I'm sure you've noticed that I kind of bounce around. I'm sorry, but as this is pretty totally a one sided conversation, I have to hit topics when I think of them and when I'm interested to expound on them rather than just when I'm scheduled to do so. I'm sure this makes for more interesting reading or so I tell myself.
Again though if there is something you want me to talk about, please let me know.
If you're not aware, there has been a recent sort of call to arms and outrage about comic books tackling political issues particularly at Marvel and DC. Some have claimed that certain writers and comics have become little more than political rants with little trappings of story. Others have decided that anything with the slightest reference to politics or religion is an absolute war against a political opponent. And let's just be open here while some of this is true, some of it is pure hogwash.
For example, the recent Steve Trevor one-shot released to coincide with the movie, was honestly a badly written thinly-veiled political rant. The villains are Menists with an evil dominatrix villain who calls our hero a cuck, which is a slur used commonly by some on the right side of the aisle. Wonder Woman even has to fend off a phallic beast. I think the point was to talk about toxic masculinity/Men's rights activists and how a feminist icon can defeat that and this ideology, but it's so heavy handed and one-sided it doesn't work and is eye-rolling at times. Wonder Woman has had a more positive feminist message and messaging that was better weaved into the story and character in the past as you can see in the picture I've provided. It's pretty straight forward what Marston is going for, but it's also complex as WW is talking about literally and figuratively.
That said there have been some insane stretches too. Purifiers aren't a new villain Marvel created to attack the Christian church nor are they battling Iceman because he's gay and it's some commentary on how gay people beat the church. I don't know, but it's definitely not there. The Purifiers have been around since the 80s and they're religious zealots. They take the form of Evangelical Christians, but they represent zealotry in religion in all it's forms, not just Christianity. We'll get more into that in a bit.
So yes, politics are in comics. And as you can see with Wonder Woman, politics have ALWAYS been in comics. There are just different ways to handle it. Heavy handed rants or woven into stories that provoke thought.
Here are some of my favorite political comics (aka Recommendations) and why they work.
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Eric Anderson- This is a story about Reverend William Stryker (or in the X-men movie X2, Colonel William Stryker for a random reason). Stryker becomes a religious zealot after his wife gives birth to a mutant that doesn't appear in normal human standards. He kills the baby and his wife and goes on a religious war against mutants. This reaches a fevered pitch when he kidnaps and brainwashes Professor Xavier and uses him to attack the other X-Men. Finally in front of a massive crowd gathered in New York, Stryker reveals his plans to destroy all mutants. The youngest X-Man, Kitty Pryde, stands against him trying to save her new family. Stryker pulls a gun on Kitty and threatens her and a cop in the crowd shoots Stryker, proclaiming that he could let Stryker kill a young defenseless girl like Kitty. Mind you this cop knew Kitty was a mutant and had made some anti-mutant statements earlier, but that moment he has clarity. The messaging of the book is clearly all about zealotry and using religion as a weapon against people. it's also a really powerful and moving story. It is clearly political, but Stryker isn't attached to a specific denomination and he's not shown as being very devoutly religious really. After all, he murders his wife and goes all rapid. Also, the Purifiers I mentioned earlier? Stryker created them and they follow his brand of zealotry.
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd - Obviously there is a movie, but the comic is a little different. The entire comic was written after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of England and it's Alan Moore's idea of what would happen if we had strict control by a conservative government. The whole story is really about a totalitarian government with spies everywhere and how control over people changes people. V is a lone freedom fighter against that. The comic is really much better than the movie, seriously. V has multiple origins and we never even figure out V's sex or who V is. The story is also littered with democratic principals and key writers that influenced modern democracies as V teaches his new ward, Evey, to think. And while it's loaded with politics, political commentary and a clear viewpoint, it's open enough that people on different sides of the spectrum and different agendas can claim it as their own.
Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O'Neil, Elliot Maggins and Neal Adams - This one is an oldie, but a goodie. Green Lantern and Green Arrow were not doing well as solo books, so DC slammed them together and the creators decided to start tackling some of the issues of the time. Green Arrow became the staunch liberal that we know him as today and Green Lantern, in the form of Hal Jordon, the clueless white space cop who hadn't really dealt with terrestrial issues in a while. The duo pair off and begin a road trip across the country and in some ways seeing the world for the first time. They see and confront racism and poverty. As the cover suggests, Green Arrow has to face the fact that his young ward, Roy Harper, is a drug addict, something Ollie doesn't deal with all that well if we're honest. This comic is so good and well done because it doesn't demonize either hero and yet they both see their failings and their blinders.
Again though if there is something you want me to talk about, please let me know.
If you're not aware, there has been a recent sort of call to arms and outrage about comic books tackling political issues particularly at Marvel and DC. Some have claimed that certain writers and comics have become little more than political rants with little trappings of story. Others have decided that anything with the slightest reference to politics or religion is an absolute war against a political opponent. And let's just be open here while some of this is true, some of it is pure hogwash.
For example, the recent Steve Trevor one-shot released to coincide with the movie, was honestly a badly written thinly-veiled political rant. The villains are Menists with an evil dominatrix villain who calls our hero a cuck, which is a slur used commonly by some on the right side of the aisle. Wonder Woman even has to fend off a phallic beast. I think the point was to talk about toxic masculinity/Men's rights activists and how a feminist icon can defeat that and this ideology, but it's so heavy handed and one-sided it doesn't work and is eye-rolling at times. Wonder Woman has had a more positive feminist message and messaging that was better weaved into the story and character in the past as you can see in the picture I've provided. It's pretty straight forward what Marston is going for, but it's also complex as WW is talking about literally and figuratively.That said there have been some insane stretches too. Purifiers aren't a new villain Marvel created to attack the Christian church nor are they battling Iceman because he's gay and it's some commentary on how gay people beat the church. I don't know, but it's definitely not there. The Purifiers have been around since the 80s and they're religious zealots. They take the form of Evangelical Christians, but they represent zealotry in religion in all it's forms, not just Christianity. We'll get more into that in a bit.
So yes, politics are in comics. And as you can see with Wonder Woman, politics have ALWAYS been in comics. There are just different ways to handle it. Heavy handed rants or woven into stories that provoke thought.
Here are some of my favorite political comics (aka Recommendations) and why they work.
X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by Chris Claremont and Brent Eric Anderson- This is a story about Reverend William Stryker (or in the X-men movie X2, Colonel William Stryker for a random reason). Stryker becomes a religious zealot after his wife gives birth to a mutant that doesn't appear in normal human standards. He kills the baby and his wife and goes on a religious war against mutants. This reaches a fevered pitch when he kidnaps and brainwashes Professor Xavier and uses him to attack the other X-Men. Finally in front of a massive crowd gathered in New York, Stryker reveals his plans to destroy all mutants. The youngest X-Man, Kitty Pryde, stands against him trying to save her new family. Stryker pulls a gun on Kitty and threatens her and a cop in the crowd shoots Stryker, proclaiming that he could let Stryker kill a young defenseless girl like Kitty. Mind you this cop knew Kitty was a mutant and had made some anti-mutant statements earlier, but that moment he has clarity. The messaging of the book is clearly all about zealotry and using religion as a weapon against people. it's also a really powerful and moving story. It is clearly political, but Stryker isn't attached to a specific denomination and he's not shown as being very devoutly religious really. After all, he murders his wife and goes all rapid. Also, the Purifiers I mentioned earlier? Stryker created them and they follow his brand of zealotry.
V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd - Obviously there is a movie, but the comic is a little different. The entire comic was written after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of England and it's Alan Moore's idea of what would happen if we had strict control by a conservative government. The whole story is really about a totalitarian government with spies everywhere and how control over people changes people. V is a lone freedom fighter against that. The comic is really much better than the movie, seriously. V has multiple origins and we never even figure out V's sex or who V is. The story is also littered with democratic principals and key writers that influenced modern democracies as V teaches his new ward, Evey, to think. And while it's loaded with politics, political commentary and a clear viewpoint, it's open enough that people on different sides of the spectrum and different agendas can claim it as their own.
Green Lantern/Green Arrow by Denny O'Neil, Elliot Maggins and Neal Adams - This one is an oldie, but a goodie. Green Lantern and Green Arrow were not doing well as solo books, so DC slammed them together and the creators decided to start tackling some of the issues of the time. Green Arrow became the staunch liberal that we know him as today and Green Lantern, in the form of Hal Jordon, the clueless white space cop who hadn't really dealt with terrestrial issues in a while. The duo pair off and begin a road trip across the country and in some ways seeing the world for the first time. They see and confront racism and poverty. As the cover suggests, Green Arrow has to face the fact that his young ward, Roy Harper, is a drug addict, something Ollie doesn't deal with all that well if we're honest. This comic is so good and well done because it doesn't demonize either hero and yet they both see their failings and their blinders.
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