Posted on 05/10/2008 7:02:01 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
Everyone’s talking about politics these days, and in September, that will come to include the heroes and characters of the DC Universe.
The place for the discussion: DCU Decisions, a four-part miniseries shipping every other week in September and October, written by Bill Willingham and Judd Winick, with art and covers by Stephane Roux. The heroes…they’re drawn into the political arena both by circumstance and by the actions of one of their own. A look at the art to the right makes that latter part pretty clear.
We spoke with DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio about the story, the idea behind it, and why in the world anyone would willingly bring politics into a place that’s politics-free these days.
"For the first time, we’ll be having our characters make true political stands in regards to their leanings, as well as what motivates them to be heroes, and what they believe is necessary for their world and their country to move in the direction they believe to be the right one...this is about heroes choosing or naming a political affiliation in regards to their own beliefs, which include, of course, being a hero."
(Excerpt) Read more at forum.newsarama.com ...
Best known for his annoying, self-righteous stint on MTV's The Real World Miami a few years ago.
Yeah, he’s been milking the “my friend had AIDS” schtick over in the comic book industry for a several years now.
Seriously, nearly every book he writes ends up having some character get HIV.
Yea....he’s awful at writing.
Leftism in comic books ping
AIDS? Isn’t that kind of a retro disease?
I would see the following:
Superman - Taft Republican concerned about corporate fiscal and individual responsibility but wanting individuals to succeed on their own. With his awesome powers could easily become a benevolent despot if he wished to. Ultimately, he is willing to abide by the will of the people and authority if such actions do not compromise his standards. If they do, then he will just check out of the situation. You cannot order him to do anything. Of course he is an illegal alien illicitly adopted by the Kents.
Batman - Hard to say. He can't be put in any box, but I am sure he would be both anti-death penalty and anti-abortion given his strong aversion to taking life. Most readers of him believe that he would do the world an immeasurable favor if he killed the Joker (no Heath Ledger jokes please). I got to think that he would be no fan of the ACLU (unlike what some of the comic book posters said) because he knows no constraints in the protection of innocent life. He will violate any laws and assault any individual if he feels the ends justify the means. He is more than willing to work with cooperative police forces. He is full of internal contradictions.
Original Robin/Nightwing - He is more likely to be a law and order Democrat and a card carrying ACLU member in my opinion. He tries to hold down the darker approaches of Batman.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) and Barry Allen (Flash) - Maybe the best we have to offer. Not nearly as full of the internal contradictions of Batman or the alienness of Superman. Hal Jordan is an Eisenhower Republican (except when he went crazy and started destroying worlds). I got to think Barry Allen is a Kennedy Democrat (John not Teddy) only to add some balance.
I have not read much in the DC world since the 80s so these characters may have changed much. They killed off Barry Allen about the time I stopped reading, and Hal Jordan went through an indescribably awful phase in which he became Parallax and the the Specter. I haven't read the stories, and I really don't have much heart to since he was always one of my heroes.
I liked the way Marvel handled it years ago far better. They had a back story on each major character that wasn't always stated in the comic, but gave them guidance in deciding how a character would act. For example, the Thing was Jewish. It wasn't ever mentioned in the comic (I think maybe once in the 90s) but it was part of his back story.
They're going to be pushing imaginary candidates in the story line, btw.
I haven't read enough of any of the other DC characters to have an opinion of them, although I'm fairly sure the Swamp Thing is an environmentalist, and therefore a Democrat. The Joker supports Hillary Clinton.
In the Marvel world, Ben Grimm would be an Ed Koch Democrat. Spider-man would be a moderate Dem/Repub, but wouldn't be seriously aligned with either party. Daredevil is a Democrat. Heck, he's a New York lawyer. Iron Man is a Republican, from the Rockefeller branch.
My take has always been:
Superman: moderate Republican.
Midwestern, grew up on a farm in a small town. Uses his powers to save lives, not improve the system. “Peace on Earth” graphic novel had him come to the realization that all he could do was show people the way and hope they took care of themselves when it came to food, etc.
Batman: Conservative republican.
The guy’s a billionaire with a butler who believes in violating criminals’ civil rights, went to Catholic school (see Grant Morrison’s “Gothic,”) and owns a nuclear reactor. Do the math.
I know that a lot of people will say “no, he’s a liberal. He hates guns and believes in charity.” However, even though he hates guns, he obviously doesn’t believe in gun control. Allows Alfred to have guns for protection (which puts in right in NRA territory). Belief in charity doesn’t = liberal, just shows he’s square with George Bush Sr’s “thousand points of light.”
Green Arrow: Liberal Democrat. Has been-vocally-since the 1960s. One of the few comic book characters to consistently be identified with a political philosophy.
Black Canary: Liberal Democrat. Longtime girlfriend of Green Arrow. Couldn’t live with Ollie for more than two minutes, if she wasn’t a lib.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordon): Republican, not sure if moderate or conservative.
Military man who became, basically, a space cop. The whole Green Lantern/Green Arrow series was supposed to be based on liberal Ollie and Conservative Hal.
Hawkman (Carter Hall): Conservative. Typically written as such in 1970s Justice League stories as intentional counterpoint to Green Arrow. An alien from another planet, however, so he might not have been registered to vote.
Flash (Barry Allen): Republican.
The guy had a crew cut, lived in the midwest and worked for the police. Also, during the 1980s run on Teen Titans, his sideick Kid Flash said he (KF) was a conservative Republican. Assuming this hasn’t been retconned, I see no reason why, given that KF tended to idolize his mentor, they would differ on politics.
Wonder Woman: Liberal, maybe even “Green” Not a US citizen, so not registered with a party.
Grew up in a Europeanish island state that preaches peace, love and feminism. Believes in a strong government intervention on things.
As for the Marvel superheroes:
Spider-man: Liberal Democrat. Member of the media. Lives in NYC, often in Greenwich Village (when not crashing at Aunt May’s).
Fantastic Four: Conservative Democrats, in the Ed Koch/Joe Lieberman mode. These guys are Jack Kennedy Cold-warriors from way back. Their original space mission was because Reed didn’t want “the reds” to beat the US in intersteller travel. More recent story had Reed Richards leading the team into a preemptive invasion of Dr. Doom’s Latveria to stop a planned terror attack.
Iron Man: When written correctly (which often isn’t the case), he’s an obvious republican. Similar analysis to Batman. He’s a billionaire weapons manufacturer with a Butler, who has happily taken on, depending the era of publishing, the Vietcong and/or the Taliban.
Capt. America: Independent.
Yeah, but in the recent series involving the Civil War (I don’t read comics much, so forgive me if I can’t be specific), doesn’t he fully support the government’s registration act? Forgive me, but anyone supporting that kind of act from the government doesn’t sound like a Republican.
Captain America, on the other hand, does come across as a conservative in his opposition to the registration act because it clashes with the American ideal of limited government.
Spider-man is a newspaper guy, but he's on the outs with his editor because of the editorial slant (BTW, the guy who plays Jonah Jameson in the movies is probably one of the most perfectly cast characters in the history of comic book movies.) I still don't think Spider-man is very aligned politically. He's the kind of guy who keeps meaning to vote, but forgets to register or loses his voter registration card.
I think the Hulk is a libertarian.
The sad thing is, this is just a marketing response to Marvel’s Civil War event—from two years ago!
Superman: A New Deal Democrat. He’s Midwestern (and from the Dust Bowl days, at that), and a news media member to boot, but he is deeply patriotic and in favor of law and order (”Truth, Justice, and the AMERICAN WAY”). He is driven by the desire to help people in need, but he’s hawkish on issues of defense. In my opinion, Kal/Superman probably keeps himself carefully neutral on all political issues, since he is a guest here and all.
Batman: I think Batman is too cynical to have a political affiliation. He probably votes for whichever candidate is toughest on crime.
Green Arrow: Liberal Democrat. He’s made no bones about that over the years. Like George McGovern, he combines great personal courage with leftist politics.
Black Canary: Liberal Democrat, although I don’t think she’d be highly political.
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan): JFK Democrat. Hal Jordan was a fighter pilot, and as such would likely be hawkish; however, his intense White Guilt keeps him to the Left on social issues. I’d say he’d be a lot like JFK — somewhere between Joe Lieberman and John McCain in today’s terms.
Hawkman (Carter Hall): Monarchist. He was an Egyptian prince, after all.
The Flash (Barry Allen): Republican. I’d say that’s a fair bet.
Wonder Woman: A Green. Belongs to a pagan nature cult and practices magic. Likes being tied up and dominated, oddly.
Apache Chief: Strong on Native American rights.
On the Marvel Side:
Spider-man: Classic Democrat. Patriotic and genuinely concerned with the welfare of others, but with a streetwise realism that prevents him from being ideological. Likely voted for Humphrey in ‘68.
Fantastic Four: JFK Democrats. The patriotism of the Baxter Building gang was never in doubt: Reed Richards was an OSS agent in World War II, and Ben Grimm was a Marine fighter pilot (and former POW), so they’d be pretty strong on defense. Johnny Storm is just a kid and likely doesn’t give a hoot about politics, and his sister Sue is just a girl. I don’t know how Crystal would vote. See “Green Lantern”.
Iron Man: Buckley Republican. He’s a defense contractor and weapons designer who has made a fortune selling things that blow people up, yet he likes a belt of whiskey and a slice of poontang on a regular basis.
Capt. America: Independent. Steve Rogers was a regular GI in World War II before he became Cap, so he’s likely not particularly partisan. We know from the comics over the years that Cap hates Nazis, racism, and the French, but loves the flag, kids, and sports.
As for the comic strips, I’d divide them up this way:
REPUBLICANS: Daddy Warbucks, Gen. Halftrack, Blondie and Dagwood Bumstead, Juliet Jones, Schroeder, Steve Canyon, Uncle Scrooge, Mammy Yokum, Shoe
DEMOCRATS: Dick Tracy, Beetle Bailey, Linus and Lucy van Pelt, Dondi, Snuffy Smith, Margot from Apartment 3-G, Jiggs, Mary Worth, Crankshaft, Les from Funky Winkerbean, Hi and Lois Flagston, Skeezix, Mark Trail, Mary Perkins
MONARCHISTS: Prince Valiant, the Wizard of Id, the Phantom
Political stands? Since when has anybody in this Presidential process ever taken a true political stand? Possibly McCain, possibly a little. But Hillary and Obama, they are just too much. Obama wants to please everybody and so does Hillary. When she was pandering(some of the worst pandering) and started acting a little Pro-Life, that was the worst act I had ever seen.
A political stand would actually make them both look heroic as they try to either sound off as sounding contrary to McCain(even on Immigration, watch Hillary act like an Immigration hawk on O’Reilly) or sound like they are trying to please everybody. Forget Hillary and Obama, Superman is more realistic for the Democrats. Afterall he did get rid of nuclear arms in the fourth movie.
(BTW, the guy who plays Jonah Jameson in the movies is probably one of the most perfectly cast characters in the history of comic book movies.)
Boy, you got that right. Looks like he stepped right off the page. Has the cheapness and humor down, too. Voice is even perfect. I think they did good by the lady who plays Aunt May, too. I’d say the Spidey movies do an almost perfect job of casting, probably mostly due to Sam Raimi.
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