Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I can't say that I'm a huge comics fan. I had a few when I was a kid, mostly X-Men. I used to watch the X-Men cartoon, too. But what Darin Wagner writes rings true:
You pick up a superhero comic book featuring a childhood favorite of yours, hoping to reignite some of that magic you felt way back when and you see that the opening sequence in the comic deals with an oil rig disaster. You immediately and disappointingly know what’s going to be said, either by your childhood favorite or by some other character given credibility within the story. You turn the page, and sure enough, your childhood favorite grumbles about his/her country’s dependency on oil or how inherently dangerous oil drilling is to the environment and how it’s not worth it or simply mutters to him-or-herself briefly about the evils of corporate America. That’s when you put the comic back on the shelf and your local retailer loses a sale. (Sound familiar? Brightest Day #5 contained a similar scenario featuring Aquaman.)
Does everyone remember how last spring Superman declared he was going to renounce his US citizenship? Wagner doesn't refer to it directly, but does use the following image at the top of his blog post:
(Image copyright DC Comics...obviously)
I think that when Superman "non-violently" protests the mullahs, then goes to the UN to renounce his US citizenship, it's pretty left wing from start to finish.
And, really, non-violent protest? It's not so courageous when you're bullet proof, by the way. And if Superman is "non-violently protesting" while the Basij is killing people in the streets? Kind of pathetic. Hello, super speed and aforementioned bullet proofness? And why is he going to the UN to make this announcement? Seeing the UN as anything other than a joke is obviously liberal.
The only good thing about this whole situation is that clearly Superman thinks Obama is a giant [wussy] jabroni for not having the courage to take a stand for freedom during the "green revolution" in Iran in 2009. It's actually the lame Obama administration that Superman is railing against when he says he doesn't want to be seen as an instrument of U.S. policy. Notwithstanding this, for the reasons I gave in the previous paragraph, the whole thing sounds pretty left-wing.
Wagner has a larger point, though, which is that alienating conservative readers is just bad business:
Everybody knows that when an entertainer goes political, he/she runs the very serious risk of cutting their audience by at least half. The comic book audience has been getting smaller and smaller and I think it’s time to honestly consider that a big part of the problem is the content. It’s gotten so bad that some of the more open-minded liberal comic book readers I know are getting turned off because it’s so obvious what’s been happening. I know that some of you are going to reply with some variation of “I don’t see it” or “This guy is a troll” or “Shut up.”That’s fine, go ahead and exercise that right… but it won’t help the comic book industry or make the audience grow again.
Any comic book fans out there that want to weigh in?
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Comments :
Oct '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
This is good news. Because it is going to hurt liberal Hollywood and their cash cow--the comic book films.
Guys like Mark Ruffalo are not helping either.
Dec '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
Liberalism poisons everything.
Nov '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
Look at the drawing. That ain't even superman. Superman's dead. Who's this imposter?
Dec '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
First, comics have long been fairly liberal. Spider-Man is the epitome of liberal guilt. Batman won't touch guns, and often (throughBruce Wayne) works hard to rehabilitate criminals after they are caught. Historically the X-Men have put civil rights at the center of their stories, and have frequently come into conflict with politicians that are conservative charactures. The comic industry is no different than any other entertainment industry in its left leaning policies.
Now, as for the two specific instances you cite:
Superman renounced the Red White and Blue for the Green. As superheroes have grown to have international recognition, DC has tried to find a way to avoid alienating potential audiences. Thus the Justice League of America has de-emphasized the "America" part of the title. In the late 80s it became just "Justice League", then "Justice League International", and now just "JLA".
In Aquaman's case the environmental aspects fits a character who is the leader of an undersea nation, and not remotely American.
Oct '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
Similarly, remember how the first G.I. Joe movie (there's a sequel coming out soon)had Joe working for...NATO.
Oct '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
After years of being told how fabulous Watchmen was I tried to read it. Failed. Talk about dated...
Dec '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I liked the watchmen, I enjoyed the book and the movie.
I had to defriend a small time graphic novel artist because his posts were becomming more and more hate filled and spiteful. He expressed dismay that an author he met and whose company he highly enjoyed was actually a red meat conservative. He cut off life long friendships over obamacare. No really he did.
When you engage and try to carry on social relationships with liberal activists you realize that most of the criticisms are mostly projections.
Aug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
Superman was never a U.S. Citizen.
He arrived in the United States illegally. He is not the offspring of U.S. Citizens. He's never taken the oath of citizenship, because that would require revealing his secret identity.
Also, Superman owes his entire moral code to the accident of physics that put his spaceship down in a Kansas cornfield. If he had arrived on Earth just a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later, he would have landed in Soviet territory (as depicted in the AWESOME graphic novel, Superman: Red Son.)
Edited on Jan 9 at 8:18amAug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
Go re-read The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Strikes Again.
Not only are they a great antidote to left-wing idiocy in mainstream comics, but they also burst the phenomenon of Superman hero worship quite nicely.
Also, I really wish The Question would get his own comic. He's the only authentically conservative character in DC's stable. I'd even accept a team-up between The Question and Green Arrow (traditionally, the only authentically left-wing character in DC's stable, until every other character started to move in on his action).
Edited on Jan 9 at 8:20amAug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I love comics where Green Arrow and Aquaman get together, because Green Arrow likes to lecture Aquaman on the evils of absolute monarchy. Heh heh heh ...
Aug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I find that Marvel tackles politics much more thoughtfully.
The entire Civil War storyline is basically one big, long exploration of the limits of government power vs. individual power.
This theme has been explored in Marvel pages for decades, particularly in the various X-Men titles where they've been periodically hunted down by government agents. On the other hand, Marvel also features S.H.I.E.L.D., which is exactly the same sort of government agency. It just shows how more nuanced and complicated the Marvel Universe is compared to the DC Universe.
Heck, J. Jonah Jameson basically embodies irresponsible mainstream media. Compare him to Perry White, who is portrayed as something of a saint.
Edited on Jan 9 at 8:27amAug '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
To answer the question: yeah. To drag political issues into a comic you not only run the risk of alienating the readers but it also dates the comic. Some of the best books out there are timeless, stories that examine the character, their history, the setting, and their struggle with the villain(s). This is why I love the new Batman and Wonder Woman books.
Aug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I dunno. Some political issues are timeless, and there's no reason why a comic creator shouldn't be allowed to EXPLORE political issues.
The problem comes when the creator imposes his/her political BIAS on the story.
Most of my favourite comics explore political issues. Watchmen. Dark Knight Returns. Superman: Red Son. Civil War. V for Vendetta (comic, not movie!). Punisher. Green Arrow. Green Lantern.
I can disagree with a character's political point-of-view but still enjoy the exploration of the issue in the story. Green Arrow as a character is a hard-core leftie, but that doesn't mean the comic itself is necessarily left-wing.
The big problem with the Superman citizenship storyline was that it marked a radical shift in Supes' political orientation. If it had been a Green Arrow story it would have fit the character perfectly, and may have led to some really interesting stories.
Heck, "with great power comes great responsibility" is, at its core, a political statement.
Apr '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I found "Civil War" less thoughtful. It read more as a diatribe against Pres. Bush to me. The storyline wouldn't make it today, with Pres. Obama in charge. Of course, during this storyline they killed Captain America -- a mistake as it doesn't create drama, merely yields the question: Okay how long before he's back?
Then in a later issue of Capt. America, the replacement Cap is watching a Tea Party protest with contempt.
There is a rather liberal leaning throughout much of entertainment media, but I can still enjoy the media -- unless the liberalism begins to take precedence over the entertainment. A similar example would be "The Simpsons". There was always a liberal element to the show, but it rapidly went downhill when writers seemed to assume the liberalism was what people wanted most of all.
Marvel has managed to create more depth of character than DC. DC's latest attempt to boost sales is not working well. Moreover their modern versions of earthly methods of dealing with Super Powers leans again to globalism ...
Apr '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
For example, in the 1940's the Blackhawks were an elite team of American fighter pilots. The comic fared poorly after that (once WWII was done, who do you really fight?) DC has tried to revive the series, only now the Blackhawks are a UN-centered team of fighter pilots who help address the problems of emerging super-powers. In fact, many of Earth's response to super powers in DCs new reboot involve global-solutions -- the UN sponsoring many it seems. So given the real world's UN activities, we can expect the fictional organization to be very concerned with Israeli superheroes.
Apr '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
On the "Watchmen":
I read that when I was in High School, and I thought it was brilliant. It had much of Alan Moore's anarchist philosophy, and like much of his work, the resolution left more questions in the end.
However, I've read it again recently and found it just lacks staying power. The politics of the day have changed greatly, and the stark reality (less Dr. Manhattan) much of the comic presents is overdone in the medium enough that it no longer seems fresh.
Aug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
- The X-Men have been in conflict with authoritarian politicians, it's true. And quite often these politicians are labeled as "conservative". However, we're never told about any of these politicians' other policies, other than the fact that they think mutants should be regulated. As such, there's really no way to know if these politicians are truly conservative. Besides, wouldn't reasonable people be able to disagree on the rightness of superpower registration? When your country's population includes walking atom bombs, it seems like a fair question for politicians. Is superpower registration a "conservative" policy, or a "big government" policy, or both? Wouldn't socialist politicians be in favour of superpower registration?
Edited on Jan 9 at 12:03pmHow, exactly, is Spiderman the epitome of liberal guilt?
Peter Parker is a working-class kid who makes ends meet as a freelance photographer, which seems like he's a good salt-of-the-earth type of character. On the other hand, he sells Spiderman photographs that he himself staged, so he could be interpreted as a member of the dishonest MSM. His rogue's gallery includes an evil corporate head (Norman Osborne), it's true, but it also includes several scientists (Otto Octavius, Curtis Connors) which could make it "anti-science". Parker married Mary Jane (family values), but they got divorced (not so much). Spidey sided with the government registration side, which could indicate he's a big-government conservative. IMHO, Spidey's history is far too varied and complex to peg down, politically-speaking.
In Batman, "rehabilitation" means being warehoused in Arkham Asylum, which has proved over and over again to be nothing but a big taxpayer-funded boondoggle (it probably receives stimulus funding). Arkham patients are never rehabilitated. Also, I think I read somewhere that Gotham's Blackgate prison has a lower recitivism rate than Arkham.
Besides, Batman wouldn't even need to exist if the (government-run) Gotham Police Department wasn't so corrupt/incompetent. He could be seen as a criticism of monolithic municipal government.
Apr '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
Misthiocracy
Edited on Jan 09 at 12:03 pm
Jan 9 at 11:51am
Quite possibly destroying my earlier criticisms, they are Conservative in that liberal artists believe in their whole heart that Conservatives are evil villains who hate people who are different.
Basically, they aren't for or against big government, liberals are for big government as long as it is run by liberals. Big government conservatives do it for all the wrong reasons. It's all in the intentions.
Aug '10
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
C. U. Douglas
Quite possibly destroying my earlier criticisms, they are Conservative in that liberal artists believe in their whole heart that Conservatives are evil villains who hate people who are different.
Basically, they aren't for or against big government, liberals are for big government as long as it is run by liberals. Big government conservatives do it for all the wrong reasons. It's all in the intentions.
I'm still not convinced that comics creators are overwhelmingly liberal. The industry is simply too entrepreneurial and too independent to foster that kind of culture.
Comic creators don't generally benefit from grants and subsidies. Many start their own independent imprints.
When governments are portrayed as "evil", it's usually because they are authoritarian towards their own citizens. That happens to be precisely the same reason why I think governments can be evil.
Corporations in comics aren't universally evil. Some are good (Wayne Enterprises, Stark Enterprises, Queen Industries, Future Foundation), some are neutral (S.T.A.R. Labs, Damage Control Inc.), and some are bad (Osborne Industries, LexCorp, A.I.M., Stane International).
There can be a lot of right-wing themes in comics.
Apr '11
Re: Is Liberalism Killing Comics?
I wouldn't say overwhelmingly liberal. Only recently, Frank Miller took some flak for criticizing the Occupy crowd. His early work is certainly favoring the conservative. There's definitely some that are liberal, definitely less so, and certainly some that you can't tell because in general they keep it under their hat -- and some liberals where horrified that he wasn't 'one of theirs'.
Action Comics #5 (of the new run) had a short vignette about John and Martha Kent, the adoptive parents of Clark Kent (spoilers!) aka Superman. We are shown a loving couple struggling with an inability to conceive, struggling with the pain, looking to and finding comfort in Christianity to ease their pains -- their pastor even quoting 1 Samuel "Are you not worth more to me than ten sons?" to help them. Who knows what God has planned for them after all?
None of this is played ironically or sarcastically. Portrayed for us is the couple who raised Superman -- even fostering their middle-American Judeo-Christian values upon their adopted son. Certainly not a liberal moment for sure.
Still, overall I find bits and pieces that indicate things a bit more on the liberal side.