Alright. Yes, the potential for reinforcing fascist ideas is inherent in superhero comics. Ubermenschen in impressive costumes using their might to make right, yes yes, we understand.
But here’s the thing: When was the last time you read a superhero comic that (as Tim “Here’s a twenty-graf essay on how upset I am that we spend so much time writing about superhero comics” O’Neil puts it, God love him) “uncritical acceptance of powerful authority figures”? (Excepting Marvels, of course. And The Authority, no matter what Warren “Comics’ Closet Conservative” Ellis says.)
To use a much bandied-about statistic, 99.999% of superheroes themselves are unable to accept their own status as powerful authority figures. And this isn’t new, either. This has been this way since the Marvel Age dawned in the early 1960s. And this is to say nothing of the fact that for the past two years nearly every supercomic writer who’s felt the need to Say Something has made his or her spandex-clad steroid cases stand-ins for Resident Bush’s Ill-Advised Mesopotamian Intervention, explicitly rejecting the notion that one should offer up uncritical acceptance of powerful authority figures. And to be honest, I wouldn’t have my superhero comics any other way. They’re interesting because of their powers, but they’re compelling because of their weaknesses, and the extent to which they do or do not overcome them.
So who would uncritically accept superheroes? Genuine idiots, I suppose, but then the real question becomes: Why the hell are we wasting so much time and energy getting upset that a genuine idiot might read Action Comics and think to himself, “If there really were a Superman, I would uncritically accept his powerful authority”?
I’d really love to opt out of these F-word debates from here on out, because quite frankly the idea that superheroes promote fascism is just as much a product of years-long immersion in comics culture as is the near-worship of superheroes. But if you’d like to learn more about fascism, I recommend Fascism: A Very Short Introduction by Kevin Passmore. (Hint: Fascism is not German for “art that I don’t like that has some muscular people in it.”)
(Thanks to J.W. Hastings–he’s got a great post on the topic, and links to all the pertinent, thoughtful posts on other blogs, especially Tim’s. And a big “welcome back” to Tim, by the way–I really did miss his bloggin’ presence!)