If you're not friends with Matt T, you really need to be. Otherwise, you're missing out on one of the best quarterly furlough moments so far (marriages and Disney World trips excluded).  "Superheroes and furloughs" uses 25 Things lists and supplementary material to find real superheroes for the last decade's morning e-mail superheroes. I like the way mine turned out and thank Matt for the creative thought.

Patrick has a Clark Kent action figure on his desk, but I just cannot given him the Superman mantle, even if he programs in javascript. I don't like Supes. Patrick calls himself "militantly left-handed," but you don't see a lot of superheroes writing. John Bryne says in one of his forums that "I established that Banshee was left handed when I was doing UNCANNY X-MEN." This sounds a little pompous, but how cool would it be to say that? But Banshee is dead. I can't kill off Patrick before we start. Someone alleged Daredevil is a lefty but I have no proof and can find some evidence he is not. I will take a chance with Golden Age Green Lantern Alan Scott who wielded his ring with his left hand. The four other human Lanterns use their right hands. No, I did not notice this on my own but it's true. The real problem is that Golden Age is a synonym for really old, and Patrick is not, but a magic ring would start to explain how he get so much done.

Want to know more about our Alan Scott? "In the JSA [Justice Society of America] and the DC universe, Alan Scott occupies the distinguished role of being the top guy from the World War Two era, when the first super heroes and mystery men appeared," one source says. "Today, he is still considered as one of the senior and moral leaders of the DC universe. His prestige in the comics [is] second only to Superman. However, even Superman and the Batman usually defer to him." Hm.

I know I want to hear more. "Scott used his ring to fly, to walk through solid objects (by 'moving through the fourth dimension'), to paralyze or blind people temporarily, to create rays of energy, to melt metal as with a blowtorch, and to cause dangerous objects to glow, among other things. He has occasionally used it to create solid objects and force fields in the manner usually associated with fellow Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and to read minds. His ring could protect him against any object made of metal, but would not protect him against any wood or plant based objects. This was said to be because the green flame was an incarnation of the strength of 'green, growing things.' " Hmmm.

This character, I like him … and then we can toss in his dating life. Even before he falls for a woman named Rose and Thorn, torn between her good and her evil, Scott's a young Gotham journalist by day when a girl from the office becomes The Harlequin. "Seeing the need to attract Green Lantern's attention and gifted with a natural athletic prowess, Mayne developed a costume and took to the Gotham rooftops as the Harlequin. Obtaining a pair of special glasses and a flying car from a secret source, she approached the Gotham criminal establishment and attempted to form her own gang. … After an initial melee with the gang, she convinced them of her ability to lead. Her takeover was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Green Lantern. As the gang watched, the Harlequin bested the astonished hero, pushing him out an open window where his descent was stopped only by a flagpole."

Hmmmmmm.

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