Comic Book Theory

 

Comic book historians have long posited the origins of the modern superhero genre to the isolation and trauma caused by the rise of the Nazi government and the start of World War II. They suggest that young Jewish American writers created and developed superheroes to symbolically challenge the injustices that were taking place across the Atlantic as well as in their communities. That the earliest writers and artists of these comic books were male is not surprising. It would have been difficult for young women to express similar feelings in print. Hence, the result is a young male perspective of urban America during the Depression and on the eve of a world war. America's cities were busy places, sometimes gritty, but always attractive to inquisitive young men. They were ripe for innovation and progress, simply inviting sites for extraordinary humans. These comic books provided us with our first notions of modern American heroes.

These images and ideas of heroes and heroism contain the key elements for future generations. Yet they have changed a great deal since the 1940s.  We have evolved from perfect heroes to very flawed ones. In many ways, our views of heroes and heroism are a reflection of how we see our nation and each other.

I've found that the legends of these 1940s superheroes fueled the legends of the greatest generation. Our World War II veterans equally performed beyond expectations and set the nation on a pathway to greatness. Captain America, before his encounter with the ice, was the embodiment of the best of America and the best of our armed forces. 

That positive and overwhelming great relationship changed during the 1950s. Red Scares and McCarthyism weakened our love for Wonder Woman and the superhero sidekicks. Everything, including the custom designs, came under intense scrutiny. Robin, the boy wonder, and the other boy pals began disappearing under the guise that they were contributing to juvenile delinquency. However, this was simply code for fears of homo-sexuality. A true hero doesn't run around with young boys! Especially young boys wearing colored briefs and fairy-like booties!

What I have admired is that in the years following the war, is how the writers, once freed from societal pressures from the Comic Book Code, began addressing issues far beyond the horrors of the Holocaust. They came of age in the 1960s and 1970s examining organized crime, alcohol and drug addiction, depression, space travel, the Cold War, racism, sexuality, sexism, poverty, and politics. In many respects, comic books tackled issues well before most of American society. Before the close of the 20th century, comic books had covered almost every controversial topic.

Translating many of these ideas to film and television in the 21st century has been both thrilling and painful. For an older generation, it has been exciting to see how special effects have enabled childhood heroes to come to life. It also has been frustrating to see many comic book narratives altered, politicized, turned into myths and fables, and sometimes eliminated. However, for a younger generation, seeing these stories for the first time gives rise to a wonderful new set of stories and experiences to share with friends, older siblings, and parents. 

After a series of starts and stops, limited successes and dismal failures, Marvel and DC, the two rival companies, have finalized the narratives surrounding their cinematic universes. The development of the DC Cinematic Universe (Christopher Nolan, Josh Whedon and Zack Synder) closely follows the stories of Superman and Batman.  It has a distinct television universe where the legions of superheroes tell golden age myths and contemporary dramatic encounters. This universe features largely secondary heroes so that audiences will know them when they appear in feature films. Additionally, characters cross between alternate earths within the universe so that storylines don’t have to be perfect. In contrast, the movies rely largely on Batman, Superman, and now due to theatrical successes, Aquaman and Wonder Woman. The foundations for these stories are based on the legends of the Justice League and derive from stories shared in comics and video-games known as Gods Among Us. 

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (Anthony and Joe Russo) has comparable components. Its superteam, the Avengers, also has beloved characters. Like DC, Marvel has featured all of its main characters in films and has given critical figures; Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man three films each. Video-games have already parceled out parts of stories that comprised the rise and fall of the Avengers in the Civil War series.

Turn of the century readers should have realized that the Gods Among Us and Civil War are metaphors. The comic book world was changing and America leading up to 9/11 became the central focus of writers. 9/11 changed our world and so it changed the comic book universe. The dystopian future that confronted DCs and Marvel’s writers became the focal point of their 21st century filmmakers. The comic books are retelling earlier stories for a post 9/11 world. In a sense they are re-interpreting the American experience.

Before and after 9/11, the Justice League and the Avengers stand out as the American interpretation of the Knights of the Round Table. There is a Lancelot and a King Arthur like figure in each universe. A female lead plays a role similar to Queen Guinevere. It is often unclear whether Bruce Wayne (Batman) or Clark Kent (Superman) lead the Justice League. Similarly, Marvel has pitted the straight and narrow Steve Rogers (Captain America) against the flamboyant Tony Stark (Iron Man) for the leadership of the Avengers. These movies also tell the tale of our nation. Will America remain true to its virtues or will it fall prey to its own evils? Or, quite possibly, is there an enemy stronger than America that it cannot defeat?

While both companies have created entertaining films, it is obvious that the Marvel productions are more commercially successful. Yet, I believe each is sending the audience the same message in almost the same package. The Jewish fears of the late 1930s and early 1940s have returned. And this time the enemy is within America. It is a mental and physical presence that challenges the existing order. Themes promoted by the villains include destruction, colonization, and annihilation.

DC and Marvel have strategically created a singular entity to contest the status quo. They remind us it only takes one person to create global chaos. That figure is always a super genius (Red Skull, Lex Luther, etal.) that lacks superhuman abilities. However, to achieve his goals, he will have to work with a supervillain. The nightmarish villains of Marvel and DC worlds are not human (Thanos, Kang, Galactus, Darkseid, Doomsday, Steppenwolf, etal). They are grotesque looking destroyers of worlds. Symbolically, they represent creatures within the human mind such as corruption, greed, racism, and other evils.  In contrast, superheroes constitute the spectrum of the American society. They are from every possible group imaginable. The heroes have to work as a team, in essence work as a nation, to defeat powerful enemies.

The course of these superhero films is a journey. A spiritual journey in discovering purpose, and a journey for mythical change, especially equality, and freedom. Heroes have to search for the real America in the process of confronting metaphysical quests. These quests include time travel, death, self-realization, and self-sacrifice. The villains patiently allow the heroes to endure all of the problems before the final confrontation.  In each case, the heroes have to overcome their flaws or settle group disagreements to win the battle. Superman is perfect, but he has to learn human frailties. Captain America’s morality frequently means not cutting corners. Iron Man, like Batman, is a calculating risk taker. Both billionaires rely on gadgetry to help gain that edge.

Gender is also important in the cinematic universe. While they are not the same as in the comic books, gender makes a difference in the movies. Female characters are the nurturers, peacemakers, and unifiers. Often, they are unable to control their powers. Marvel’s most powerful heroes are women. The female superheroes are both in the world and out of it. The Black Widow, for example, doubles as a psychologist. The Scarlet Witch creates her own reality and has to deal with mental breakdowns. DC’s characters are not as developed, but they also serve as role models. Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn are powerful women on opposite ends of the spectrum. They dominate their movies as atypical females.

However, in spite of their vast powers, in neither universe do the heroes (male or female) win the war.  The villains are defeated but they always have the ability to return in a future installment. The modern screenwriters have made a point of stressing that death is a constant presence in these conflicts. Heroes die and often beloved heroes die in tragic ways. The Marvel and DC films are becoming important to a generation of younger adults because they are transforming or perhaps even supporting their notions of the world. Before 9/11 America’s heroes might have died but they were always resurrected in some form. Often the alternate world or a dream was used as a device to suggest that someone wasn’t really dead. However, post 9/11, our heroes did not come back. There are still alternate worlds and dreams, but now these figurative tools stressed the collapsing weight of realities far greater than the ones we typically imagined. Life, even in the comic books, was not as simple as it had been.

I consider these complexities to be the explanations for the events to come. Dawn of Justice revives the “alien outsider” complex that Superman so desperately tries to overcome. Bruce Wayne’s/Batman’s aggression towards the “alien” is visibly our contempt of “illegal aliens” who cross the border without permission. In fact, the entire movie is about aliens on earth and their potential for destruction. This alien invasion has even greater emphasis when we see the Synder cut of The Justice League.

The theatrical death of Superman is largely comparable to the comic book story, but the film makes viewers feel the significance of the loss. A world without Superman is a world in chaos – a world without a hero. (Symbolically, a world without God) In Justice League, Batman has to resurrect the hero only to see the consequences of his actions at the end of the film. The Synder cut makes it clear that playing god has a price and eventually mankind must kill its hero to save itself.

Aliens on earth is also a reality in the MCU. Similarly, death and resurrection are prominent in the Infinity Saga. Marvel teases death throughout the series only to leave viewers with the belief that some characters, mostly non-humans, will be reborn and others, humans, will die. It questions whether some of the Asgardians are gods or Gods. Yet Thanos, as a Titan, is virtually an immortal. He may be gone at the close of Avengers Endgame but he will be back.

Kids and adults alike can find messages in these films. Thanos’ snap and the five-year gap is comparable to the world before and after COVID.  Ironman’s adjustment is the vaccine. We are returning to a new normal, but have lost a great deal. The world will never be the same. Spiderman’s secret identity reveal at the end of "Spiderman Far From Home" is the end of our national innocence. It is the George Floyd moment or the reckoning of January 6th.  In essence, Mysterio is the illusion coving up the truth. In death, he releases reality. He exposes the flawed image of America for what it truly is.  

Sonny Bunch's " What Does "America" Mean? America's Biggest Pop Culture Franchise Doesn't Know" (Washington Post, May 7th) challenges older perspectives by asking a different question. For example, Bunch suggests that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier "almost inadvertently asks us to consider something that hasn't come up very much" in the course of other Marvel Cinematic Universe productions. He writes: "What exactly, does America mean in a world where "superpowers" refer not to nation-states such as the United States, Russia or China competing for hearts and minds, but to the ability of individuals to do extraordinary things." While acknowledging that profits demand that Marvel's films are geared to a global audience and not solely an American one, Bunch feels that the films downplay the greatness (exceptionalism) of America. He feels they place American greatness within the context of the heroes (in this context within the labeling of Captain America). To the contrary, I would argue that Bunch is not fully aware of the comic book storyline or he is not open to the full context of the episodes. I believe that the Marvel and DC films still continue the same legacies, but periodically switch the focal points of the narratives to still provide the view of what it means to be American. 

It's clear that Sam Wilson is destined to become the next Captain America from the outset of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. The story has to highlight that 1) John Walker is not mentally or physically deserving of the title of Captain America and 2) that Sam Wilson has to prove Isaiah Bradley wrong. What Bunch seemingly overlooks is that Bucky/the Winter Soldier introduces Sam to Isaiah so that he can willingly accept the mantle of Captain America and also correct a historical injustice. That Sam saves the world and does not need the super soldier serum (which Walker needs to take to feel worthy) does reveal American exceptionalism at its finest. That the Falcon is a true American hero, and John Walker (who has been awarded bravery medals, yet committed war crimes) is not a hero further highlights America's legacy of falsifying history.  The contrast between Isaiah Bradley and Sam Wilson is an indictment of American racism and inequality. 

At the close of Zack Synder’s Justice League viewers realize there are distinct differences between his interpretation and the Josh Whedon original theatrical presentation. First is the aura of Darkseid, not Steppenwolf, as the main villain in the film, second is the search for the Anti-Life Equation, and third is the increasing presence of the Manhunter from Mars. In the original version there is a happier ending as Batman resurrects Superman, Doomsday and Steppenwolf are destroyed, and the world is temporarily safe. The Synder cut ends with the horrific future portrayed as Bruce Wayne's nightmare. 

I see the horrific nightmare as another metaphor. This one is for America's future. Synder's Batman has tried multiple times to alter the past as an attempt to change the future. However, in each case he has failed and a disaster awaits. Superman has turned from hero to villain. Similarly, the Avengers used the Infinity Stones to undo the snap and change the future. A disaster is also predicted for the MCU, it just will take a few more films to arrive. Does this mean that for the writers in the MCU and DCU that the age of heroes is coming to an end? Is this their signal, perhaps, of the end of the American Century? Or is this just another evolution in the thoughts of younger generations coming to grips with their realities? 

I guess you have to read the comic books and find out!