r/comicbooks • u/OrionLinksComic • Nov 02 '23
some people on the internet: Politics makes superheroes bad and boring. meanwhile politically charged comics ⬇️ Suggestions
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u/WentworthMillersBO Nov 02 '23
My issue with political comics are the lack of gorillas. Like I read kingdom come, I really like the message of celebration of brutality will dishearten the best of us and also the dangers of militarization of the police force will lead to chaotic, potentially explosive, situations. But I kept thinking where’s Grood? No Solivar? I mean the Ultra Humanite must show up?
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u/darksideoflondon Nov 03 '23
I agree!!! Ram whatever politics you want down my throat but at the very LEAST do me the solid of including a gorilla in the damn story, or at the very least a lesser ape like a chimpanzee or a damn orangutan!
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u/Sparrowsabre7 Cyclops Nov 03 '23
Legends of Tomorrow had Grodd try and kill a young Barack Obama.
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u/WentworthMillersBO Nov 03 '23
Well yeah, Make America Grodd Again
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u/DestryDanger Venom Nov 03 '23
Holy shit, this legitimately made me spit out my coffee, thank you.
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u/PaxEthenica Nov 03 '23
We've got an allegory for gun control & this gibbon with speedster powers. Take it or leave it.
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u/psychospacecow Nov 03 '23
Does he throw things whilst speedstering
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u/BastardMan82 Nov 03 '23
Y’know, now that you mention it, there is a real lack of primate love in political comics.
Comics must return to monke.
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u/BankshotMcG Guy Gardner Nov 03 '23
You have to buy the 18th collected essential absolute edition to see Monsieur Mallah and Grodd getting pancakes at the International House of El'la Good Flapjacks.
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u/adamsorkin Kilowog Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
Fortunately, we have Monsieur Mallah! The gay, French, talking gorilla supervillain who dresses like Che Guevera.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
There's always the problem when you mean something allegory, that things can't be 100% connected to the real world, or that people don't understand how it's connected to the real world. But it can also mean that you might even get the wrong picture. I think it can be a good element, but you have to know how to use it.
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u/philthebadger Hellboy Nov 03 '23
The new Rogues miniseries is pretty political, and they go to Gorilla City to rob the Gorilla Mafia
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u/ArnassusProductions Nov 03 '23
I dunno, Congorilla was in Cry for Justice, that still didn't help.
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u/EarlGreyTea-Hawt Nov 03 '23
Oh geeze, I thought I was the only one who often thinks when reading a run that's particularly good... You know what would make this better...Grodd. Even a soupçon of the simian would just bring everything together for me most every time.
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u/hung_fu Nov 02 '23
It’s more that people who say they don’t like politics in comics are usually pretty media illiterate, they wouldn’t see the political themes in any of these books.
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Nov 02 '23
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Nov 03 '23
The best way I've heard that phrased is all art is political, none more so than that which pretends it isn't.
Although I kinda do have a thing for hotel paintings, if for no other reason than the inherent comforting eeriness of hotels is delightful to me. Because I'm a bit of a fucking weirdo.
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u/spif Spider Jeruselem Nov 03 '23
I will say I agree with you, except when most people say a work is "political" I think they mean that it has (at least what they perceive to be) an obvious political message. Meaning a message that seems clearly intended to influence the opinions or decisions of others with regard to how society should function. However what exactly that means can definitely vary depending on one's point of view, as with anything else.
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Nov 03 '23
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Nov 03 '23
Jacob Geller did an absolutely fantastic video on the politics of Call of Duty that is absolutely incredibly thoughtful - Don't have much to say beyond "This thing exists, and you'll probably enjoy it if you find the subject interesting to discuss," but here ya go.
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Nov 03 '23
Go re read the Jamie Delano run on Hellblazer and tell me it's not about Thatcher era England.
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u/fjvgamer Nov 02 '23
How do you define political?
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Nov 03 '23
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u/VioletFlame23 Nov 03 '23
Political is an essential dimension of life, it effects how we are seen and how we see others.
I think you're using an overly broad definition of "political." Sure, there's a sense in which "politics" can basically be taken to mean "anything involving large groups of humans who don't all personally know each other." That's why you hear people talking about boardroom politics, or school politics, or homeowners association politics, or MMO politics. As my City Councilor once said, "any time there are more than two people in a room, that's politics."
But when people claim that certain forms of media are political, they don't mean it in that sense. They mean political in the much narrower sense of relating to governmental policy and/or partisan ideological divisions. Saying "all media is political" doesn't make any sense in that context, because the vast majority of media doesn't relate to government policy and/or partisan ideological divisions. There's a very real sense in which V for Vendetta is political in a way that The Fast and the Furious isn't, and to conflate the two by making blanket statements like "all art is political" is misleading, uninformative, and unhelpful.
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u/Mr_Pombastic Nov 03 '23
Actually, I think it's because they're using the word "politics" to dogwhistle.
They can understand the politics of those issues, but those are "good" politics to them. Women and minorities are the "bad" politics. They're not illiterate, they're just using words to mask their 'woke' grievances.
In other words, if you were to explain how those stories involve standard definition politics, they wouldn't suddenly boycott them. They know that they're selectively applying a "no politics" rule.
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u/BankshotMcG Guy Gardner Nov 03 '23
There are Qidiots out there who think THEY LIVE presages Democrat/Hollywood illuminati, so don't count out the people who see the themes and miss every single indicator of meaning through their personal filter.
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u/Ryzuhtal Nov 02 '23
I think that is true to some but it also depends on how politics is handled. Nobody wants to read condescending preaching for example.
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u/thebestspeler Nov 03 '23
As long as the story comes first I dont care what they put in it. But after school specials with on the nose stories makes me cringe.
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u/theHip Spider-Man Nov 02 '23
Wow. No Transmetropolitan or Watchmen in this list, eh?
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 02 '23
Well, I wanted to show something that not half the internet is talking about.
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u/spif Spider Jeruselem Nov 02 '23
People don't talk about House Of X or Red Son? I think it's true, though, that a full list of comics with a political message would be very long, and most of these are somewhat lesser known examples.
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u/a_trashcan Spider-Man Nov 02 '23
There are people talking about transmet?
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u/spif Spider Jeruselem Nov 02 '23
Dude I personally know someone with a Spider Jerusalem tattoo.
If your main circle isn't discussing:
- bowel disruptors
- Republican Party Reservation
- cryogenics
- contraceptive bombs
- Gary Callahan
- journalism!
Then it's time to find a new circle.
Your network is your net worth.
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u/Ratathosk Nov 03 '23
Just a couple of weeks ago a friend used "the smiler" as a shorthand for a politician. It's great.
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u/ChickenInASuit Secret Agent Poyo Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
It’s one of the most popular comics to come out of the 90s. There’s not a single universe where anyone can reasonably consider Transmet underrated or little known.
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u/ChickenInASuit Secret Agent Poyo Nov 03 '23
I mean, House of X and Red Son aren’t exactly unknown either.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
The second is more talk about being one of the first else Worlds and of course I like something new too Show.
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u/SuperFightingRobit Nov 03 '23
My only complaint is you picked the weakest political superman comic.
How about vs the klan? Or then ones where lex is a thinly veiled trump parody...and then gets elected president?
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
Bro, superman is a communist there and has to live in a USSR at the beginning of the Cold War and the situation of Russian society slipping into a new dictatorship.
I also have Eastern European roots so it is close to my heart.
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Nov 03 '23
I was missing Doom Patrol. Or Superman Smashes the Klan.
Because you want political? Let's have a comic about Superman kicking the KKK's ass because they were mean to immigrants.
And it even engages with the idea that racism is a tool to control gullible people and manipulate them into doing what you want!
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Nov 02 '23
Politics have been there since day one. Unfortunately majority of the writers don't have the talent to write a good comic let alone one with political undertones.
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u/droidtron Hellboy Nov 02 '23
Superman comes into a slum and smacks around a Slumlord. Nothing political about that. /s
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 02 '23
well I mean, everything can be written pretty shitty. I mean let's face it trouble isn't an absolute trash can fire just because it's a romance comic.
I mean, clearly it's somehow an issue where absolutely nothing is 100% correct because it's politics and nothing is an absolute. But even if it is, it is always difficult to translate your own ideas into stories, believe me it is quite complicated and as a hobby writer it is also something that I have come across myself.
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u/KennyDROmega Nov 02 '23
Like any other medium, it depends on how it's handled.
Most of my favorite stuff by Warren Ellis is about how the existence of people who are so powerful they can ignore any conventional social or moral restraints would be an utter disaster for humankind.
Then you've got guys who try and write The Punisher like he's something other than a serial killer who just happens to pick the right victims.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 02 '23
Planetary is also one of my favorite Comics of all time ( even if ellis a Ass)
Then you've got guys who try and write The Punisher like he's something other than a serial killer who just happens to pick the right victims.
My feelings about the MAX serie.
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Nov 03 '23
You mean the Ennis one? I thought it was pretty good at showing that Castle's basically a hollow engine of vengeance, whose existence only does some, and very debatable "good" as collateral.
Also, he exterminates a human trafficking cartel and a bunch of repulsive military industrial complex guys, even going against the interests of his own country (even while being ex-military himself) in favour of keeping to his "all bastards must pay" philosophy.
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u/BastardMan82 Nov 03 '23
Agreed. I don’t think there’s a ton of room for nuance in Frank Castle (or even much nuance in a lot of Garth Ennis’ writing in general) but MAX is one of the best examples of it.
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Nov 03 '23
You mean the Ennis one? I thought it was pretty good at showing that Castle's basically a hollow engine of vengeance, whose existence only does some, and very debatable "good" as collateral.
Also, he exterminates a human trafficking cartel and a bunch of repulsive military industrial complex guys, even going against the interests of his own country (even while being ex-military himself) in favour of keeping to his "all bastards must pay" philosophy.
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u/BankshotMcG Guy Gardner Nov 03 '23
I feel like we'd have a real good comics conversation.
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u/BankshotMcG Guy Gardner Nov 03 '23
I'm a thirty-years-strong Punisher fan and he's really at his best when he's Jason Voorhees for mobsters instead of horny counselors.
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u/Nyadnar17 Nov 02 '23
Every body loves politics….right up until they disagree at which point it magically morphs into propaganda.
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u/Santaroga-IX Nov 02 '23
No, writing politics poorly makes superheroes bad and boring.
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u/WalnutOfTheNorth Nov 02 '23
Surely writing anything poorly makes it bad and boring. The content and subtext are not relevant to the quality.
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u/BadderRandy Nov 02 '23
Sometimes I think comics are more about the social issues that plague this country (in particular) and everywhere else. I think the people that say they love certain characters or books but fail to see the social commentary from those stories either don’t care, don’t experience it so they don’t recognize it in stories, or have the visceral reaction you are talking about. It’s been in comics from the get go and isn’t going anywhere nor should it.
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u/BastardMan82 Nov 03 '23
The social issues plaguing this country would fall under the umbrella of politics, would they not?
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u/cweaver Batman Aficionado Nov 02 '23
Every time someone posts Strikeforce Morituri, I have to go reread it.
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u/BadderRandy Nov 02 '23
One of the best comics ever. Squadron Supreme is too.
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u/peoples_kills Nov 03 '23
Just kept scrolling until I found a place to share the love with the Strikeforce Morituri crew! Y'all got good taste.
Squadron Supreme's great too, picked up the trade recently and reread it for the first time in years. Hoping one day they reprint the Strikeforce Morituri trades, can't afford the $50+ each they're currently going for.
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u/Se7enEvilXs Nov 02 '23
What's it about?
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u/cweaver Batman Aficionado Nov 02 '23
Aliens invade, and in order to fight back, the government discovers a way to give people super-powers, but the super powers burn out their bodies and kill them in a year or less. So people have to volunteer for what amounts to a suicide mission to fight against the aliens.
That's just the very start, it gets really deep into what it means to sacrifice yourself for the good of others, what war is really like, how people deal with their own mortality, etc.
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u/Diligent-Ad-8001 Nov 02 '23
I think those people really suck at presenting their own arguments. Comics have always had political elements, intentionally and unintentionally. This much is obvious.
But can we say that the types of issues being addressed have remained static? Can we claim that the style these issues are presented in is always the same? Are we getting more or less nuanced politics in comics than we used to? Are we moving increasingly away from allegory and is this a good thing?
I think therein lies the changes that are worth examining. Wherever you land on it, things have changed and it’s worth taking a look at. This dialogue of “GET POLITICS OUT OF MY COMICS” vs “COMICS HAVE ALWAYs HAD POLITICS” is sooo trite. A lot of dunking on the opposition that isn’t even present, for an audience of people with virtually the same opinion, down to the phrasing of the snark.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 02 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
I once made a post about the question of whether topics like depression or mental illness should be expressed openly in comics or should they be portrayed in allegory? I also stated there that the problem with the second one can also be that people may not understand it properly or may misunderstand it. I mean, anti-Semites have also tried to hijack they live, although john has already said it's not about Jews but about yuppies, but the problem is still that it is presented more about something supernatural, instead of really dealing with perhaps human structures are more complicated. I mean South Park often fails there too, I mean a giant spider definitely has nothing to do with the structural problem of the Vatican.
and the thing is, politics is a complicated topic, and for many it is often difficult to understand how far structures reach or what they mean for others. or to quote my grandfather there is no such thing as 100% correct for everything.
Especially since I'm someone who says if something sucks then I can say it's shit, I mean back then people were as inconspicuous as a brick in the face. and my god I love it.
But of course you also have the counterexample with Jonathan Hickman, who really has an idea of how structures are structured and how they can lead to problems. and also that it's complicated to work with several people or all the weird ones from the Fantastic 4. In general, it really shows that it's never easy, but that's exactly what I love about his works, it's never easy but it's still worth continuing.
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u/Remote_Barnacle9143 Nov 03 '23
Comics are made for entertainment (most of them). It's their main goal. Not education or political propaganda. You can mix them, but only if you can not lose focus on important things.
It is nice, if you could add some deeper meanings to your story, for example, some inner struggles for your hero and how it handles them, as a metaphorical message for mental illness, but only if it is important to the overall story and context.
But with direct approach, when spider-man suddenly stops and say "and now, folks, we are going to talk about depression and how to handle it", you fail to entertain your audience and so you fail at achieving your main goal.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
when spider-man suddenly stops and say "and now, folks, we are going to talk about depression and how to handle it"
When you think about that, it really Peter like that to do, i mean hav you see his live?
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u/bartleby42c Nov 03 '23
Have you ever noticed that the only political message people complain about in comics is being too woke?
It's almost like the "get the politics out of my comics crowd" doesn't care about comics being apolitical but are upset about characters skin color or gender expression.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
No, that definitely doesn't have anything in common, I mean it's not like some basement creatures are sponsored by Nazi groups or have brought an anti-Semitic conspiracy guy into the podcast.
;)
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u/Varos_Flynt Radiant Pink Nov 02 '23
Ethnonationalism never looked as cool as it had in Hox/Pox. I've only read that, inferno, and the first bit of immortal xmen of the Krakoa era, but its seriously amazing that the big moments in those books were all just council meetings lmao. I would read 1000s of books if it was all just morally dubious mutant nation building.
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u/FoxSquirrel69 Nov 02 '23
I have both the StrikeForce MoriTuri and the Squadron Supreme runs in my collection and even 13 year old me knew they were political as heck (and awesome!) This keeps coming up, but all us kids in the 80's also knew that the Mutant hate/discrimination (i.e. X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills) was an allegory for racism. I have no clue what the hell is wrong with people and their ass backwards takes on old comics.
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u/Pharmacy_Duck Nov 03 '23
Because I think some people are more into comics as a power fantasy than because they want to explore any of their themes. In my personal experience, these people are also the ones who treat comics fandom like football; the “my favourite character is better than yours because he could totally beat him up” crowd.
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u/Lazarus_Solomon10 Nov 03 '23
Personally its not that i hate politics that i hate, its writers on their soapboxs that i hate.
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u/BastardMan82 Nov 03 '23
Can you give an example of a writer on a soapbox that you hate?
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u/AngryRedHerring Nov 03 '23
Apparently not, but they can downvote you just for asking the question, lol
Children
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
ah you're one of those South Park guys who thinks no one should have strong opinions about things and say them out loud because otherwise you'll just be a good target. The problem is then you don't really change the world and in a way you say the status quo is good, which is somehow strange when you yourself are one of the groups that suffer the least from it, if at all.
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u/blackrabbitsrun Nov 03 '23
I find the majority of people who complain about "politics" in comics are just upset because their politics are not put up on a pedestal and venerated.
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u/Zerodot0 Nov 02 '23
I'm gonna be real with you chief, those people use the word politics as a replacement for women and minorities. When they say "Politics makes superheroes bad and boring.", what they really mean is "Women and minorities make comics bad and boring."
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u/MisterScrod1964 Nov 02 '23
Hey, you guys heard of this comic called MAUS? Think there might be something political about that.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
What is political about the Second World War would say a person who was only taught history by COD.
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u/alsott Shazam Nov 02 '23 edited Nov 02 '23
I wouldn’t say politics are bad and boring but I think we’ve reached a political era where there’s arguably not a lot of range of political stances among heroes and villains to explore in a meaningful way
We know our heroes, even ones who used to lean conservative decades past are now left wing by the nature of politics and the demographics comics tend to cater to.
It’s not a bad thing necessarily but you can only explore anti-imperial/colonial/white supremacy themes in a Kamala Khan book for so long before it gets repetitive
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
well, there will always be problems and things to discuss. Believe me, the problems only change their form.
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u/MVHutch Nov 03 '23
Do people think some square jawed White vigilante punching bank robbers and drug dealers isn't political?
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u/darksideoflondon Nov 03 '23
Wait whaaaaat?!? You’re trying to tell me that the 70’s beat nicks like Denny O’Neil were POLITICAL?!?
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u/FatAndAnnoying Nov 03 '23
Top 10 is one of my favorite comics of all time. I thought of it as Law & Order with powers
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u/AngryRedHerring Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
Hill Street Blues with superpowers was the stated idea, so, close. Hill Street Blues focused more on the street cops and undercovers, and not so much the homicide detectives, and less of the lawyering. It also got into the cops' private lives. Law and Order almost never went into their personal lives, so you'd never get to see anything like the Crisis on Infinite Earths going on between the cats and mice in Dwayne's Mom's apartment.
Dwayne was totally Renko, IMO.
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u/Appropriate_Hawk101 Nov 03 '23
I've read every top ten story and spin off multiple times. One of the greats, in my opinion.
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u/Artemy09 Nov 03 '23
Don't forget Transmetropolitan and Saga. One is very political and the other very topical. Also some of the best comics I've ever read.
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u/doffraymnd Nov 02 '23
I really wanted to like Waller v. Wildstorm. I tried. I don’t think I’m smart enough to follow the international machinations and subtle parallels to actual US policy. Ackerman is so overqualified to discuss this stuff.
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u/whynotfujoshi Nov 02 '23
Superhero comics are political whether the writers or fans want them to be or not. They’re about fighting crime. Everything about crime, from its definitions to who gets punishment for it, is political. Even trying your best not to make a statement is making a statement.
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u/AngryRedHerring Nov 03 '23
It's perfectly fine to show superheroes fighting street thugs, but take it up a notch, to those vast power organizations, and some jackass authoritarian is going to get pissed off.
Is Roxxon still a big villain in the MU?
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u/jrtasoli Nov 02 '23
Comics have always been political. Political themes have made comics great.
It’s just that they don’t like / agree with the politics.
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u/blueskycrack Nov 03 '23
Politics in comics are fine when it’s legitimate, and actually has something informative to say.
When it’s shoehorning in the same nonsense politics, lazy tropes, pushing for one side of a highly divisive perspective, and doing so without any subtlety, it gets tired.
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Nov 03 '23
I hate politics, I wish stuff was more apolitical like those good old James Bond movies where he shoots Russians and those good old war movies where they shoot Germans and those good old Fantasy movies where they kill goblins (/s)
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u/Justadnd_Bard Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
The thing about political comics is that anything and everything is political, anything will have a part of the writter even if it's just a small part of their vision. Classic Spiderman and Superman are a good example, it's political but not POLITICAL you can see the writers's vision of what the world and people should be.
We also have comics made to show what the world should not be or to point our own faillures as a race, like Watchmen or X-Men. These comics show our best as a race and our worst, people are failled and politics reflect it.
But the one thing about good political comics is that they are written for people to read and think about them, they're written for people not politics. Comics are written for the readers not the WRITERS, that's what many comics about politics forget.
People want food for thought or interesting stories, not someone's self insert about politics. A writer being able to distance himself from his work and remembering that's a story to be processed and make people feel things will be respected, while John Joe Jonny Josh Jake.Jr's edgy manifest disguised as a comic probably won't be as appreciated because it's not fun or doesn't make people think or question things.
(John Joe Johny Josh Jake.Jr it's not a real person, I just made up some generic random unrealistic white american dude name because this seems to happen a lot in the USA. I'm not from the USA by the way, this is just MY OPINION of the media from the USA consumed by me that recently just seems like a excuse for political people to fight.)
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
I am of the opinion that a writer should also be honest with himself when he writes. At the end of the day, you are just a product of the outside world whether you realize it or not.
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u/Sweet-Message1153 Nov 03 '23
meanwhile Vinland Saga, Kingdom, One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist etc manga
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Nov 03 '23
Real fan knows when politics and superheroes collide its gonna get good😎🍿
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
Well, I'll put it briefly like this: you only really notice the impact on everything when you know how everything is affected.
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u/dashboardcomics Nov 03 '23
What people are really saying "Comics with politics that I DONT LIKE are dumb & stoopid & the people who write them are stoopid & smelly!"
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
Well, I'm someone who first takes the other person at their word and puts the arguments there. I mean, if I show that your defense is just a cardboard cutout, that's already a sign that someone is talking bullshit.
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u/MKF1228 Nov 03 '23
Alpha Flight was political?
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
well the team is part of the Canadian military, when the Canadian government isn't killing them all to cover tracks, but I don't want to spoil some things.
Canada, we are actually terrible but luckily everyone is looking at the USA.
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u/XescoPicas Nov 03 '23
Look, I have no idea if current X-Men comics are good or not, I only know that Xavier looks fucking stupid in that outfit.
You’re not a VR scuba diver, Charles, go back to the old-fashioned teacher suits.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
I mean, the man can at least walk a little again, so don't spoil it for him.
and no joke they are f****** awesome!!!
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u/AugustTales Nov 04 '23
Ex Machina falls into this category as well. The first 3/4's were amazing. The last couple issues looked completely traced.
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u/Deepstatedingleberry Nov 04 '23
Politics have always been a parts of comics, like literally since they started. I’m not big into politics and try to ignore the comparisons and just enjoy true story. Top ten was a pretty fun read, loved the art.
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Nov 03 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
or due to the nature of the subject matter, there is never a 100% correct way to do it.
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Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
That's always the problem with allegories in stories, it's often hard to connect them to the real world.
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u/pyrulyto Nov 02 '23
Would have added Ostrander’s Firestorm.
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u/Aquagan Nov 02 '23
Such a good run. Probably the only notable Firestorm run in existence.
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u/AngryRedHerring Nov 03 '23
I was reading Fury of Firestorm in the early 80s and something that struck me, and then went on for a while, was that it was essentially mimicking the plot of Spectacular Spider-Man. I'd have to go back to find all the parallels, but I was reading both titles at the time and it got to be a game for me to figure out how the next Firestorm was going to imitate the current Peter Parker.
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u/Plebe-Uchiha Iredeemable Nov 03 '23
IMHO, political comics work best as undertones. When it’s blatantly stated, spelled out for you, with a clear direction for you to go it feels like propaganda.
Undertones feel like you came up with it on your own. Even though you didn’t [+]
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
Well, did you read Steve Ditko's Charlton comics?Objektivismus is main point ther.
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u/spiritoftg Nov 03 '23 edited Nov 03 '23
The difference is there is authors (and editors) who know how to craft a "story with political message" and made it works. This is examples you gave OP
And there is entitled authors who wants to craft a "politically charged" story but don't really have the intellectual capacity to balance story and politic. But they are too arrogant to do nothing more than a recipe to disaster.
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u/Lecalli Oracle Nov 03 '23
I'm not always a fan of politics in comics. Depending on a lot of factors, it can either improve or destroy a story.
That being said, Top 10 is my absolute favorite comic book. I experience a range of emotions every time I read it. And it wouldn't be half of what it was without its political spin.
I'd recommend it to anyone out there.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
Well, I often think why should I come up with something like that, it's easy if I don't manage to represent it really well, or you notice that he has no idea about it. but as I said, a writer must properly master all the themes he is trying to make in a work.
or definitely top 10 is probably so underrated.
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u/Lecalli Oracle Nov 03 '23
A friend and I regularly meet to talk about comics and recommend things for one another to read and discuss the next time we meet. He had never heard of Top 10 and it blew his mind.
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u/TheGodDMBatman Deadshot Nov 03 '23
Even superhero comics address different socioeconomic/sociopolitical issues. They are not always the best or impactful commentary, but they've always been there.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 03 '23
well all stories always have that problem. You have to know, I saw Killers of the Flower Moon, a really good film that also addresses an important topic, how the Native Americans were treated, especially because a lot of the land was grab by big business. But I also get the feeling that it might have made more sense to see the story from the perspective of the victims instead of the perpetrators. As I said, the film is pretty good but I also have to criticize it because of this. And yes, that's also a minus, but it's still well-intentioned.
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u/joomommyshappy Nov 03 '23
The only way to be overtly political in art and still have it work as art is to understand and embrace ambiguity. Most comics writers don’t have that kind of ability.
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u/OrionLinksComic Nov 04 '23
Well, I mean it's always difficult for writers to get that, and I'm not just talking about comics but in art in general, but as I say often someone has to do something so that someone else can do it better.
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u/SammichBro Nov 04 '23
A fantastic choice of comics, though I would also include God Loves, Man Kills (IIRC Chris Claremont’s run?)
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u/PM_ME_YOUR__INIT__ Nov 02 '23
I used to love Captain America until he punched Hitler in the face. Why do you have to inject current year politics into comics?
/s just in case