Superhero “realism”: the case against. Zed of MemeMachineGo points out the big problem with realistic takes on superheroes: The more a superhero world looks like our own, the easier it is for us to notice when the things that happen in that world don’t make any sense. Zed focuses on the exercise of political or military power by and/or against superheroes in fictional worlds–the Authority taking over the world in the Wildstorm universe, supervillains destroying whole cities in the DC Universe (Coast City was destroyed back during the Death/Return of Superman saga; I think San Diego was just dumped into the sea in Aquaman (where will the intra-DC comics industry have its big conventions, now?)), the U.S. government deploying a covert ops consisting of both ridiculously powerful superbeings and a guy with a bow and arrow in the Ultimate universe, and so forth. Paradoxically, these companies’ efforts to deliver a recognizable world heighten our ability to detect their failure to do so. Events like 9/11 and the Iraq War have given us crystal-clear demonstrations of how the world would react to an unexpected and massive slaughter of civilians, or the use of force to right a wrong despite the disapproval of international institutions. We know things don’t just go back to business as usual. Now imagine that instead of destroying a few buildings, the bad guys wiped out all of New York; or that instead of a country using its superior power to topple a dictator, five or six people in costumes did so. The political crises engendered by these situations would be near-apocalyptic. The reason a book like Watchmen (or even Squadron Supreme) worked was because they weren’t set in an ongoing universe, where the need to keep the stories coming necessitated a glossing-over of consequences for the actions of its superpowered beings. And even in those types of limited series, your mileage may vary. Basically I think this isn’t an argument against “realistic superheroes” as much as it’s an argument against embedding them in a universe-style framework where the realistic consequences of those superheroes’ existence and behavior can’t be fully and honestly explored. (Link courtesy of Jim Henley.)
Is Bruce Wayne the Marlowe to Batman’s Kurtz? Did young Bruce’s trauma create Batman, or, like Spider-Man, did the birth of the extraordinary creature within him predate that trauma? Is Batman’s war on crime really a quest to find the right mirror to view himself in? Yes, it’s Dark Knight Returns blogging as only Dave Fiore can do it.
Speaking of Dave Fiore, good Lord. Ritual messageboard suicide is always breathtaking to behold.
J.W. Hastings says that modern-day PCisms are ruining Kurt Busiek’s alternate-history-fantasy WWI story Arrowsmith, and also defends the comics marketplace. No, really.
Christopher Butcher does more than decry sneaky corporate censorship of manga and other imported comics: He points out that this is one area where informed and vocal customers really can make a difference, and really have made a difference in the past.
Finally, Dave G. at Simply Comics has devised a Comics Blog Update Page that automatically monitors when nearly all of the sites in the comicsphere have last updated. Mine’s not working, though. I’ve got my tech guys working round the clock, rest assured!