Whatever kind of comics you wanna discuss, do it here, be it manga, archie comics, anarchy comics (
Anarchy Comics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), etc...
But what I want to talk about is American comic books (Marvel, DC). You know, the kind that are associated with super heroes.
I'm not an expert and I'm very far from it but they're something I've wanted to get into for years but have been too intimidated by the quantity of 'em. No more though, even if it's downloading them, I shall read a bunch.
But what I REALLY wanna discuss, concerning them, is why they exist and the importance of them to North American culture.
*Keep in mind that like I said, I'm not an expert, the first thing I'm gonna mention is a theory I've seen kicked around and the second is just something I thought up tonight*
1: You think that the characters were created because of Americas fear and paranoia concerning both opposing forces and forces at home? Meaning these characters were created to install a feeling of safety among the readers, because there will be super heroes fighting for the good of America. For example, according to Wikipedia:
Quote:
| Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) — on sale in December 1940, a year before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and already showing Cap socking Hitler in the jaw — sold nearly one million copies. [4] Though preceded as a "patriotically themed superhero" by MLJ's The Shield, Captain America immediately became the most prominent and enduring of that wave of superheroes introduced in American comic books prior to and during World War II. With his sidekick Bucky, Captain America faced Nazis, Japanese and other threats to wartime America and the Allies, and joined Timely's fellow hit characters the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner as the company's primary stars.
|
I'm sure you could find more examples
.
2: If you're American or Canadian, you should realize that we don't have the rich history/culture that other, older countries/nations have. I enjoy our art immensely but what do we have in regards to mythology? Other civilizations have a rich history of it (greek, roman, norse, egyptian, african, etc) and we have very little. Let's not forget that a lot of our fairy tales/fables have been watered down and are no longer violent (but some are, of course).
Could it be that these super hero comics are our mythology? They have all the components... godlike figures, branching stories, different interpretations of said stories, history. Obviously there are differences. But let's discuss the idea and flesh it out or dismiss it.
And if you wanna be technical, then yes, Christianity counts but I really don't think this is on the same level.
With that said. Who likes Deadpool, hm?