Comicbook World #64 or "The Boy with the Lightning Tattoo"

In comics, a lightning strike generally leads to super-powers and a life of ass-kicking, world-saving (or conquering, if you're nasty), and generally being awesome. In real life... not so much...

Lightning strike victims die about 20% of the time, but survivors suffer from varying degrees of brain, nerve and tissue damage as well as other long-term injuries. These pictures show examples of  Lichtenberg figures, the usually temporary discoloration of the skin caused by lightning strikes. Some victims are knocked unconscious by lightning strikes, but your boy Winston Kemp (left) didn't even realize he was struck. He was digging a trench to save his pumpkins from a thunderstorm when he heard a loud noise apparently coming from his neighbor's yard. 
 "I just came back inside like nothing was wrong. Umm ... my arm was sore. But I didn't ... I don't think I saw any marks until 30, 45 ... [it was] maybe an hour before I saw the marks..."




Lichtenberg figures are caused by "the transmission of static electricity along the superficial blood vessels that nourish the skin," says Dr. Mathew Avram, director of the Dermatology Laser and Cosmetic Center at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital.
That dude Grant Morrison spoke about the common use of lightning strikes and the lightning motif in comics in his autobio/ superhero history Supergods, effectively tying the origins and motifs of the Flash, Captain Marvel, and others to ancient mythology and religion. I can only imagine how surviving a lightning strike would be interpreted in ancient times, but having some lightning-shaped body art probably earned ancient bad-asses some super-sized street cred. Since my teenaged character Dare's career as an unwitting ass-kicker also (jump)starts with a lightning strike, maybe I oughta retcon a fresh Lightning shaped tattoo into the new story I'm working on for the character... What do you think? 
holla!
-samax.  
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