JulianPerez
Council of Wisdom
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« on: November 16, 2005, 08:19:13 PM » |
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One would imagine that when writers and artists break away from the so-called Big Two to start their own companies and create their own worlds in creator owned comics, that they would relish in the removal of the "rules" that bound them at the first two companies and start telling stories that they couldn't tell at their previous employers, just because of how the Marvel and DC Universes work. After all, there's so MUCH to superheroes, so much potential, that what the two big companies do only really scratches the surface.
One would think they would go all out and create comics about Superheroes in caveman days, mutant cowboys vs. mutant Indians, superheroes whose primary job is fighting werewolves and dinosaurs in a post-apocalyptic world. What would superheroes be like in Ancient China (the idea of superpowered guys with laser-vision fighting Kung Fu on mountains is an idea so spectacular I really hope someone does it soon)? Why not think of superheroes as a normalized, science fiction element to do worldbuilding around, like in LORD OF LIGHT?
One of the comics that really fulfills the promise of creating a take on superheroes very different from the Big Two companies, is the absolutely wonderful MONKEYMAN AND O'BRIEN, a comic which draws more from b-movies and monster yarns, featuring atypical Doc Savage-esque protagonists without secret identities or costumes, but who nonetheless have weird powers and deal with science fiction elements, like giant ants and wield wondrous gadgets and devices.
The wonderful HELLBOY by the always brilliant Mignola also is another case of a superhero comic, that nonetheless is very different from what the standard two companies put out, with an emphasis on supernatural events, and stories that are more mystery-centered and less action-centered.
Jim Shooter's underrated, excellent NEW UNIVERSE, torn down venomously by much smaller and pettier men than he, that would never dare speak against him when he was EIC of Marvel but demolished his work the moment he no longer had authority, was a case of another such universe: superheroes and superpowers treated as a science fiction element, with emphasis on plausibility, which didn't take the conventions of the superhero story for granted.
Even a tiny change in terminology really gives a superhero comic a different feel: notice how different the ABC World is as a result of Alan Moore using a term like "Science-Heroes" and "Science-Renegades."
It really says something about how narrow the comic book superhero genre is considered to be that when Kurt Busiek did ARROWSMITH, a comic book that is, in essence, a superhero story about men that fly with dragon boots and baby dragon sidekicks in World War I, filled with the fanciful fantasy elements that define superhero comics, like sea monsters and flying ships and rock trolls and satyrs immigrating to the United States - and yet nobody is calling it a superhero comic.
(Interestingly enough, Miami film critic Rene Rodriguez has pointed out that THE MATRIX is basically a superhero comic book adaptation without a superhero comic book to adapt from: it had the Kung Fu, the superpowers, the mechanical monsters, the alternate dimensions...it feels more similarities to King Kirby than an Arnold Schwartzenegger kill 'em up)
A former girlfriend that read Romance novels told me that it is very hard to find a decent Romance novel, because the best ones involve romance as the focus, but also have mysteries and suspense aspects as well. If it DOES, however, despite the book's primary focus on romance, if it involves police drama or jewel robbery even as SUBPLOTS, then the book is placed in the "THRILLER" section. The only ones that remain in the Romance section are books with stereotypical romance plots and covers. One can draw obvious comparisons to superhero comics.
Instead of showing the many different kinds of stories that superheroes can tell, what do the smaller comics do? Create Marvel/DC clone universes.
Superhero universes in the model of the Big Two have several traits distinct to them:
1) Superheroes take codenames and wear distinctive costumes that are skintight and colorful;
2) The world is assumed to be "supermarket tabloid" in style, with magic, UFOs, Bigfoot, Viking Gods, and Mole Men assumed to share the world as inhabitants;
3) Those that obtain superpowers are neatly divided into two categories: those who, independently, decide to use their powers altruistically, like a superpowered cross between a Sherriff in the Old West and Red Cross workers, and others that use their powers for selfish gain ("supervillains.")
4) There always tends to be a Superman or Captain America duplicate figure that is the rallying point for the entire setting, who is supremely morally incorruptible and noble.
5) There tends to be a Justice League/Avengers clone organization that is the meeting point for the big heroes of the setting.
6) Superhero worlds have nearly identical histories: superheroes first show up in World War II, disappear, and then return fairly recently.
It's this last one that bugs me the most because it shows that even something as arbitrary as when superheroism begins is xeroxed mindlessly, everywhere from the IMPACT line, to the Maximum Press world, to ASTRO CITY, to FLARE in heroic publishing, to things as diverse as the Freedom City manuals for Mutants and Masterminds (if I was Kurt Busiek, I'd call my lawyer, because that gaming book Freedom City was such a rip-off of his Astro City that it filled even me with rage, even down to the road signs that start and stop the book - Michael Moorcock put it best when he said that "homage" is like someone stealing your television and then saying, "hey, you have great taste in televisions.")
Yes, we all know World War II was pretty important in the history of superhero comics, but here's the thing: that does not mean that the world that YOU are creating, Mr. John Q. Comicswriter, has to have superheroes kick off at the same time. Just because superheroes stopped selling in the 1950s does not mean that superheroism on your earth has to die off at the same time. And so on.
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