeping children healthy and happy.

Kicking the month off is BLASTOFF’s Co-Owner and CCO Scott Tipton:

When I was six years old, I was crazy for the BATMAN TV show. Absolutely loved it; wouldn’t miss an episode. You’d find me parked in front of the television every day at 4:30 in the afternoon. My mother must have noticed this and got me this book. I don’t remember her giving it to me; to my mind it was always there.

BATMAN: From the ’30s to the ’70s. For a kid like me obsessed with Batman, there was no greater book in the world. Page after page of Batman stories, some from decades before I was born, telling me everything I needed to know. How did he become Batman? Here was the answer: “Who he is and how he came to be.”

When did he first meet the Joker?

How did he adopt Robin?

How did they build the Batcave?

Or even questions I never expected to ask, like “Does Batman have a dog?” Turns out, yes.

Or “What if Batman was a Native American?” The book had the answers, even the weird ones.

The book was my constant companion. It went with me on family vacations, a comfort when I was sad, a panacea when I was sick. And it led me to an interest in comic books and writing that would alter the course of my life. Today I make my living writing comics, writing about comics and selling comics. And it’s a good life. And none of it would have happened if my mother hadn’t put a book in my room when I wasn’t looking.

I still have my copy of BATMAN: From the ’30s to the ’70s. The pages are yellowed, the corners dog-eared, the binding cracked and the cover hanging on by a thread. And it’s the most valuable book I own.

Give the right book to the right kid and you might just change that kid’s life.

Or in my case, “Who he is and how he came to be.”