Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In honor of Independence Day, this week Bennett looks at patriotic superheroes.Traditionally not a lot happens on Independence Day but a couple of interesting pieces were posted online on the 4th of July, which might have been missed. Both, appropriately enough, are concerned with patriotic superheroes and how they've changed over the years to better embody contemporary America.
The first one I found was on the website of the UK newspaper The Independent, "Super refit: Superman gets another makeover" by Phil Boucher. Because he doesn't have a patriotic name or flag motif outfit Comic Book Guys like me don't automatically think of Superman as being a particularly "patriotic" superhero but of course he is. Or as Dr. Chris Murray, a lecturer in comic studies at Dundee University, is quoted in the piece, he's "clearly an ambassador for American values" and a character who "embodies the American dream like no other." The piece ends with this quote from Grant Morrison:
"The Only way to make things in comic books real is to make comic books about real things," explains Morrison. "Through this terrible sense of oppression--in which we're being watched constantly, we're stuck on the internet and we're scared of everything--the superhero has surged up as an imaginative response; a reminder that there is a future: to stop telling kids that the planet is going to die and start using your minds the way that superheroes use their minds and get us out of this."
Liberal, conservative, Tea Party member... it shouldn't matter what the Sentinel of Liberty is. Captain America represents the American ideal, the best in all of us. He's supposed to stand for truth--no matter how dirty it is--and justice, not just us. And that's the American way.
It's easy to become jaded and dismiss both characters as just corporate icons designed to move merchandise. The same way, given the current level of debate in this country, it's easy to become convinced the interests of the native born and the immigrants are somehow diametrically opposed. Maybe it makes me naive but I'd rather like to think that Captain America and Superman are examples of how both are complementary aspects of the same American dream.
Some people have raised concern that Captain America: The First Avenger, a movie with "America" in the title might prove to be box office poison in certain parts of the world. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, in a piece by Daniel Levinsoh (also dated July 4th) titled "'Captain America' to Keep US Title in All But Three Countries" it will only be known as just The First Avenger in Russia, Ukraine and South Korea. Supposedly for "cultural and political" reasons. Apparently the majority of international movie distributors decided to use the full title because Captain America is a well-known brand name overseas.
And as it stands now the movie most likely won't be released in China at all, supposedly due more to the country's policy allowing only 20 foreign films to be screened there theatrically every year rather than any perceived problems with the American "brand." Though I'm guessing it certainly didn't help.
Not that Marvel needs me doing them any favors but were I them I'd probably be doing something with the name Captain Avenger. A quick Bing search found no evidence of it (though it did reveal professional sidekick Rick Jones very briefly went by that name) but it's just the kind of title someone might use for their cheap ripoff of your upcoming Hollywood Blockbuster (or, as they're known in the trade, a "Knockbuster"). If nothing else someone might suddenly want to do a remake of the 1980 comedy Hero At Large which starred the late John Rutter as a struggling actor who dressed up as the fictional superhero "Captain Avenger."
And, finally, on July 27 a piece appeared on the satirical site The Onion titled "Lady Gaga Kidnaps Commissioner Gordon" which, except for a brief reference to Arkham Asylum, treats the singer as if she was a villain from the 60's Batman TV series (i.e. "the kidnapping occurred at stately Wayne Manor"). For a while now it's been hard for me to distinguish between popular culture figures and super-villains. Back when they were relentlessly showing TV commercials for the DVD of the recent movie Black Swan every time they showed Natalie Portman in her Black Swan makeup I'd think, "if Gerry Conway was still writing Detective Comics then Batman would be fighting a ballerina super-villain right about now."
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.