Panel 1: This is a direct recounting of possibly my earliest childhood memory, believe it or not. (Alas, I predate the existence of superhero Underoos, so that part is fictionalized.) To this day, I still retain a freakishly vivid—in fact, exhilarating—recollection of hurtling down that Vermont staircase with a blanket for a cape. (As was often stated after death-defying stunts on 80s reality show That's Incredible, DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS.) The weird part is, I have no idea where Early 70s Me got the idea for the superhero cape, as I wouldn’t start reading Marvel comics until age 7 or so; up until then, I was all about the reprinted cowboy comics.

One difference, though: I would never yell for my father—or anyone, for that matter—to watch me jumping down those stairs. This was, I think, a very personal experience that needed no audience. I added that element to this fictionalized version because, of course, Emp was a heavy-duty “daddy’s girl,” as addressed earlier in the series.

-Adam Warren