Ed West, who works as an editor in the book publishing field, of Garden City, Michigan read Mark Dudley's reply (see "Mark Dudley, Illustrator and Sequential Artist, on Steve Bennett's Latest Column") to Steve Bennett latest column (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The Most Unexpected Black Lanterns of All") and had this to say:

While the writer is entitled to his opinion, he is obviously more concerned about what he terms "comics growing up" than about important core issues.  A hero, by definition, is a role model and comics, for all intents and purposes, are marketed primarily to kids as are the movies and related toys.  His mention of McCarthy is odd unless he meant comic books are somehow related to communism.  Frederic Wertham would have been the proper person to mention.

There was a time when the so-called underground comics were tried.  These books focused on perverted sex, dysfunctional hippy living, and drug related scenarios.  They are dead.  Currently, the common character template for TV, including some animated programs, is the profoundly dysfunctional character.  I'm sure parents want their children to be healthy, well educated and productive, honorable people.  Why then, should their 'heroes' be these dysfunctional types?  Heroes embody an ideal.  This is not about nostalgia or the comics code or just scene after scene of the good guys and bad guys fighting it out.  I want to see justice portrayed, honorable behavior and a code of ethics that reflects the proper use of their abilities, which means self-restraint and following the law.  It means even the bad guys deserve their day in court.

I haven't bought any comics in quite a while because some believe these books should reflect the sordid.  That is not what a hero is about, especially a super-hero.  They are meant to be larger than life.  In a world without role models, I don't need to read stories about heroes who are less than heroic.

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