Today,
A Carrier of Fire has announced that it will offer a free, exclusive essay as an incentive to anyone who signs up for our mailing list. We have no spam, no ads, no bullshit - just quick and easy info on company appearances and products. The exclusive examines Captain America as a figure of patriotism in Mark Millar's Marvel Comics event
Civil War, countered by Superman as a fascistic lapdog for the Reagan Administration in Mark Miller's 1986 classic
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. We're all damn proud of this 4,400-word behemoth. So proud, in fact, that we decided to print a couple excerpts from it here. Enjoy!
In 1986, DC Comics released Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, which among other storylines
portrayed Superman as a borderline-fascist lapdog to Ronald Reagan. In 2006, Marvel Comics launched a storyline
event called Civil War that raised
sociopolitical questions about the government, liberty and security and
personal responsibility to the greater good.
Both comics serve as fitting parables for the individual’s duty to self
and country. The Dark Knight Returns uses Superman as a blind loyalist to a
crumbling dictatorship; Civil War uses
Captain America as a patriot who is surprisingly rebellious in a Colonial-era
fashion. Looking at both stories gives
readers an excellent view into real-world political morality and how it would
play out in a world spilling over with super-powered ideologies.
(...)
However, Clark’s monologue suggests an attitude of “Why can’t you just keep quiet and let the government rule over us?” He has begrudgingly accepted what he deems a necessary evil – to comply with a government too big to be stopped, for the better of the superhumans. This is expanded upon in subsequent pages, as Superman fights the ground battle in Corto Maltese. As he’s shown lifting a tank off the ground, he thinks to himself, “They’ll kill us if they can, Bruce,” speaking of the public and our elected officials. “Every year they grow smaller. Every year they hate us more. We must not remind them that giants walk the Earth.” Clark is much like those oppressed people in history who have turned against their own kind to save themselves or their own family. It only further proves the likeness of Miller’s Reagan-Superman regime to that of Nazi Germany or pro-slavery, civil war-era United States that the American people could scare Superman into bending to their will and playing ball against superhero activity.
(...)
Also, Steve Rogers mentions Washington “telling us who
the supervillains are.” In The Dark Knight Returns, Frank Miller
wrote what can happen in just such a scenario with his lapdog Superman. Mark Millar’s Civil War isn’t at that point, but Rogers is worried that a similar
fate would befall the Marvel heroes. Rogers’
defection from S.H.I.E.L.D. means, as one politician states, that “every
superhero who disagrees with [the Superhero Registration Act] suddenly has a figurehead.” As the embodiment of American ideals, and in
distancing himself from even a minute step towards fascist control over citizens,
Captain America becomes the face of the revolution that pro-registration
officials fear. Soon his crusade gains
speed and he finds himself joined by Daredevil, Luke Cage, the Young Avengers
and more.
Tensions rise when Johnny Storm – The Human Torch, a publicly-identified superhero – is beaten half to death outside a night club by angry citizens in a held-over reaction from the Stamford incident. Later, Spider-Man takes part in a press conference and unmasks himself, revealing himself to be Peter Parker. He makes a good case for registration, saying that “The Registration Act gives us a choice: We can continue the trend that Captain America advocates and have people with powers completely unchecked – or superheroes can go legitimate and earn back a little public trust.” A sign held by a protestor even reads “Guns are registered – why not powers?” It’s hard to argue against public accountability and training at a national level, which is the bright side of what Tony Stark and the pro-registration movement advocate in public, but it has its darker side as well – which Steve Rogers saw long before the registration passed into law.
---
For the complete essay, send an e-mail to
ACarrierofFire@gmail.com with "Subscribe" in the subject line.
