Hey Geeks! Comic-Book Superheros Get "Subversive"

[Bark Bark Bark]

I can't add much to James Wolcott's article about "V For Vendetta"...

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2006/02/the_red_and_the.php

...except to say, I can't believe I'm even seeing the trailer on TV, with the line “people shouldn’t be afraid of their governments; governments should be afraid of their people.” These days, with The Virgin Ben and other reightwinger scumbags screaming for the jailing of all Bush-dissenters, that's a jawdropper.

For all the things DC Comics is doing wrong these days--right now they're going through their semi-annual "screw everything up, kill everyone off, then hit the reset button" continuity-enema festivities for the umpteenth time--at least they've been fighting the good fight in politics. Lex Luthor stole an election to become president of the United States, then launched a phony war against a Middle-Eastern country to give him a bully pulpit to swiftboat and outlaw anyone to opposed him...AKA The Good Guys. (And that was long BEFORE Bush's numbers went into free-fall.)

Saturday, it leaked into cartoon superhero antics with "Justice League Unlimited." JLU has already used and discarded the Lex-As-President angle, but in the latest episode, "Patriot Act," a top military officer, fearing the "metahumans" threaten his own power, doses himself with a leftover WWII monster-serum (a combination parody of Captain America and the Hulk called "The Captain Nazi Project"--!!) and goes looking to start a fight with Superman.

All the major superpowered heroes are off saving the universe, so The General is confronted by seven "normal" heroes who get their powers from technology or magic. He totally stomps their asses, only to be pushed back by civilians before running off.

Now, it's not a great work of art by any means. JLU is too often a horrible mishmash of background-free superheroes piled together for some long, pointless, poorly-written fight scene, and "Patriot Act" is a perfect example. It's the "I can't believe they're doing this...and getting away with it!" political-message factor that wows me.

Points of interest:

--The General (unlike his opponents) doesn't give a damn about civilian casualties, spouting the usual tripe about "breaking eggs to make an omelet" and "acceptable losses." You know, the same stuff you hear from Rummy and company. Even when faced with the undeniable wrongness of his actions, he declares that one day, everyone will realize he was right.

--His opponents are a politically-mixed bag: the archliberal Green Arrow (who has expressed similar concerns about metahumans in the past) and Speedy, Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry-fan Vigilante, fellow gun-nut Crimson Avenger, the very-conservative Shining Knight (who puts up the hardest fight against The General), and Stars and Stripes. They have their personal differences, but naturally stand together against the obvious greater threat.

--Just in case someone didn't grasp the intent of the title "Patriot Act," a little old lady stands up to The General while he's ranting about how he's protecting America (while hurting civilians in the process) and tells him to "drop the act." XD

Sorry, reightwingers: in the media propaganda war "There's A Liberal Under My Bed!" doesn't stand a damned chance.

[villager]

1. "V for Vendetta" is great, btw.

Can't wait to see the reaction to it in a couple of weeks...

Had no idea JLU was "asking tough questions," too! Let's hear it for "low culture...!"

[Ignis]

10. Amazing comic.

I read it on the recommendation of a friend, and now I try to get all my own friends to read it. :) Great story--here's hoping the W Bros. do it up right.

[villager]

13. astonishingly, they did!

n/t

[The Witch]

2. Oh, god, what is DC doing now?

Has Stephanie been made Robin permanently by now? :eyes:

[Bark Bark Bark]

3. Stephanie? Brace Yourself.

If you're talking about Spoiler, she's very dead.
So is Jean-Paul (Azrael).
So is Cassandra (Batgirl).
Oh, but Jason Todd (Robin II)? Back from the grave.
And Batman's responsible for an army of superpowered robots taking over the world and killing a lot of innocent people.
If I were Bats, I'd think about hanging it up at this point--but DC's pressing "reset" every five months now, so...

[WCGreen]

4. That's why only get the special runs...

the limited ones....

The rest is just crap....

[The Witch]

9. Nooo,not Cass!!!!!

:cry:

I forgot Steph died. That was at the end of War Games, no?

But Cass!? That's unforgivable. You better point me to a web site so I don't spam this thread!

[Bark Bark Bark]

15. Spoilt!

Frankly, I only keep track of this stuff online anymore. "Spoilt!" is an excellent resource.

http://comicspoilers.blogspot.com/

Or, specifically:

http://comicspoilers.blogspot.com/2006/02/dc-briefs.html

Of course, this is a superhero comic. I don't know the circumstances behind Cassandra's death, but if Marvel can restore Bucky's pulse, Batgirl could be up and running around next month.

[The Witch]

17. Thanks!

great site.

[Dr Fate]

5. Been going on for years.

EC, Mad, underground stuff, plus hints of it in Marvel & DC over the years too..."V" is from the early 80s- from over 20 years ago...

[Bark Bark Bark]

6. After All...Who's Watching The Watchmen?

A pompous (and casually murderous) "hero" arranges an attack on a major metropolis to unite his "subjects" behind him against a threat that doesn't exist? (See also "The Incredibles.")

Again, the thing that blows my mind is that the film and TV adaptations are being MADE at all now. It's one thing to publish "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers;" but TV and movies always attract more attention. And in the post 9-11 world, I wouldn't DREAM that a movie full of exploding buildings with an anti-government "terrorist" as its hero would've gotten made.

Sadly, I think it works like this: normal people see Orwell's "1984" as a warning, while Those Who Would Rule Over Us see it as a game plan.

[AntiFascist]

8. Did you see Fight Club??

and that came out before 9/11.

[DerekG]

11. Most disconcerting was that Veidt was a left-leaning utopian

Ironically, it was Rorschach and the Comedian--the former a fanatic, the latter a fascistic strongarm--who were most horrified by Veidt's machinations.

I've always admired Moore's trepidation with ideology.

[Dr Fate]

18. Veidt was no Liberal- just an elitist.

Rorschach was bat-shit crazy more than an ideologue- he was basically Steve Ditko!

I also thought the Comedian was just in it for himself and for the adventure, we could have cared less who he worked for.

Sure, each character represents a stereotype, but each character transcended their stereotype too...

[DerekG]

20. No, he wasn't, but he identified himself as one in the story

Check out the faux interview in between chapters (which contains the classic line: "I don't mind being the smartest man in the world, I just wish it wasn't this one.").

[Dr Fate]

21. I know-Trust me, I've probably memorized much of The Watchmen!

ALAN MOORE IS GOD!

[gatorboy]

7. On top of that, Frank Miller has a new book coming out:

Batman Vs. Bin Laden.

I'm not kidding.. :P

[Dr Fate]

19. Doesnt suprise me. I cant stand Frank Miller.

I'll bet he will have Bat-Man be a torture expert at Gitmo.

[FVZA_Colonel]

22. Given the moral ambiguity of the character,

I'm hoping he doesn't discard this and adopt a black and white view of the War On Terror.

[Darkseid69]

12. What about the Ultimates from Marvel?

Several issues ago the American super heroes invaded a Middle Eastern country to disarm it. Now the other countries, (China, Korea, Russia) have allied themselves to take down the United States before it can impose itself on even more countries.

The issue ends with the Statue of Liberty falling down, just like the statue of Saddam falling.

[SteppingRazor]

14. Also, with Marvel, the Fantastic Four...

invaded Doctor Doom's country, overthrew him, then Mr. Fantastic took his place and turned into a psychotic dictator himself, resulting in the death of The Thing (who, of course, was later resurrected)

[Bark Bark Bark]

16. There Was Also The "JLA: Superpower" One-Shot

I can't remember, but this might have been pre 9-11 as well...

An exceptionally heroic firefighter wants to do MORE good, and undergoes extensive experimentation to give him superpowers. He promptly assumes the best thing to do is flit over to "Quarac" and kill its vile dictator, but Quarac's celebrations quickly turn into civil war and then famine, which he can do nothing about--and the skyrocketing mass casualties drive him to suicide.

...it was certainly pre-invasion.