Something that struck me the other day...
Feb. 2nd, 2008 07:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
duane_kc...has anyone but me ever noticed that the heroes in comics are almost as outright nuts as the villains? My brain grabbed this and wouldn't let go until I posted about it.
I mean, really. The only one offhand I can think of that even comes close is Superman, and even he sometimes approaches neurosis in his obsession with keeping his secret identity.
Bruce Wayne/Batman? Apart from the clear abandonment issues and fear of committment stemming from the loss of his parents, how many people would show the appalling lack of judgment to allow not one, but a succession of teenage boys to put themselves in harm's way fighting not only the scum of Gotham, but even some of the most notorious serial killer/supervillans known to mankind? The only amazing thing is that only *one* of his "youthful wards" has manged to get himself killed so far. His continued inability to keep the Joker from killing nearly at will is odd too. Let's face it, the Joker proves that not only is Batman crazy, so is the Gotham City justice system. In any other city, the Joker would at the very least be in a straitjacket in a Supermax somewhere, not "locked" in a crumbling asylum he has continually demonstrated his ability to leave at will. (And, as an aside, his ability to plan his crimes, take action to ensure he is not caught, and execute his escapes proves that he may be insane in a clinical sense, but *not* in the legal sense.)
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern? Lacking a fear response is not a good thing. A "man without fear" is a psychopath, and look how he finally ended up; going postal and killing off his bosses and co-workers. Same goes for the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, if they were judged by the same standard. (And Guy Gardner is a vicious thug who should have been in prison, not handed what has been called "the most powerful weapon in the Universe".) True courage is being afraid, to the point sometimes where you can't control your bodily functions any more, and *doing your job anyway*. The Green Lantern Corps fails miserably.
Peter Parker/Spiderman? Lets see. Brilliant physics student, internationally known photographer, married to a *supermodel* fergossakes, and his total lack of self-esteem still has him being used as a punching bag...er, as a freelance photog for the Daily Bugle. This is a man who could make literally *millions* as a paparazzi on the West Coast, and he's still selling squalid photos to the Manhattan paper for a few hundred bucks a week. Fear of success, much?
Barry Allen/Flash? Closer to sane than many, but his committment issues and inability to consider his wife's views about running around in tights Fighting Crime nearly cost him his marriage on many occasions. In fact, of the Flash line of heroes, only Jay Garrick has a stable marriage and, now that I think about it, a somewhat sane outlook on life. (Now that I think on it further, the Justice Society of America is remarkably sane, as a rule, for superheroes.)
Iron Man? An egomaniacal alcoholic; a brilliant one, to be sure, but still not sane. Green Arrow? Dapper ex-millionaire by day, angry socialist with absolutely *no* control over his libido at night. Dr. Henry Pym? His inability to consider the future import of his actions and researches has led to suffering and death for *years*, now. The Shadow? Name me *one* story he didn't riddle at least one person with .45 calibre slugs. Captain America? Hmmm; he seems relatively normal, at least, which is probably why the bastards at Marvel killed him off.
Good Gods, have I rambled about this subject long enough? Time for an LJ-cut, I think. Any thoughts, oh involuntary audience?
I mean, really. The only one offhand I can think of that even comes close is Superman, and even he sometimes approaches neurosis in his obsession with keeping his secret identity.
Bruce Wayne/Batman? Apart from the clear abandonment issues and fear of committment stemming from the loss of his parents, how many people would show the appalling lack of judgment to allow not one, but a succession of teenage boys to put themselves in harm's way fighting not only the scum of Gotham, but even some of the most notorious serial killer/supervillans known to mankind? The only amazing thing is that only *one* of his "youthful wards" has manged to get himself killed so far. His continued inability to keep the Joker from killing nearly at will is odd too. Let's face it, the Joker proves that not only is Batman crazy, so is the Gotham City justice system. In any other city, the Joker would at the very least be in a straitjacket in a Supermax somewhere, not "locked" in a crumbling asylum he has continually demonstrated his ability to leave at will. (And, as an aside, his ability to plan his crimes, take action to ensure he is not caught, and execute his escapes proves that he may be insane in a clinical sense, but *not* in the legal sense.)
Hal Jordan/Green Lantern? Lacking a fear response is not a good thing. A "man without fear" is a psychopath, and look how he finally ended up; going postal and killing off his bosses and co-workers. Same goes for the rest of the Green Lantern Corps, if they were judged by the same standard. (And Guy Gardner is a vicious thug who should have been in prison, not handed what has been called "the most powerful weapon in the Universe".) True courage is being afraid, to the point sometimes where you can't control your bodily functions any more, and *doing your job anyway*. The Green Lantern Corps fails miserably.
Peter Parker/Spiderman? Lets see. Brilliant physics student, internationally known photographer, married to a *supermodel* fergossakes, and his total lack of self-esteem still has him being used as a punching bag...er, as a freelance photog for the Daily Bugle. This is a man who could make literally *millions* as a paparazzi on the West Coast, and he's still selling squalid photos to the Manhattan paper for a few hundred bucks a week. Fear of success, much?
Barry Allen/Flash? Closer to sane than many, but his committment issues and inability to consider his wife's views about running around in tights Fighting Crime nearly cost him his marriage on many occasions. In fact, of the Flash line of heroes, only Jay Garrick has a stable marriage and, now that I think about it, a somewhat sane outlook on life. (Now that I think on it further, the Justice Society of America is remarkably sane, as a rule, for superheroes.)
Iron Man? An egomaniacal alcoholic; a brilliant one, to be sure, but still not sane. Green Arrow? Dapper ex-millionaire by day, angry socialist with absolutely *no* control over his libido at night. Dr. Henry Pym? His inability to consider the future import of his actions and researches has led to suffering and death for *years*, now. The Shadow? Name me *one* story he didn't riddle at least one person with .45 calibre slugs. Captain America? Hmmm; he seems relatively normal, at least, which is probably why the bastards at Marvel killed him off.
Good Gods, have I rambled about this subject long enough? Time for an LJ-cut, I think. Any thoughts, oh involuntary audience?
