Cheeseburger in Paradise, by Martha Thomases

Martha Thomases

Martha Thomases brought more comics to the attention of more people than anyone else in the industry. Her work promoting The Death of Superman made an entire nation share in the tragedy of one of our most iconic American heroes. As a freelance journalist, she has been published in the Village Voice, High Times, Spy, the National Lampoon, Metropolitan Home, and more. For Marvel comics she created the series Dakota North. Martha worked as a researcher and assistant for the author Norman Mailer on several of his books, including the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Executioner's Song, On Women and Their Elegance, Ancient Evenings, and Harlot's Ghost.

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10 Responses

  1. Johanna Hall says:

    Martha, my dear/ You have always been an inspiration. (Where is Paul McCartney when we need him to sing this song of praise?)I've come to look forward to the SAturday morning column. You are tap dancing like Fred Astaire, blowing like Coltrane, riffing at the height of your power. I wonder if your segregated sex education plays into this?

    • Martha Thomases says:

      That song was written about his sheep dog. Which reminds me, I need a haircut.Girls' dorms are very similar to girls' locker rooms, except with more clothes. So perhaps you, too, have an idea of what it felt like.

  2. John Tebbel says:

    Honey, I can't seem to find my cloak of invisibility anywhere.

  3. Anonymous says:

    After a shaky start (talking gorillas not named Grodd or in love with a canned brain? neo-Nazis? child-hating Amazon rebels? puh-leeze), Gale Simone seems to have gotten it right with the latest story arc. Wonder Woman's courting of nemesis brought back the sense of her otherness that made the George Perez re-boot so much fun.

  4. Swayze says:

    It's funny how one remembers different things of a shared experience. Don't remember the humming or the kinky hair. Definitely remember the "hours" because I got stung 3 my first day there for having serious contraband – a box of bandaids. Not an auspicious start to my first year in the middle of nowhere – I was from NYC and used to hanging out by Bethesda Fountain and going to the Filmore, and suddenly I was in a town without a traffic light and I couldn't go anywhere because there was no where to go – Except behind C dorm to smoke cigarettes. But at the same time, there is something to be said for being in an all girl's school and dorm at that point in life. Because the campuses were segregated by sex, we experienced much less pressure and competition than we would have in a typical school: We could put orange juice cans in our hair and masque (read zit creme) on our faces and no one cared. By the time we reached our upper years and had classes with the boys, we had developed a sense of ourselves and our capabilities, and very often it was we who were the smartest in the class – (well, never me specifically, but other girls certainly were) -I could never figure out what the big deal was with woman's lib because it never occured to me that I couldn't do something because I am a female. In fact, I have always thought we were the more powerful of the two sexes: Guys were pretty easily manipulated and childish. They also are the most sensitive in many ways, finding it harder to get over hurts and disappointments and move on. On the other hand, we hold the trump card in bitchiness, which is why I am so glad my only child is a son! (That and no Barbie shoes to step on when he was young.)To this day, my best friends come from that school. And though there are some former schoolmates who I don't particularly like, a connection still exists between us. There is a whole mass of people who will understand me and speak my language no matter what because we shared an intense common experience at a crucial time in our lives. Modern day Amazons all.Thanks, Martha.

    • Martha Thomases says:

      Perhaps some difference in perspective comes from the fact that you dated. I didn't. No one wanted me. And while that is something I think I've outgrown — it's been nearly 40 years, for crying out loud — I think it had an effect on me nonetheless.

  5. Elayne Riggs says:

    I'm trying to think of similar experiences I had in my two years at an all-girls yeshiva (9th and 10th grades), but none come to mind. Maybe that's because most of our authority figures at the school were still men (rabbis), and women in a strictly religious school (especially a patriarchal religion) are used to strictures being put upon them from the outset so there's less chance of breaking free and finding your own voice.

  6. Melanie Fletcher says:

    Frankly, I'd just like to see what happens on Paradise Island during that time of the month. It's an established phenomenon that women who live together in close quarters synchronize their periods — can you imagine an island full of PMSing Amazons?