To Mask or Not to Mask: That Is The Question

Superheroes and secret identities. They go hand in hand. Most superheroes have secret identities that allow them to have lives outside of saving the lives of everyone else, but mainly it’s to give them privacy and protect their loved ones from the awful intents of their villainous counterparts. However, it also means that they can take of the mask and disappear when it comes time to answer for destroying things around the city. So, I pose another question: Should superheroes have to fight crime without a mask?

Who had to clean up the buildings and light posts of web fluid after Spider-Man is done patrolling the city? Who had to rebuild an entire city after Superman destroyed building after building when Zodd came to Earth? Who had to reconstruct an entire infrastructure after the Avengers episode in New York City? The answer to all three of these questions is: the people. The taxpayers are tasked with righting the wrongs of these superheroes when they go about “saving” them, so should they be allowed to hide after they’ve finished rescuing everyone? Are they really helping anyone when they’re totaling cities in the process?

But wait, before you answer that… What would have happened to the people of Metropolis if Zodd would not have been stopped? And who really wants to know what would have happened to New York, if not the entire planet, if the Avengers hadn’t fought off those aliens? Superheroes save people. That’s what they do. Unfortunately, it means that they have to blow some stuff up, crash through some places, or break some things. Often times, the heroes don’t even have time to finish saying “You’re welcome” before they’re crucified for the wreckage they’ve caused. But if they did it because they were trying to save people, is it not okay?

So I leave the question to you, the people. In the spirit of Captain America: Civil War coming soon to a theatre near you, I ask: What do you think? Should superheroes have to fight with their identities known, so we know who to blame? Or should we just say thanks, and keep it moving?

Born This Way

Growing up, we’re all told that our differences are what brings us closer, or our differences are what make us special, or some other Hallmark-type hogwash. In America, and probably more parts of the globe, your differences are only acceptable so long as they aren’t too different. “The nail that sticks out gets hammered,” is how the saying goes, and unfortunately that applies to real life. For so long, people who don’t look “normal” have been socially cast out and treated as outliers to the norm, and the mutants in Astonishing X-Mem exemplify that.

In Astonishing X-Men, the mutants are seen as abominations who need to be cured of their different-ness because it makes everyone else uncomfortable despite whether or not they mean well. The writers use the mutants as a microcosm for people who are categorized outside of the norm: minorities, disabled, homosexual, etc. And the worried humans, represent the “norm” of society who feels threatened by the difference of the outliers. Together, the two groups represent the world as it is, and play with it judgmental affordances without actually calling any names.

Joss Whedon, the author of the Gifted story, did a great job with it. For starters, I thought that the story itself was a good and was a very well written one. In terms of the microcosmic representation of society, I thought he did it very safely. No one wants to read something they expect to enjoy and feel like they’re being called out by it, and the author avoided that beautifully. The story itself is far enough removed from reality to not strike any nerves, but the parallels are well enough in line that the point can be seen and argued for.

I liked how Whedon used the “mutant gene” to drive his point home. The mutants aren’t aliens, they didn’t get bitten by a radioactive spider, they weren’t the result of some Gamma Ray accident. They were born with it. It’s a gene, so it isn’t something that people ask for. By adding in the cure to the story line, Whedon also divided the outliers into two groups: those who were okay with their different traits, and those who jumped at the chance to “fix” themselves. In society we see it all the time. People who recognize that society refuses to accept them for who they are, so they change themselves to fit in. And the people who are confident in their differences, and don’t see them as a problem of any sort.

Lastly, I thought the concept of a cure in general was intriguing because it was society’s attempt to “fix” the people who were “broken”. So often, we see people who are different as having a problem that needs solving and instead of welcoming their difference, we look to make them adjust to fit what we see as normal. In Gifted, there were a few mutants who found this insulting which I thought was a very realistic representation of how some people view people trying to fix them.

Put simply, well done Mr. Whedon. Well done.

Cross-Promotion: The Superhero All-Star Game?

I’ve got one word for the cross-promotion comic scheme that the Hulk was involved in: revolutionary. I’m not exactly sure why it took so long for this idea to come to fruition, but I’m glad it did. As a reader, and a huge fan of characters moving throughout other heroes’ stories, I love the idea for a number of reasons. Firstly, cross-promotion allows for readers to answer some of the what-ifs that they may conjure up. “How would Captain America handle working with the Hulk?” “Could The Thing take him down?” “Would the Hulk squash Spider-Man?” “Can Giant Man squash The Hulk?” Cross-Promotions give answers to—or at least entertain the interest of—these hypotheticals. Part of great story telling is always leave them wanting more, and if authors give readers a taste, they’re going to keep reading to satisfy that taste.

Secondly, it just makes sense. At the risk of sounding like another entitled fan, how could they not wind up in each other’s stories? These heroes are share the same planet, excluding multidimensional interactions, and many even share the same city. These heroes share the same general aspiration, justice, so at some point they would have to cross paths. They’ve got the same goal in mind, so it would only make sense that at some point they interact with each other, or in the case of the Hulk and many of his colleagues, that they would butt heads.

Another reason I enjoy the movement through different stories, is that it gives the character more depth. For instance, one of my favorite heroes is Static Shock. In the television series, there were a number of instances in which he had run-ins with the Justice League and other DC heroes. This gave Virgil a look at something bigger than himself, and in those episodes he matured a little each time, learning more about himself in the process. In similar fashion, when Batman and Superman join forces, or clash depending upon the story, readers are ecstatic. It’s like watching prime Michael Jordan vs prime Kobe Bryant. Two of the very best competing in their element. As a fan, there’s just nothing better.

The biggest reason, though, that I enjoy these crossovers is that it creates larger groups of superheroes, e.g. The Avengers and The Justice League. Reading and watching these groups, squads, leagues, or whatever you wish to call them are like watching an All-Star team in your favorite sport. Generally, it’s the cream of the crop, doing what they do best. Though they each have the own story lines, villains, and whatnot, watching them work together to save the world is phenomenal to say the very least.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Which Is Actually Just The Bad)

In Captain America, there are quite a few ugly characters. These characters all share one trait besides their fiendish appearance, and that’s their affinity for evil. All the evil doers and ne’er-do-wells were all hideous creatures. Almost immediately, when the authors introduce the two Nazi spies, it shows one of their faces to show a man who wouldn’t win a beauty contest if his opponent was just a naked mole rat. Then his repulsive face shows up again as he blows a building to bits a page only one page later.

In the same fashion, the next enemies that Captain America and Bucky would face were equally repulsive, one of which wasn’t even human. Here the authors, though maybe inadvertently, are associating evil with an unpleasant outward appearance. Then when Captain America and Bucky went after the admiral’s killer, readers see more of the same. The man was Frankenstein-esque in appearance. His high level of evil intent could only be matched by the evil he represented by being a part of the Nazi regime because in what world could a Nazi spy be a dashing fellow? Not in the world of Captain America, that’s for sure.

And last but not least, the Nazi gremlin himself, Rathcone. Who could lead this band of evil, repugnant Nazi soldiers, but the most grotesque looking individual the artists could think of?

On the other hand, all the heroes are good looking and well put together. When those two spies are taken to the secret laboratory where Steve Rogers would eventually become Captain America, there is a creepy looking woman who, if the authors decided to follow the trend, had to be up to no good. But she immediately would rip of this grotesque mask to reveal a beautiful woman. She was now so beautiful in fact that the authors had to remind readers that she was no longer a “wrinkled old shop keeper” and is now “an astoundingly beautiful young woman” who happened to be a big deal within this organization.

On a similar note, Captain America is shown as a dashing young man almost immediately. Even in panels where shadows covered part of his face, they traced his jaw line and masculine features in a way would lead one to believe that if he’s not saving America, he’s modeling part time.

Even the “damsel in distress” that Captain America and his sidekick would save is a pretty blonde woman because hey, you’ve got to save her if she’s gorgeous right?

 

In Captain America Comics and maybe even these early comics in general, physical beauty and the willingness to stand up for what’s right are very closely intertwined. Their converses, on the other hand, are also just as tightly wound. Yeah sure, it’s easy to side against a villain that’s visually repulsive, but I think there’s a bigger ploy in place here. Since these early issues—and maybe even Captain America’s origin in general—are more than likely a propaganda attempt, why not use art to make Nazis even less likeable? Well played Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, very well played.

 

 

 

The Comic Book Bridge: A Means of Travel…?

I think we can all agree that reading a book—one that we thoroughly enjoy—is not just a simple action; it’s an experience. The same can be said about a really good movie. Though they’re two separate types of experiences, they’re certainly experiences nonetheless. Comic books, on the other hand, yield an experience that arguably blends the two aforementioned ones. In class this week, someone said that reading through a comic book is much like watching a movie, and I couldn’t agree more. I think it’s safe to say—and maybe the avid comic book readers of the class will agree—you don’t really read comics; you watch them. The way you experience comics transcends simply “reading” something. The level of immersion you feel is one that relates more to movies than to books, but is still quite different entirely. Since comic books are a manual medium, the immersion/experience is at the pace of the reader instead of at that of the author/director, thus making it a user driven experience which pulls it back into the realm of books and away from movies. As expected, the transmedium is somewhere in the middle pulling both sides together.

Now, I could be reaching here, so bear with me, but I think another way comic books are a bridge between the two is the way they let characters traverse though the two spaces. An example being the DC character Felicity Smoak. Originally, in the DC comic universe, Felicity was a character who was of minute importance, but after appearing on CW’s Arrow, her character was completely redone. Actress Emily Bett Rickards was supposed to be a one-and-done in the show, but her dynamic on-screen chemistry with Stephen Amell, who plays Oliver Queen, made producers and audience alike want her back in a way that she show just couldn’t afford to not follow through with. After she became a regular, she would eventually make an appearance in the comics as a completely different character than beforehand! Now, I’m not as deep into comics as I would like to be, but I don’t think this happens very often. A character travels across the bridge that is comics into the land of movies—or television in this case—and comes back revamped. Now, because of the new “Olicity” romance from the television series, there are rumors that the story of Arrow could be changed dynamically. As the story was originally written, Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow, falls in love with—and eventually marries, I belive—Dinah Laurel Lance, the Black Canary. However, since Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity was such a hit with Arrow fans, this could be a story of old.

Understanding Media Ch. 1 & 2 Response

At face value, McLuhan’s claims are a bit much to take in. “The medium is the message” is a statement that would baffle most anyone on the first encounter, and even on the second encounter it would probably still raise an eyebrow or two. But the third time through, after some thorough insight, the statement takes on some validity. By asserting that a medium is “any extension of ourselves”—meaning that a medium is essentially something that can enhance or alter our ability to do something to accomplish something greater—the claim sounds a little less farfetched. For instance, if the medium in question is a cell phone, at face value, McLuhan sounds crazy. The cell phone is the message? That’s ridiculous; it’s just a little box made out of silicon and wires. But if we think of it as an extension of our bodies ability to communicate, McLuhan may be on to something. So the message isn’t our little electric whatchamacallit; the message is the change in the way that we, as a society, communicate with each other via text, phone call, and social media.

McLuhan’s introduction to hot and cool media was also a bit strange to me, probably because I don’t necessarily see the need to dissect things as far as he did, but the distinction was odd nonetheless. However, once McLuhan explained that his concern was more about the experience and not the media itself, it made more sense. We even discussed this in class briefly on Wednesday when we talked about how maybe “hot” media was more about the overuse of said media and “cool” media was named such because it’s slight use of multiple senses to indulge in it. I realized my confusion when I read about McLuhan’s writings from another source (http://enculturation.net/teaching-mcluhan). Trying to use hot and cool as definitions from McLuhan’s point of view, doesn’t work because it only makes sense as an experience.