Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week, Bennett looks at comics as comment on the real world (or not):

There was a recent article in the New York Daily News by Ethan Sacks titled Batman, Iron Man Among Comic Book Stars Hit Hard By Recession.  It’s a fairly by the numbers look at what’s currently going on in Marvel and DC comics but it did have an interesting quote from Mark D. White, a professor of philosophy at the College of Staten Island “and a comic fan.”  He said: “Superheroes greatest power is helping worried readers escape into a fantasy world.  Comic books are a way for people to get away from the real world.  They don’t want to be reminded of wars or tragedies or catastrophes.”

I really don’t mean to contradict a professor of philosophy but as I’ve outlined here previously the relationship between fantasy and reality is generally a lot more complicated than that; one usually reflects the other.  Superheroes are our avatars, stand-ins who fight (or don’t fight) our battles for us; like in Marvel’s Civil War which was as much a disguised political allegory concerning the conflict to balance security and freedom as it was a superhero slugfest.

I have to admit after the election I was naïve enough to feel hope had actually triumphed over fear but of course life doesn’t really work like that.

I tuned into Glen Beck the other day and was surprised to hear he and his first caller spend a good five minutes talking about V for Vendetta, at least the move version which he’d just seen (on what I’m going to assume must have been on a premium cable movie channel).  The caller was worried a movie essentially about a ‘domestic terrorist’ (his words) would inspire someone to do something similar in America.

Which is more than a little ironic given over the last couple weeks Mr. Beck has been deathly afraid of not just that but growing global unrest, the impending collapse of the dollar, a possible revolution of the have-nots and the streets overflowing with gangs and crime along a Mexican model.  In short, life imitating the first volume of a post-apocalyptic paperback original series.

And it isn’t just him; a lot of the brand name pundits are likewise afraid, or at least want their listeners to be.  And seeing as how being afraid isn’t much fun other than while watching a movie they also want you to be angry, which thanks to Yoda we know leads to hate.  Hate for those in power who in spite of (and probably because of) their surface do-goodism are secretly evil.  Not misguided or ideologically wrong--evil.

And doesn’t that sound more than a bit like Marvel’s Dark Reign?

So the only question is, is Marvel intentionally playing on those fears?  Happily for their bottom line fear is bipartisan; even those of us hoping for the best sometimes look at the headlines and are gripped by a dread of portentous proportions.  Is this new direction the result of a canny understanding of human psychology and politics or just a happy accident?  Or is Dark Reign as advertised, just about discovering that when comes to survival maybe ‘evil’ men can do a better job of guaranteeing our safety than good ones?

Don’t know, couldn’t tell you.  My trouble is much as I dislike the direction they represent I generally like the Dark Reign titles, they’re certainly better written and drawn and just more interesting than equivalent DC comics, which post-Crisis seem even more ‘eh’ than they were pre-Crisis.  I hope in retrospect DC will realize benching three of their biggest characters during very bad economic times was a supremely bad idea and will correct it--ASAP.

Now if you want superhero comic books that are completely disconnected from the real world DC is your publisher.  I have to confess I’ve been more than a little confused by the whole Origins & Omens back-up series.  Correct me if I’m wrong but the idea behind it being it’s a series of stories that would poke around the background of DC characters while helping to set up the upcoming Blackest Night event.

Which may be, but it still doesn’t explain what possible interest a renegade she-Guardian of the Universe writing a book (at first I assumed the medium it was being written in was the blood gushing from her eyes but according to the text her soul “rots with darkness” so it’s probably her soul instead) would have in athletes in outfits like Robin and Nightwing.

And as someone who really relishes a good Golden Age comic book cover I can’t tell you how tickled I was to see this variant cover of Savage Dragon #145 where Islamic terrorism finally gets pasted one in the mush (to use the vernacular of the time).

The opinions expressed in this Talk Back column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.