August 3, 2010
The answer is so obvious, I’m shocked no one else has seen it.
We have oil spilling into the gulf.
We have the threat of terrorism.
We have severe economic troubles.
Has no one ever read this comic?
Al Gore would love this comic. It combines two things he invented, the internet and climate change.
Back in the ’80’s, Radio Shack, perhaps hoping to create the next X-Men, put out a series of comics featuring “The Tandy Computer Whiz Kids.” Alec and Shanna, the “Whiz Kids,” were you’re typical Archie and Betty-type kids (very bland) that somehow found themselves in Scooby Doo situations every week.
You know he's evil because he wears an eye patch!
They foiled kidnappers, stopped drug dealers, and even averted World War Three by stopping a rogue soviet nuclear submarine.
How did they do it? By using their Tandy Computer TRS-80, which they plugged every chance they got.
Behold the TRS-80!
BEHOLD!
Type: Home computer
Release date: 1980
Discontinued: 1991
Operating system: Color BASIC 1.0 / 2.0 / OS-9
CPU: Motorola 6809E @ 0.895 MHz / 1.79 MHz
Memory: 4 KB / 16 KB / 32 KB/ 64 KB / 128 KB / 512 KB
Imagine- they stopped World War Three with less computing power than your average cell phone!
Eventually Alec and Shanna managed to clean up their own city and were soon invited into the Justice League, where they teamed with Superman to save Metropolis.
The Brave and The Bold
Alec and Shanna retired from heroics in the early nineties. They could no longer keep up with villains who used the internet or texted. (There were also rumors of an affair between Shanna and Robin.)
However, their influence is still felt today, as one of their community organizers has gone on to greater fame.
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
BOTH SMALL AND CAPITAL LETTERS? BOY HOWDY, I OUGHT TO LOOK INTO UPGRADING.
You should endeavor to create a site that somehow tries to link all of the little side jobs Supes found himself doing into the greater Superman canon. “Sure, uh, the Nesquik bunny is from… planet… Chocoton…”
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I actually have a decent sized collection of promotional and giveaway comics. My favorite? Kool-Aid Man vs. the Thirsties. I have comics where Spider-Man fights the Cavity Creeps, the X-Men get into some sort of Charleston Chew adventure, etc. One day I’ll get them out of their dusty box, scan them, and write something up.
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Do you know how much a TRS 80 cost?
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According to the always accurate Wikipedia, RE: the original 1977 model- “At $599 for a complete package including computer, keyboard, video monitor, and cassette storage, the computer was the most expensive single product Tandy’s Radio Shack chain of electronics stores had ever offered”
According to The Inflation Calculator, “What cost $599 in 1977 would cost $2096.23 in 2009.”
http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi
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Thanks for doing the research! I figured the answer would be something outrageous like that. Further proof that it’s never a good idea to be on the leading edge of the technology buying curve!
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