"The Stand," Captain Trips and the University of Kentucky

In 1978, Stephen King's apocalyptic vision "The Stand" was first published. More than 10 years later, he released the complete and uncut edition. "The Stand" tells the story of good versus evil as set up thanks to most of the world's population being decimated thanks to a government-created super virus. Those who were immune began having dreams... some dreamed of an elderly woman who warned them of the evil that lurked about and drew them to her in Colorado, while others dreamed of "the Walkin' Dude" who drew those folks to Las Vegas. The novel culminates with an epic showdown.

Early on during the beginning of the death and destruction, King took the reader to various places around the United States where people were dealing with the virus scare in different ways. One of those scenes takes the reader to the fictional University of Kentucky at Louisville campus where students are working to form a coalition against the government who they believe is lying to them about the severity of the disease.

Last year, Marvel began publishing a comic book adaptation of the novel. In it, the writers seek more realism by planting this scene firmly on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington.



And if you are familiar with the University of Kentucky campus, the artist also did not take any liberties with the image at the top of the page. As a matter of fact, I think he may have used this photo as a reference:



Ultimately, the story returns to UK's campus where students hold their anti-government rally, which is interrupted by the police and, as the story indicates, a "turkey shoot" takes place.



I have to give Marvel and the creative team behind "The Stand: Captain Trips" credit for incorporating realism into this fictional story. And it's cool that it's UK.