Some random thoughts about Jack Cole and existence:
I remembering reading Steranko's chapter on Jack Cole and being so caught up in the story of this man's life. When I was in university, for an essay-writing course, where we had to write an in-class essay, i chose to write about Jack Cole. But maybe that was a mistake, because my thoughts just tumbled out on the page as I struggled with the essential enigma of the man.
I sometimes think we would all be better off if we lived our lives like Billy Pilgrim from SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE--in a non-linear way, hopping from one moment in our lives to another. When we look at any life, in the normal linear way, it always ends up with a death. I've never known any death that was good. Sure, when my aunt was a shadow of ourself, death seemed the best possible outcome for her, but that's not exactly a happy ending, merely the lesser of two evils.
So when we think about Jack Cole, we are always looking at how he ended up. And when we read his history, this is always in the back of the mind. Is this a clue? Is that a clue? What solves the mystery?
Just like the essay I wrote for university, I have no point here. But maybe it's better to rearrange the events of Cole's life or any life, so the story doesn't end in a death--it ends in a life.