The Origin of SACRED WEAPON
Fixing Superhero comics
Many years ago I started reading comics and arguing politics. I was six years old when I warned a few 8th grade boys about the folly of electing Richard M. Nixon. History proved me right nearly immediately…
In my youth I devoured comics of all kinds from dog eared Golden Age comics to the Marvel and DC’s Silver Age gems. When, in 1970, DC paired the space-cop Hal Jordan with their anti-establishment “Robin Hood” inspired Ollie Queen I was already hooked on sequential art storytelling. I remember reading the “purple skins" story and being floored by it! That comics would have a social conscience was only common sense. Everyone in the ’60s and early ’70s was becoming aware. It stood to reason comics and superheroes would also confront the issues of the day.
What I didn’t know then was that this wasn’t new territory for the medium but rather a “coming home” of sorts. You see, from the first adventures of an alien “super” man through the WWII era and beyond superheroes were defenders of the common man, not the corporate bottom line. Kal L was a journalist, a noble profession, pre-FAUX News. He was a proud member of the Fourth Estate, not a mouthpiece for “The Man”! He exposed corruption, unsafe workplaces and slum conditions as Clark Kent and his powerful alter-ego.
The silliness of the HUAC-era stories made it easy to dismiss the great histories of the pantheon of four-color demi-gods but everything old is new again…
Eventually the socially aware stories of the Sixties and early Seventies would fall out of favor to be replaced by a yuppie-spawn infested cash grab that pushed revenge based “heroes” who had more in common with Dirty Harry and the Death Wish crowd than the Justice League or the Avengers. Grim and gritty? Maybe… for a brief moment. Bleak and dismal afterward. Without the awareness of previous creators the generation raised by Gordon “Greed is Good” Gekko imbued their heroes with reprehensible selfishness.
Unquestioning compliance to the whims of Wall St created an atmosphere of avarice leading to the glut of mindless movies and television shows so long as the bottom line was being bloated then quality could be a secondary concern. More polybags, more death and resurrection stories, please!
Or maybe we can move our four-color fiction toward the issues of the real world again? Heroes that help the powerless could make sense as more power is consolidated at the financial apex of society. It might be worth the effort considering what the latest comic news sites are reporting this week.
The biggest news in comics this month stems from a manufactured feud between some creators and cosplayers. I have no horse in that race but as a longtime comic fan, collector and convention attendee I can see merit in both sides of the issue. Cosplayers and their fans are part of the community, creators and vendors are, too. We need to talk to each other and maybe more important, listen to each other. We can work it out!
Time has come for me to wrap this up, and as they say in politics, “Always ask for their vote!” So I’m asking you to be a part in my little experiment. Donate a buck or two on my Patreon page for the monthly adventures of American Crusader, The Dark Terror, Mistress Masque, The Liberator, Dare-Devil and the rest!
I may fall on my face, that’s possible! YouTube has millions of views on pratfall and face-plant videos so pop the popcorn and pull up a seat.
But I might not, and for the hope of us all, the creators and the cosplayers, the collectors and the kids, I’m willing to take that leap.
Join me in a “Coming Home” party for comics!
Thanks,
Gil
titsay
vaporwave
romaincrisis
izzy806
